The most highly anticipated event of the 2019 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure concluded with Platinum Pass winner Ramon Colillas becoming the envy of all. The Spaniard was the last man standing at the US$ 25,000 PokerStars Players Championship awarding him a mind-blowing US$ 5,100,000. Colillas was one of two players in the top 3 that earned his ticket for free, the other was Philippines player Marc Rivera who finished in 3rd place for over US$ 2.1 Million.
The PSPC took place from January 6 to 10 in the Bahamas. With 1,039 players turning up, the pot swelled to a jaw-dropping US$ 26,455,500 making it the richest freezeout tournament in history of that buy-in. Just a quick rundown on the numbers, 320 players were Platinum Pass holders which meant any cash was instant profit. Out of the 181 ITM players, 42 of them achieved this with champion Colillas the wealthiest of all.
Here’s a look at the final 8 payouts and a brief review of the final table.
Final 8 payouts
1st Ramon Colillas – Spain – US$ 5,100,000 (Platinum Pass winner)
2nd Julien Martini – France – US$ 2,974,000
3rd Marc Rivera – Philippines – US$ 2,168,000 (Platinum Pass winner)
4th Scott Baumstein – USA – US$ 1,657,000
5th Jason Koonce – USA – US $1,304,000
6th Marc Perrault – Canada – US $1,012,000
7th Farid Jattin – Colombia – US $746,000
8th Talal Shakerchi – UK – US $509,000
Final table review
The final table was an even split. Half the field already had accrued seven-digits in live tournament career earnings while the other half were looking to land that one big score. Not to say that the 8th place payout of US$ 509,000 was low, not at all, however two notches higher was the start of the millionaire club
Missing the club was Talal Shakerchi who fell in 8th place to Julien Martini. It was a nasty bust with aces cracked by a nut flush. Still the half a mil beefed him up to US$ 6,7 Million in live career earnings. Martini went on to rail Farid Jattin next ensuring everyone remaining a mouth-watering payday.
Exiting 6th was short-stacked Marc Perrault followed by Jason Koonce in 5th place. Both players became instant millionaires.
As for Scott Baumstein, the chip leader for both Day 3 and the final 8, he met his end in 4th place with Martini sending down the axe once again. Baumstein collected his first career million, US$ 1.657M to be exact, to add to his US$ 1.9M live winnings gradually earned since 2009.
Marc Rivera takes 3rd
This left two Platinum Pass holders – Colillas and Rivera – and one WSOP bracelet winner – Martini – vying for the glory. For Rivera, it was not to be. His incredible ride was stopped short in 3rd place by none other than the hatchet man Martini now credited with four eliminations.
As the lone Asian at the final table, a bit more background is certainly due. Rivera is a well-known high stakes cash game player from the Philippines. It was only after cashing three times at the 2018 WSOP did he consistently attend more tournaments in his home country. He won a free trip to the Bahamas for his victory at the APPT Manila National Event in August joining two other Filipino winners, pros Mike Takayama and Lester Edoc.
While both of his fellow mates fell early, his deep finish at the PSPC earned him US$ 2,168,000. This is the largest cash anyone from his homeland has ever shipped. In fact, no Filipino has ever collected seven digits in a single event. For this, Rivera jumped from 10th position to the top of the Philippines All Time Money List. He surpassed Noli Francisco who has been parked at the top since the Jurassic Age. Undoubtedly, these are huge milestones for someone just entering the live scene.
Heads up
Entering the heads up round, Martini had the edge having knocked out the previous two players. However, this time, he would be denied the ticker-tape. Colillas went on the grind and within just half an hour, the Spaniard took the lead on a very lucky runner-runner full house over flush at the flop. From there, Colillas continued to dominate and soon found all the chips in his corner for a life-changing payout of US$ 5,160,000. Prior to winning, Colillas only had $10,873 in live earnings.
You can view the final table action in the video below:
Article by Tricia David
Louis Hartwell
Graduated in Media Communication at the University of Lausanne, Louis Hartman is a co-founder of somuchpoker.com. He began his career in Cambodia as freelance journalist. In same time he was making his living by playing poker every night at that time. Intense learner, he read dozens of poker strategy books to improve his skills during many years. With a strong interest about poker "behind the scene" in Asia and his communication skills, Louis launched Somuchpoker in 2014.
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