Ilkin Garibli Wins PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $25,000 High Roller

Ilkin Garibli was on vacation in the Bahamas and just happened to learn that the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, one of the biggest poker festivals in the world, was going on. The 26-year-old cash game player from Azerbaijan decided to stay on and play at the behest of some friends. That turned out to be a great decision, as he went on to top a record field of 269 entries in the PCA $25,000 no-limit hold’em high roller to win $1,105,040 in his very first live tournament cash.

Garibli topped a stacked final table that included the likes of Dan Heimiller (8th – $162,700), Faraz Jaka (7th – $221,440), recent PCA $100,000 super high roller eighth-place finisher Scott Seiver (5th – $398,340) and EPT Vienna champ Oleksii Khoroshenin (3rd – $629,460).

With the elimination of Khoroshenin in third Garibli took a more than 2-to-1 chiplead into heads-up play with Joe Kuether. The two agreed to a deal that saw Garibli take a $1,105,040 payday while Kuether earned $1,050,000. That was the remained of the prize pool, leaving only the title, the trophy and a commemorative SLYDE luxury watch to play for.

The two battled on for more than two hours after the deal was made, but in the end Kuether limped from the button with JJ and then called an all-in from Garibli, who held the K8. The board ran out K74A3 to pair Garibli’s king, giving earning him the title, the hardware and also 1,512 Card Player Player of the Year points. As a result of this huge win he now sits in fourth place in the overall standings.

Kuether, who has made the top 50 in the POY race three out of the past five years, earned 1,260 points and the largest cash of his career. The 26-year-old American pro now sits in sixth place in the POY rankings.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at this final table:

Winner photo courtesy of PokerStars / Joe Giron.

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