While the first couple of weeks of the year were quiet in terms of poker tournaments, things have heated up down in the Caribbean. The PokerStars Caribbean Adventure has produced a number of big winners, including one who cashed in thanks to a joker. We’ll recap those big wins and one other as we review the poker news of the week:
Greenwood Wins $1.7 Million At PCA $100,000 Super High Roller
Sam Greenwood has won again. That should come as no surprise to anyone as he’s now considered one of the best poker players on the circuit. His latest win added $1.7 million to the war chest, pushing him over $14 million in career earnings.
Greenwood’s win came at the no-limit hold’em PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $100,000 Super High Roller tournament. He blitzed through the final day of competition, getting the big hands and knowing what to do with them. He eliminated three of the last four competitors at the table in a matter of a few hours. The final day lasted four hours in total, which is relatively quick work.
This was his sixth seven-figure cash, but he is intent on pursuing more championships. Henrik Hecklen was the runner-up and won just over $1,284,200, while Jesus Cortes was third with just over $828,500.
Adams Wins Single-Day High Roller
Sticking with the festivities at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, Timothy Adams earned himself a notable win. It was notable not only because he collected $372,508, but because of how he did it too.
In a final day that saw a number of seat changes, all-in calls and general drama, the winning hand will surely be a memorable one for Adams as well as onlookers. Down to a heads-up situation between Adams and Chidwick, the duo agreed to add a pair of jokers to the deck. The dealer had to check with the tournament director if this was allowed and when they got the green light, two were added. It turned out to be a bad decision for Chidwick as the jokers came back to haunt him. On the final hand of the night, Adams used a joker to make a pair of queens. With a third coming on the flop, he took home the big prize.
Chidwick was the runner-up and won just over $423,000. Alex Foxen was third with just over $207,000.
Colillas Wins No-Limit Hold’Em Players Championship
The largest $25,000 buy-in tournament in the history of poker has come and gone, and Ramon Colillas ended up taking home the big prize.
The PokerStars No-Limit Hold’Em Players Championship was heralded as the biggest $25,000 event in the game’s history as 1,039 entries joined the field. That created a massive first-place prize of $5.1 million and when the smoke cleared, Ramon Colillas prevailed. He entered the final table in fifth place but it was a very tight race at the time as he was just 10 big blinds behind the leader.
The 30-year-old Spaniard came out of nowhere, for the most part, as he had collected just $11,054 in career winnings before this. However, he gained entry via a Platinum Pass and made it count.
Julien Martini was the runner-up and won $2,974,000 while Marc Rivera placed third with $2,168,000.
In total, the top six players each won at least $1 million and over 1000 points towards the Card Player Player of the Year.