Dimitar Danchev Wins the 2013 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event
After seven grueling days of battle, including a final table that lasted roughly seven hours, the 2013 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event finally came to an end Sunday evening in the Bahamas. Bulgarian Dimitar Danchev outlasted a field of 987 to capture the title and the $1,859,000 first-place prize that accompanies it. Danchev was able to best fellow professional poker player Joel Micka heads-up to claim the title, making for a historic conclusion to the 10th anniversary of the PCA. Danchev is the first Bulgarian to take down a major title on the European Poker Tour.
2013 PCA Main Event Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dimitar Danchev | $1,859,000 |
| 2 | Joel Micka | $1,190,000 |
| 3 | Jerry Wong | $725,000 |
| 4 | Jonathan Roy | $560,000 |
| 5 | Owen Crowe | $435,000 |
| 6 | Andrey Shatilov | $325,000 |
| 7 | Yann Dion | $230,000 |
| 8 | Joao Nogueira | $165,900 |
The road to the final table was not an easy one with 987 entrants showing up for a shot at the tenth PCA Main Event championship prize. The event held two starting flights that saw a slew of professional poker players and notables hit the felt. Well-known pros Barry Greenstein, Jean-Robert Bellande, Tom Dwan, Ben Lamb, and Team PokerStars Pros Jason Mercier, Marcel Luske, Mickey Petersen, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, and Shane Schleger were just a small sample of the players who fell on their first days of play.
Day 2 saw the field whittled to 166 as Phil Ivey, Jonathan Little, Chris Moorman, Tom Marchese, Erik Cajelais, Cherish Andrews, and 2012 PCA fourth-place finisher Xuan Liu found themselves without chips before the final level ended.
Those to survive Day 3 officially earned cash for their efforts. Players like Greg Mueller, Carlos Mortensen, Scott Clements, and PokerStars Team Online member Tatiana Barausova made the money but were eliminated before the tournament reached its final stages. After several grueling levels of play over Days 4 and 5 and the eliminations of such big names like Eugene Katchalov, Joe Serock, Mohsin Charania, Olivier Busquet, Eddy Sabat, Darren Elias, and Robert Mizrachi, the final table bubble officially loomed.
It was Ryan Fair who burst the final table bubble when he was all-in preflop with A?6? against the A?10? of Joel Micka. Fair was unable to improve and our final table was set.
2013 PCA Main Event Final Table
| Seat | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joao Nogueira | 2,890,000 |
| 2 | Dimitar Danchev | 1,995,000 |
| 3 | Andrey Shatilov | 3,220,000 |
| 4 | Owen Crowe | 2,900,000 |
| 5 | Jerry Wong | 7,400,000 |
| 6 | Jonathan Roy | 1,525,000 |
| 7 | Joel Micka | 6,475,000 |
| 8 | Yann Dion | 2,535,000 |
Jerry Wong came into the final table as a massive chip leader, but his roller coaster day began when he doubled up Danchev early on. While Wong's stack was fluctuating, it was Joao Nogueira, the man who qualified for this event through a $1.10 satellite, who became the first casualty of the final table. With the blinds at 50,000/100,000 with a 10,000 ante, Micka opened to 200,000 from the cutoff. Nogueira shipped all in for his last 1.375 million from the small blind and Micka called.
Micka: Q?Q?
Nogueira: A?6?
Nogueira was looking for an ace but did not find it as the board ran out 9?6?J?K?J?. Despite being the first playereliminated, Nogueira will forever have the incredible story of turning $1.10 into $165,000 for his spectacular run.
Next to exit was Canadian pro Yann Dion, who moved his short stack all in while holding A?9?. Jonathan Roy raised all in over the top with A?K? and was crushing Dion, who did not improve on the subsequent streets and was forced to settle for seventh place as he shipped his chips to friend and countryman Roy.
Andrey Shatilov and Owen Crowe were the next to go in a spectacular hand that resulted in a double elimination. A short-stacked Shatilov moved in for his last 750,000 from the button only to have Crowe three-bet all in for 1.675 million from the small blind. Wong had both players covered and overcalled from the big blind.
Shatilov: J?8?
Crowe: A?9?
Wong: A?K?
The Q?4?2? flop was of no help to anybody, leaving Wong with his lead. The 4? on the turn gave Crowe outs to chop but the 7? on the river was not one of them. Shatilov began the hand with fewer chips and finished in sixth place, collecting $325,000, while Crowe took home $435,000 for fifth.
A few hands later Roy was another casualty of Wong, as well after a preflop five-bet confrontation. By absorbing Roy's chip stack, Wong became the commanding force at the final table.
It took just one level for Wong to lose most of his chips to his two opponents, and, seemingly out of nowhere, he found himself all in and at risk. With the blinds at 60,000/120,000 and a 10,000 ante, Micka opened to 240,000 from the button. Wong three-bet to 650,000 and Micka called to see a flop.
The dealer spread out A?K?5? and Wong continued for 725,000. Micka raised him all in for about 3.5 million more effective and Wong snapped him off.
Micka: 8?6?
Wong: A?Q?
Wong's aces were out in the lead, but Micka was drawing quite live. He picked up even more outs when the 8? fell on fourth street. Micka did not make his flush on the river but instead made two pair with the 6?, and just like that, the chip leader coming into the final table saw his demise. Wong took home $725,000 in tournament winnings, and his elimination thrust the remaining two into heads-up play.
Micka began heads-up play with a chip lead that was quickly relinquished when Danchev was able to win a crucial race situation for his tournament life. This double-up brought Danchev into a slight chip lead, and he continued to lean on Micka for the rest of the match.
With the blinds at 100,000/200,000 with a 30,000 ante, the battle finally came to a head when Danchev opened to 400,000 on the button and Micka three-bet shoved all in from the big blind for 6.675 million. Danchev called and the two were off to the races.
Micka: 4?4?
Danchev: A?Q?
Danchev jumped into the lead when the flop fell A?6?2?, pairing his ace and thus putting him only two cards away from a championship. The 10? fell on the turn and the 7? on the river, sealing Micka's fate and writing history for Danchev. Micka's second place finish earned the online grinder a payday of $1,190,000.
That does it for our coverage of the 2013 PCA Main Event! Be sure to stay tuned to our coverage as the $25,000 High Roller concludes the 10th anniversary of the PCA!
