Sam Greenwood has won the largest buy-in poker tournament held so far in 2023. The Canadian poker pro defeated a field of 39 entries in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $250,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em super high roller event, earning a career-high best payday of $3,276,760 as the champion.
This victory saw Greenwood become just the 18th player in poker tournament history to surpass $30 million in recorded earnings. As a result, he now sits in 18th place on poker’s all-time money list, with $30,869,465
The 34-year-old from Toronto, Ontario is the third-highest-earning Canadian player, trailing only Daniel Negreanu ($49,403,695) and Timothy Adams ($31,261,338).
Greenwood was also awarded 480 Card Player Player of the Year points for the win. This was his first POY-qualified score of the year.
This nosebleed-stakes event ran from Jan. 31 – Feb. 2 at the Baha Mar Resort & Casino in The Bahamas. As one would expect from such a huge buy-in, the tournament drew many of the most decorated players in the game. Among those to fall during the first couple days were four-time bracelet winners Michael Addamo and Adrian Mateos, two-time bracelet winner Nick Petrangelo, Super High Roller Bowl V champion and recent PCA $100,000 buy-in winner Isaac Haxton, and two-time Card Player Player of the Year award winner Stephen Chidwick.
The final day began with eight players remaining and only six set to cash. Chris Brewer had lost a three-way all-in with A-K up against another A-K and the K-Q suited of Jean-Noel Thorel late on day 2 to slide to the bottom of the chip counts, while Thorel soared into the lead. Brewer was the first to fall on day 3, with his A-4 suited unable to overcome the pocket jacks of Artur Martirosian.
The final seven battled for several hours. The stalemate was finally broken when Orpen Kisacikoglu committed the majority of his final few big blinds preflop with A
Q
and he got called by two opponents. The board ran out AJ
978 after Kisacikoglu bet his final 5,000 chip on the flip, which dissuaded neither opponent from continuing. The turn was checked through and a river bet by Thorel was not called and he revealed 108, good for a straight to best Kisacikoglu’s top pair. The Turkish player has made three final tables so far in 2023, with $857,518 in earnings, but fell just short of the money.
With that, the remaining six contenders all locked up at least $664,900. That sum was ultimately awarded to all-time poker tournament earnings leader Justin Bonomo, who lost a flip with Q-J against the pocket fives of Greenwood. Bonomo found no help from the board and was eliminated in sixth place. The American poker pro now has $62,259,371 in lifetime cashes to his name, giving him nearly a $4.8 million lead over second-ranked Bryn Kenney ($57,469,229) on the all-time money list.
Martirosian’s run in this event came to an end when his A-6 suited was unable to come from behind facing the pocket kings of Greenwood. Martirosian picked up the nut flush draw on the turn to go with his overcard, but a blank on the river saw the Russian eliminated in fourth place ($854,800). This was his second final-table finish of the year, having placed third from a field of 889 entries in the $10,300 buy-in PCA main event just a handful of days earlier for $677,400. The two score saw him accrue 1,720 total POY points, enough to move him into seventh place in the 2023 POY race standings presented by Global Poker.
A preflop cooler spelled the end of Byron Kaverman. He picked up pocket tens and got all-in against the pocket jacks of Thorel. Kaverman received no help from the board and was knocked out in fourth place ($1,092,300). This was the third-largest score ever recorded by the American bracelet winner. He now has more than $18.8 million in lifetime earnings.
Recent PCA $50,000 six-max event winner David Yan soon followed Kaverman to the rail, with his last seven or so big blinds going in with K-8. He was up against the A-10 of a surging Thorel. Yan turned a king to take the lead, but Thorel rivered an ace to drag the pot and narrow the field to two. Yan earned a career-best $1,472,200 payday for his third-place showing. The New Zealander now has nearly $4 million in recorded earnings.
With that Thorel entered heads-up play leading Greenwood. His chip advantage exceeded 2:1 at one point before Greenwood began to take control of the match. Greenwood secured a big double-up check-calling top pair on three streets, besting Thorel’s third pair to turn the tables.
In the final hand of the event, Thorel got all-in with Q
8 racing against the 22 of Greenwood. The board came down K10946 and Greenwood’s small pocket pair held to lock up the pot and the title. Thorel took home $2,137,100 as the runner-up. The Frenchman now has more than $9.9 million in recorded tournament scores.
Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded in this event:
| Place | Player | Earnings | POY Points |
| 1 | Sam Greenwood | $3,276,760 | 480 |
| 2 | Jean Noel Thorel | $2,137,100 | 400 |
| 3 | David Yan | $1,472,200 | 320 |
| 4 | Byron Kaverman | $1,092,300 | 240 |
| 5 | Artur Martirosian | $854,800 | 200 |
| 6 | Justin Bonomo | $664,900 | 160 |
Photo credits: Tomas Stacha, Eloy Cabacas / Rational Intellectual Holdings Ltd.
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