Bahamas Recap


Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier has been a known name on PokerStars for a long time as both a very successful and very high volume player.  Grospellier has now made his mark on the live poker scene as well.  He was able to take first place out of an impressive 1,135 entrants in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure for a tidy prize of $2,000,000 and a title on the European Poker Tour.

The PCA put up record breaking numbers again this year, having the most entrants of any event with a buyin over $5,000 other than World Series of Poker Main Event since 2004.  The field was a cross section of satellite winners, regular live pros, and successful young players who meet the 18 and up gambling age in the Bahamas but are too young to play in any of the events in the United States.

At the final table of eight, Grospellier led the online contingent while the live pros had a top representative there as well in the form of David “The Dragon” Pham.  Not only was “The Dragon” there, he was in control going into final table play with more than twice as many chips as his closest competitor.  With the blinds large and all ins a common theme, a few double ups can make the short stack the chip leader and turn a massive chip lead into just enough to post the blinds for another orbit or two.

While Grospellier was hitting key hands and picking up pots, Pham was headed the other direction, ultimately being eliminated in 4th place when his two pair fell to the flush on the river for Grospellier.  Pham had called a raise from Grospellier and both players checked the KhQh5d flop.  With the Jd on the turn Pham checked again and then came over the top all in for 2 million after Grospellier bet 700k.  ElkY made the call with the Ad2d for a flush draw with a gutshot.  A hot Grospellier didn’t cool off in this hand, and with the 7d on the river he was able to bust the favorite coming into final table play and send Pham home with a $600,000 consolation prize.

The EPT allows for deals, and Grospellier and runner up Haffa “hafizzle” Khan looked to take advantage of the option, though no official numbers on the deal were made public and the reported numbers are based on the payouts announced at the beginning of the tournament.

Here is a rundown of the final table finishes and payouts:

1st:  Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier  -  $2,000,000
2nd:  Haffa "hafizzle" Khan  -  $1,094,976
3rd:  Kris Kuykendall  -  $800,000
4th:  David "The Dragon" Pham  -  $600,000
5th:  Craig Hopkins  -  $450,000
6th:  Joseph "pokerjoe9" Elpayaa  -  $300,000
7th:  Christian "Charder" Harder  -  $200,000
8th:  Richard "Lee Nickel" Fohrenbach  -  $150,000

The top 120 players made the money with Victor Ramdin (25th), Eric “Rizen” Lynch (26th), Jon Friedberg (43rd), and Hevad Khan (45th) all finishing in the top 50 and being contenders for the title at some point.  Lynch and Friedberg had large chip stacks coming into the money bubble, but a tough hand here and there can totally change things, and both players saw their stacks dwindle along with the size of the field.  Friedberg was hoping to top his 9th place finish in this event one year ago, but will have to settle for back to back cashes and wait for next year to take another shot at a PCA final table.

The success of the PCA, whether as a World Poker Tour Event as it has been in the past or as part of the European Poker Tour as it was this year, is a credit to PokerStars and the team they put together, both at the Atlantis and behind the scenes. 

The challenges in hosting a tournament with over 1,000 entrants are immense, especially with many of the players finding themselves at their first ever live tournament and in need of guidance.  The tournament ran as smoothly as anyone could have hoped but with Lee Jones (Executive Host for the EPT) and the PokerStars Team involved who would expect anything less. 

Lee Jones was a guest on Poker Road Radio during the Bahamas tournament.  To hear what Lee had to say check out the radio show from Jan. 9th, 2008.  Other guests during the PCA included Isaac Haxton, Justin Bonomo, Eric “Rizen” Lynch, Chad Brown, and Vanessa Rousso.  All episodes can be found at www.pokerroad.com or through iTunes.