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PokerStars Gears Up for Historic PSPC in Bahamas

Written by Jennifer Newell
Last updated on
Jennifer Newell

Poker players from around the world spent much of today traveling to the airport in Nassau, Bahamas, then catching a cab or shuttle to Paradise Island, and exploring some of the massive Atlantis resort. Every January since 2004, players of varying bankrolls have been making the trek to the island for the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure – or some variation thereof – for one of the most popular live poker tournament series of the year.

Attendance in the past few years has waned, primarily due to the inability of poker players in countries like the United States to play on PokerStars and win prize packages or tournament entries that make the trip less expensive.

PokerStars decided to fix that. For more than a year now, PokerStars has been awarding prize packages worth $30K to bring people to the PCA for a tournament that aims to make history. And many of the players getting settled into their rooms tonight at Atlantis have never played a $25K buy-in tournament in their lives or even dreamed it would be possible to do so.

There is excitement in the air in the Bahamas tonight, and it all revolves around a historic tournament that will get underway tomorrow, January 6.

PSPC Details

The major action will get underway at the PCA on January 6 with the PokerStars Players No Limit Hold’em Championship, better known as the PSPC.

The buy-in is $25K, but there will be no rake taken or PokerStars or the resort/casino. No reentries will be allowed, and registration will only be open until the start of Day 2. Play will begin with 60-minute levels but reduced to 30 minutes per level once the final table reduces the field to just three players.

Even more, PokerStars is adding approximately $8 million to the total prize pool in the form of free entries. And the winner will receive an extra $1 million beyond what the prize pool dictates.

Best of all, those free entries mean that more than 300 of the players in the tournament won their seats – and entire PCA trips – over the course of the past year. Some high-stakes players won them by claiming victory in various large tournaments throughout the year, some by bubbling those tournaments, but the majority of players won their prize packages by winning small buy-in events held around the world. Others won key online poker events. Some competed in various challenges to win their way to the PCA. And some of them even won the trips through Twitter, general goodwill, and holiday generosity.

A winner will be crowned on January 10. And it promises to be a big deal.

Stars and PokerStars Pros

As expected, the roster of Team PokerStars Pros will be at the PCA, and it is assumed that most will be playing in the PSPC. Daniel Negreanu, Chris Moneymaker, Liv Boeree, Jason Somerville, Maria Konnikova, Jeff Gross, and Fatima Moreira de Melo are just some of the pros that are scheduled to play in many of the events.

PokerStars also announced that comedian Norm Macdonald will be at the PCA and headlining a comedy performance. Bruce Buffer will be playing and announcing the “shuffle up and deal” at the start of Day 1. Championship skateboarder Tony Hawk will play with any winnings going to his own charitable foundation. Spanish golfer Sergio Garcia will also be in the field, as will NBA star Paul Pierce.

Much More Poker

The PCA is all about a variety of poker action. There are 41 tournaments listed on the series schedule that got off to a soft start today and will continue through January 16. Cash games and satellites will be offered as well.

Besides the PSPC, other main attractions for players include the $10K Main Event set for January 11-16, $50K High Roller on January 9, $100K Super High Roller on January 12 and another from January 10-12, and a $25K High Roller from January 14-16.

Online PSPC?

Just this week, PokerStars announced an online tournament to accompany the PSPC, only on a much smaller scale.

The MiniPSPC will begin online at PokerStars on January 6 and run through the 10th, just as the live event will take place in the Bahamas. But more people will be able to play because the buy-in is only $25. Like the live event, there will be no rake, and players can register for the first 24 hours of the tournament.

One major difference is that the online version will offer 20-minute levels, much shorter the live PSPC, and the final table will happen on January 11 with only six players.

There may be $9 million added to the live PSPC, but the MiniPSPC will have $9K added.

Stories Upon Stories

Poker will be played in the coming days. The PSPC guarantees serious action and five days of intense poker. But there is something else that everyone can follow: the stories.

Approximately 320 of the people in the tournament won their way into the PSPC. PokerStars has chronicled their journeys and told many of their stories on its blog. Many of the industry’s best writers are also in the Bahamas to write from the scene, and there is no doubt that the blog will be overflowing with some of the best stories the game has to offer.

We will provide highlights of the action from afar, but watch the PokerStars blog for the player-focused articles. Many readers may remember all over again why they fell in love with poker in the first place.

 

 

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