Ryan Daut-PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Champion

At 10 a.m. on Wednesday morning, the final table of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure was set to begin. Outside on the Dragon Balcony of the Atlantis Resort, the World Poker Tour crew was making last-minute preparations for the eventual televised event. Six players waited patiently as their chips were stacked in aesthetic patterns, and the dealer was being prepped by makeup. It was tournament poker Hollywood style, with interns scrambling, production assistants relaying instructions over their headsets, and a teleprompt controller insisted she still needed to run through final editing.

Robert Mizrachi remained calm and seemingly unaffected. He and his brothers often find themselves in front of cameras, and over the years he's accompanied "The Grinder" to several feature tables. He understands that poker tournaments have become a "production." In fact, it's all he knows. But not long ago, tournament promoters had to pay for media coverage. Events were smaller in scale, and usually conducted in smoky backrooms of casinos.

Witnessing the production of a WPT event is a lot like watching the making of sausage. From atop the patio stairs, the young online players were becoming impatient. They were used to things happening a little faster in cyberspace, and the "process" reminded them that they were out of their element and ready to get back to the poker table.

For nearly a week, the inside of the Atlantis ballroom had become a sort of cocoon for the longest-lasting PCA tournament players. They had yet to experience the warmth of the Bahamas sun since their arrival, and today would be no exception. Though they looked forward to the outdoors, none were prepared for the morning overcast and biting trade winds. It was hard to tell if the pacing and knee bends were necessary to calm nerves or to generate warmth.

Finally, at 10:37 a.m. the WPT camera crew made their final preparations, with the first of six players being introduced.

In seat No. 1 was Isaac Haxton, coming in with a whopping $9,216,000 and more than half the chips in play. The 21-year-old took a nine-month hiatus from Brown University to play poker. Haxton developed and maintained an impressive chip lead since day 3 of the PCA, and in his words, "hit every flop." He qualified for the championship by entering a $175 double shootout on PokerStars.

In seat No. 2 was Jonathan Little, who started with $2,366,000. The 22-year-old online poker enthusiast enjoys posting in forums and created a blog called The Trials and Tribulations of Jonathan Little. At home in Pensacola, Florida, he devours other poker bloggers' writings. His results are impressive with only a year on the tournament circuit. Besides the loads of money he's won online, he's cashed in eight major events. The PCA is his first live final table, but certainly not his last.

In seat No. 3 was Robert Ford with $2,324,000, about even with and positioned between Little and Daut. The 22-year-old bearing the same name as the man who made a deal with the governor of Missouri in 1882 to kill Jesse James for a $10,000 reward, has earned three times that amount in tournaments over the past year. This was his third final table, as he placed sixth in a nightly Bellagio event early last year, and sixth at the 2006 Trump Classic. He also cashed in two WSOP tournaments, one at the Rio and the other in an Atlantic City circuit event.

In seat No. 4 was the good-humored and very personable Ryan Daut. (Be sure to check out his latest CardPlayer.com video clip for laughs.) His starting stack was $2,300,000. Daut is a 22-year-old graduate student working on his PhD in math and a protégé of high-stakes online player "GreenPlastic." Today he considers himself a full-time poker pro. Daut invited several fans to the final table of the 2007 PCA, as the majority of the audience were rooting for him to win. Daut has a weakness for women at the poker table. "Women are bad for poker," says Daut. "They distract you and make you do stupid things."

In seat No. 5 was Robert Mizrachi, coming into the day with $1,450,000. One of three poker professionals in the Mizrachi family, he was the only veteran tournament player at the final table of the PCA. Mizrachi usually plays live events. He won the St. Maarten Open in 2004 and has cashed in 31 major tournaments over the past four years for $675,579 in lifetime earnings. Mizrachi had this to say about the field of young online competition at the PCA: "Younger players are tough to read. They throw me off sometimes." His strategy going into the final table was to stay out of the line of fire and let the big stacks take down the competition.

The final player introduced was Frank Rusnak. He was coming in short-stacked with $1,166,000. The 24-year-old Northern Illinois University grad is a stringer who covers prep sports for the Chicago Sun Times. Playing online, he won two entries into the 2006 World Series of Poker, including a seat into the $10,000 main event. He got hooked on the game two years ago while in college. "I checked out a half-dozen books from the school library and bought a dozen more." Rusnak is deeply involved, as he reads, studies, practices, and analyzes poker constantly. He was once quoted as saying; "I'm an exact replica of Doyle Brunson, just without the experience, skills, money, or fame."

With everyone in place, photographers swooped in, recording images of the six men together for the last time. Over the next several hours, five players would face elimination until the long-awaited PokerStars Caribbean Adventure champion was finally crowned.

The cards were in the air at 10:45 a.m., with the blinds at $15,000-$30,000 and a $3,000 ante.

The average raise was $85,000 over the next 23 hands, and as predicted, Haxton was using his monster lead to bully the rest of the table. Meanwhile, the stacks of Rusnak and Mizrachi were whittling away, and every time a short stack would take stab at the pot, one of the leaders would push, forcing them to muck their hands.

By the end of the first round, Haxton had increased his stack to over $9,600,000. Daut and Ford had also moved up, while Little, Rusnak, and Mizrachi experienced a loss.

The blinds were raised to $25,000-$50,000 with a $5,000 ante.

The first all-in of the day came when Jonathan Little raised to $150,000 and Robert Ford, in the big blind, called. The flop came A-Q-10 and Ford checked. Little bet $200,000 and Ford raised to $575,000. Little thought for a minute before moving all in and Ford called. Ford had K-J for a straight and a flush draw. Little had A-K for top pair. The turn was a queen but the river gave both players a Broadway straight with a jack and they chopped the pot.

Rusnak doubled through Ford when he raised Ford all in for $810,000. Ford called and showed pocket sixes, but Rusnak's pocket sevens held up against a board of 5-3-3-4-10, putting him over the $1.5 million mark.

Mizrachi was also able to increase his stack going into the next level with the blinds at $40,000-$80,000 and a $10,000 ante. But after a few folds on the turn and river, he was back to where he started the day.

The tournament was halfway into its third level of the day when the first player was eliminated.

Robert Ford raised to $280,000 from under the gun and Frank Rusnak made the call. The flop came J-9-9 and Ford moved all in. Rusnak called with pocket kings. Ford had A-K. A 3 came on the turn, but Ford spiked an ace on the river and Rusnak went out in sixth place with $247,234.

Haxton was holding steady with $9,350,000 but Ford had taken over second position, passing Daut. Little and Mizrachi were short-stacked, but still in contention.

The remaining round offered a series of flops and folds, a few turns, and a whole lot of checking down to the river, until the blinds were kicked up to $60,000-$120,000 with a $15,000 ante. The price of poker was going up, and so was the action.

Ford committed nearly $400,000 to the pot when Daut moved all in from the cutoff. Ford thought for a moment, then kissed a couple of stacks goodbye.

Four hands later, Mizrachi raised Little, having him looking at a $325,000 bet. Little answered by moving all in. Mizrachi called and showed A-K. Little had pocket jacks. The board came 10-6-2-8-A giving Mizrachi the pair he needed to double up to around $2,800,000 chips.

On the very next hand Little put his last $315,000 in the pot and was called by Daut. Little had A-Q and Daut turned over K-6. The board came A-Q-6-10-6, giving Daut trip sixes to eliminate Little in fifth place and send him home with $317,673.

The players took a short break while the table was "prettied" up for television. Haxton's stack was still intact at $9,280,000, while Ford and Daut were tied at around $3,500,000. Mizrachi had inched up to around $2,500,000.

When the clock started again, Mizrachi made his move. After Haxton made it $400,000 to go, Mizrachi decided to see a flop and called. The flop came 10-3-3 and both players checked. But when a jack fell on the turn, Mizrachi put another $400,000 in the pot. Haxton called. The river was an 8 and Mizrachi checked, but Haxton moved all in. With over $200,000 in the pot, Mizrachi called. Haxton had made a straight with Q-9. Realizing he'd been beat, Mizrachi threw his cards in the muck. Eliminated in fifth place, Mizrachi took home $409,703.

Haxton had more than twice the chips of Ford and Doubt combined going into the next hand. Nine hands later he put a substantial dent in Ford's stack after pairing a king on the flop. And before round's end, Daut crippled Ford when he slow-played his pocket kings. Ford would be forced to play the next hand going into the next round, with fewer chips than it cost to post his small blind.

With the blinds at $100,000-$200,000 and a $20,000 ante, Ford posted his last $65,000. Haxton isolated Ford by raising the stakes to $550,000 from the button. Daut folded. Haxton had K-3, but Ford had an overcard with A-8. And while the flop of Q-7-3 gave Haxton a pair, there was still hope for Ford. But a king on the turn gave Haxton two pair and Ford went out in third place with $550,980.

It wasn't until the Xience girls performed the money presentation and poured over $1.5 million dollars in cold hard cash onto the table that Daut and Haxton got into the Hollywood groove. Haxton smiled for photographers and Daut joined his fans on the rail. After the hoopla, the two returned to their seats, ready for battle.

Haxton went into heads-up action with close to $14 million. Daut had nearly $5 million.

After a few hands of trading blinds and antes, Daut pulled in a $1 million pot after making a big bet before the flop, and leaving Haxton with no choice but to fold after Daut made another substantial bet on the turn.

Maintaining his momentum, Daut fired a $750,000 bet at Hexton who limped from the small blind. Haxton made the call to see a flop of 8-6-3. Daut bet out $1 million and Haxton moved all in. Daut called and turned over ace high (A-7). The crowd was sure Haxton would turn over a better hand and began to cheer when he silenced them with 10-7 for nut, nut, nothing. A 4 came on the turn and then an ace on the river officially turned the tables on Haxton. By doubling up, Daut had taken over the chip lead.

Four hands later the two players were close to even. But Daut forfeited a chunk of change when Haxton bluffed him out of $2 million pot. On the very next hand, Daut came back to do more than even the score.

Haxton raised to $500,000 and Daut reraised to $1,800,000. Haxton called and the flop came A-Q-7. Daut bet out $2,100,000 and Haxton matched it. The turn was an 8 and both players checked to a jack on the river. Daut check to Haxton who wouldn't bite. With pocket jacks, Daut had made a set and Haxton mucked his hand.

At that point, the standing was:

Ryan Daut: $13 million
Isaac Haxton: $6 million

Haxton made every attempt to pressure Daut over the course of the level, but Daut was determined to maintain his position.

The blinds increased to $150,000-$300,000 with a $30,000 ante and the levels decreased to 30 minutes each. But on the very first hand, Haxton called an all-in raise by Daut who turned over A-10. Haxton had Q-8. The board came J-6-5-9-5.

The tournament was over. Haxton stood and shook Daut's hand, then joined him on the other side of the table. The crowd went wild, but the two turned towards the ocean and conversed quietly. A moment later they faced the audience and waved. It was then that it hit Haxton. He bowed his head and pushed his hands into his pockets. Daut, who'd been quiet for most of the event, began pacing excitedly.

Haxton would go home in second place. He'd gotten plenty of airtime over the past two days, and expressed his gratitude at having the opportunity to play in such a prestigious event. He'd take home a respectable cash prize of $861,789.

Ryan Daut was the new PokerStars Caribbean Adventure champion and $1,535,255 richer. He also won a seat to the $25,000 WPT championship event at the Bellagio in the spring.

If poker is Daut's strength and women are his weakness, he proved it when he caught WPT hostess Sabina Gadecki's eye as she leaned forward to present him with a certificate and join him in a celebratory toast. In an attempt to clink his Budweiser bottle with hers, Daut nearly collided with commentator Mike Sexton. Luckily he found his balance and bowed to Sabina, never taking his eyes off her.

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