2011 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Pays Out Millions

In its eight-year history, the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) has grown from a small destination tournament to the biggest poker festival outside of the World Series of Poker. This year, the 48-event series drew huge numbers of players, including 1,560 for the record-breaking main event.

In total, the PCA awarded more than $32 million during its 11-day run, and attracted more than 7,800 entrants to the various events. At least 65 different countries were represented, with the United States supplying the majority of the players. Canada and Germany rounded out the rest of the top three.

Galen Hall Wins Main Event and $2.3 Million

The record-breaking main-event field of 1,560 players was large enough to split into two starting days, and was a far cry from the tournament’s humble beginnings in 2004, when 221 players sat down to compete for a $1,657,500 prize pool. In 2011, 232 players made the money, with the winner taking home $2.3 million. A total of 734 players, nearly half of the field, were online qualifiers.

After two days of play, the field reached the money bubble in surprisingly quick fashion. Professional Marco Johnson was the unfortunate bubble boy when he ran his K♣ 9♣ into the A♦ 9♥ of William Reynolds. After failing to catch up, Johnson was eliminated, guaranteeing the rest of the field at least $15,000 each.

Two days later, all eyes were glued on Team PokerStars pro Chris Moneymaker and his run toward the final table. Moneymaker started the penultimate day nearly tied for the lead with Ana Marquez, but a series of misplayed hands and coolers saw the man responsible for the poker boom bust out in a disappointing 11th place, just shy of the televised final table. After Dmitry Stelmak was eliminated in ninth place, the final table of eight was set. Notables Sam Stein and Mike Sowers were still in the running, but they and the others had a long uphill battle ahead of them if they wanted to catch runaway chip leader Chris Oliver.

Final-Table Chip Counts

Given the PCA’s popularity, it’s no surprise that ESPN decided to air the final table in its entirety. The high-definition coverage featured holecard cameras on a one-hour delay that was broadcast all day on ESPN3.com. Once play reached the final five, the coverage was shown on ESPN2 until the tournament concluded in the early-morning hours.

With James Hartigan and Daniel Negreanu providing much of the play-by-play analysis, the broadcast proved to be a major success, and was a hit with poker purists looking for more than the standard all-in preflop confrontations. With the holecard cameras, viewers were able to play along in real time, seeing all of the bluffs and laydowns while proposing what should happen next.

The action started off quickly, and it wasn’t long before the table produced its first casualty. Oliver called and Stein raised. Plouffe then moved all in and Oliver folded. Stein made the call with the A♣ K♥ and was racing against Plouffe’s pocket queens. The board came J♣ 10♦ 10♥ 4♦ A♦, and Plouffe was eliminated by Stein’s rivered ace, which gave him a better two pair. For his eighth-place finish, the Canadian received $202,000.

American online pro Weinberg was the next to go, and this time it was Hall who claimed the knockout. Hall raised to 240,000 from the cutoff, and Weinberg moved all in for his last 900,000 from the big blind. Hall felt priced in and made the call with the J♦ 10♣, and was happy that his cards were live against Weinberg’s A♣ 8♠. The board rolled out with the K♦ 10♦ 9♣ Q♣ K♣, and Hall made a straight to send Weinberg to the rail, where he collected $300,000.

Serial Latin American Poker Tour final-table competitor Palacios fell next after Hall raised to 320,000. The Brazilian moved all in for his last 1,600,000. Hall called with the A♦ 4♠, and was ahead of Palacios and his K♦ J♥. The boardcards fell 9♥ 8♥ 4♣ Q♣ 3♦, and ace high was enough to eliminate Palacios from the tournament. He earned $450,000 for his sixth-place finish.

Perhaps the most experienced player at the final table, Sowers was one of the few who didn’t shy away from playing back at Oliver and his massive stack. Unfortunately for the North Carolina native, it wound up being his undoing. Sowers raised to 340,000 from early position, and Oliver reraised to 775,000 from the button. Sowers called, and the flop came 8♣ 3♦ 2♠. Sowers checked, and Oliver bet a little over 1 million. Sowers then moved all in, and Oliver immediately called with the 8♠ 2♥, for two pair. Sowers held pocket fours and needed a lot of help, but the turn and river brought the K♣ and 7♠ to send him packing with a $700,000 parting gift.

Not long thereafter, Oliver raised to 455,000 from the button, and Stein reraised to 1,189,000 from the small blind. Oliver moved all in, and Stein called after spending some time in the tank. Stein showed the A♥ 9♥, but he was dominated by the A♦ Q♦. The board ran out with the K♥ 10♠ 5♠ K♦ 3♠, and Stein was eliminated. For his fourth-place finish, he banked $1 million.

Romanian amateur Ionel played very few hands during his stay at the final table, but that strategy enabled him to move up the pay ladder on a short stack, and walk away with $1.35 million. On Ionel’s final hand, Hall raised from the button and Oliver called from the small blind. Ionel then moved all in from the big blind, and Hall made the call. Oliver folded, and Ionel showed the K♠ 6♠. Hall revealed the K♣ Q♠, and it held up when the board came Q♦ 9♣ 7♦ 5♦ 3♠. Heading into heads-up play, Oliver had 33,395,000 in chips to Hall’s 13,100,000.

Oliver’s lead seemed insurmountable, and when the ultimate heads-up cooler hand took place just minutes into their battle, those watching at home were sure that it was all over. Instead, Hall made an amazing laydown, preserving his tournament life and a chance for a comeback.

Hall raised to 450,000 from the button with the 8♣ 4♥, and Oliver made the call with the A♦ 2♠. The flop came down 5♦ 3♦ 2♣, and Oliver checked. Hall bet 575,000, and Oliver called. The turn was the 2♥, and both players checked. The river was the A♠. Oliver checked, and Hall fired in 2,000,000. Oliver then moved all in, and Hall took a few minutes before mucking his straight, making an improbable fold against Oliver’s full house.

Three hours and two double-ups later, Hall had Oliver on the ropes and looking disheartened. After a series of preflop raises, Oliver found himself all in with pocket queens against the A♣ 8♣ of Hall. Oliver was in great shape to tie the match up, but the boardcards fell A♠ K♦ 8♠ 2♥ K♠ to give Hall the title and $2.3 million. Oliver picked up $1.8 million for his runner-up performance, but was obviously disappointed in the outcome.

Shortly after winning, Hall, the 24-year-old from San Francisco, had trouble putting his victory into words. “I feel pretty awesome,” he said. “It still hasn’t set in yet. We played heads up for a really long time, so I haven’t been thinking about the win. Up until this event, I’ve been a very terrible live-tournament player. I have a pretty impressive track record of busting out on day one.”

Indeed, with only one other cash on his resume, Hall was something of an unexpected winner, but his crucial fold during heads-up play proved that he was more than up for the task at hand.

Final-Table Results

Galen Hall’s Amazing Laydown

Leads to Miracle Comeback

Galen Hall’s Amazing Laydown

Leads to Miracle Comeback

It’s rare to be able to look back at a tournament and pick out just one hand that would determine the eventual winner. It’s even rarer for it to be a hand that the winner wound up losing.

He couldn’t have known it then, at least not for sure, but when Galen Hall made his improbable fold when holding a straight against Chris Oliver’s rivered full house, he was making a pledge to himself never to give up and to keep chipping away at the daunting stack piled high across the table from him.

It took nearly three more hours and a little luck, but Hall finally clawed his way back against a disheartened Oliver to take the title and the $2.3 million first-place prize.

The Hand

Stack sizes: Hall, 13.1 million; Oliver, 33.4 million

Action: Hall raised to 450,000 from the button with the 8♣ 4♥, and Oliver made the call with the A♦ 2♠. The flop came down 5♦ 3♦ 2♣, and Oliver checked. Hall bet 575,000, and Oliver called. The turn was the 2♥, and both players checked. The river was the A♠. Oliver checked, and Hall fired in 2,000,000. Oliver then moved all in, and Hall took a few minutes to think before mucking his straight, making an improbable fold against Oliver’s full house.

Analysis

Hall said, “This hand was really early in the heads-up match. I wound up with a rivered one-card straight, and I think a lot of people would value-bet in that spot for like 1.1 million, something like 55 percent of the pot. But I don’t really like to do that, especially against someone who can easily bomb over me for like 4 million, forcing me to make a crying call.

“So, for that reason, I decided to bet the pot for 2 million. If he’s got an ace, he’s never folding, so I wanted to make a big, pot-sized value-bet to get as much as I could get, but at the same time, I wanted it to be small enough that he might look me up with some other pair.

“When he check-raises me, it really polarizes his range to 6-4 straights or better, or nothing. Chris is a really good player, and I know that he’s capable of bluffing with air in that spot, but his bet-sizing is what ultimately gave him away. If he’s bluffing with air — or bluffing at all, really — it’s to push me off my hand, because when I bomb in the 2 million, I’m pretty polarized, as well.

“When he check-jams for my remaining 10 million into my bet of 2 million, the bet-sizing clues me in that he’s strong, simply because he doesn’t need to bet all of that to get me off a bluff, or even a hand with some value, like an ace or one pair. The only reason that he can be betting so much is for value, and the only hand that he can bet for value is a better straight, like 6-4, or a boat. When you look at the hand in hindsight, it’s a pretty trivial fold, but at the time, the absolute value of my hand made it a somewhat difficult laydown.” ♠