Paradise Island Poker Tournament

• Paradise Island Poker Tournament
• Paradise Island Poker Tournaments

The old Crystal Palace casino had a poker room for a few months. But it was granted by the gaming board as a 'test run'. But they decided it was not a profit maker, and hard to regulate, so they revoked that trial run. Atlantis does host poker tournaments a couple times a year, but you have to pay to enter. Paradise Poker offers both cash games and a variety of different kinds of tournaments. Most revolutionary are the satellite tournaments that can earn your entrance into bigger live events such as the World Series of Poker.

Bruce Drake of Alberta, Canada has no pants. Or, better put, he has no pants with which he has an intimate relationship. Maybe that's what makes him seem a bit curmudgeonly as play starts on Day 2 of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event.

Understand, Drake--a PokerStars qualifier--is not a tired old man, but he'll let you believe he is.

'All you young guys surviving on Jolt Cola and Red Bull,' he scoffs at the youths of Table 4.

Forgetting for a moment that many people under the age of 30 have never heard of Jolt Cola, we can still rest assured Drake isn't feeling his age as much as he lets on.

'The young guys have been great,' he said. 'I like to play up the old guy edge a little bit. I just use that to put them back on their heels a little bit.'

At 46 years old, Drake is outfitted like a man on vacation. His khaki shorts still have the manufacturer's crease in them. His Atlantis t-shirt has never been washed or worn. Since he's arrived three days ago, he's done little else but play poker. As a 40-year-old married man myself, I make the quick assumption he's not here with his spouse.

'My wife let me go on my own,' he said. 'She said 'It's your hobby,' gave me a kiss for luck, and sent me out the door.'

The luck might be working for poker (after all, Drake made Day 2 of the Main Event), but it didn't work for his pants. Or his shirts. Or his toothbrush.

Drake--like many other people here today became a victim of the dreaded and much-storied Polar Vortex, aka, that really bad cold snap that shut down a big portion of North America for a day or so.

'Three hours to fly to Toronto, four hours to wait for a gate,' he said. 'This is my third day here. I don't even have luggage.'

On any other trip, that might be a problem, but for this one, it's hardly an issue. Drake, a land surveyor by trade, is a resourceful man. Also, he's not had much need for anything than poker room attire. I asked him what he's doing when he's not playing poker.

'Playing poker,' he said.

Souvenir t-shirts from Atlantis aren't the type of thing that necessarily come cheaply, so it's fair to worry about Drake's bankroll. Fortunately, part of his PCA qualifier package included a resort credit on his room.

'Thank you very much to PokerStars for the room credit so I can afford to buy clothes,' Drake said.

PokerStars says, 'You're welcome,' Bruce. (And, to be fair, that money comes out of the qualifiers' prize pool). And if you somehow manage to avoid all those young guys and win the tournament, you can buy all the souvenir Atlantis t-shirts you want.

Our coverage of the 2014 PCA is comprehensive on PokerStars Blog, and it is simple to follow. The PCA 2014 Main Event page has a box at the top in which you'll find hand-by-hand coverage and chip counts after the action commences at noon. Below that are feature pieces, interviews and analysis updated throughout the day. You can also follow the action on PCA Live.

'Thank you very much to PokerStars for the room credit so I can afford to buy clothes,' Drake said.

PokerStars says, 'You're welcome,' Bruce. (And, to be fair, that money comes out of the qualifiers' prize pool). And if you somehow manage to avoid all those young guys and win the tournament, you can buy all the souvenir Atlantis t-shirts you want.

Our coverage of the 2014 PCA is comprehensive on PokerStars Blog, and it is simple to follow. The PCA 2014 Main Event page has a box at the top in which you'll find hand-by-hand coverage and chip counts after the action commences at noon. Below that are feature pieces, interviews and analysis updated throughout the day. You can also follow the action on PCA Live.

Brad Willis is the PokerStars Head of Blogging

Table Of Contents

The PokerStars Caribbean Adventure is no more.

After 16 years, most of it spent being one of the premier live stops on the international poker scene, PokerStars has opted to discontinue the event, according to reporting from PocketFives.

The relevant sentence comes at the bottom of the linked piece, in a quote from PokerStars Marketing Director Eric Hollreiser.

'It's no secret that after 15 successful years, the PCA [prior to last year's PSPC] has been losing momentum and there's been increasing player criticism of the location,' Hollreiser said. 'As such, we will not be returning to Paradise Island in 2020.'

History of the PCA

PCA began as a partnership with the World Poker Tour, taking place on a cruise ship in 2004 and hosting a field of 221 players. Poker legend Gus Hansen would ship the inaugural event, then a $7,500 buy-in, for $455,780.

The next year the PCA moved to its famous home at Atlantis Resort, the sprawling and opulent set-up that occupies almost half of Paradise Island. Lakeside inn & casino stateline nv.

Over the years there, the series would eventually evolve into becoming part of PokerStars' European Poker Tour, with the buy-in goosed up to $10,300. It would eventually stand as one of just a few remaining $10K main events on the overall live schedule, although the buy-in was dropped to $5,300 for a couple of years, including the one year the event was rebranded as PokerStars Championship Bahamas in 2017.

The PCA peaked in terms of prizes awarded in 2009, when little-known Canadian Poorya Nazari won a monstrous official first-place of $3 million, although it was widely reported thata deal had been struck at some point before the finish. In terms of entries, the PCA Main Event peaked during the two following years when 1,529 and 1,560 turned up, respectively.

The Main Event was far from the only big draw at PCA. It also hosted some of the first and biggest $100K events in poker before that was just another tournament in the procession of high rollers. The $25K High Roller was also usually one of the most well-attended on the calendar.

Declining Attendance

Paradise Island Poker Tournament

While the PCA for years could count itself a premier live poker stop, it had fallen on somewhat hard times in recent years.

Paradise Island Poker Tournaments

After attendance peaked in 2011, the lack of online satellites available to North American players contributed to a large attendance drop back to 1,072 in 2012 — about two-thirds of the previous year's total. As the poker environment became tougher and edges shrank, the attractiveness of an expensive stay on an island resort went down as well.

A further drop of about 20 percent — from 1,031 to 816 — in 2015 convinced PokerStars brass to try lowering the buy-in to the aforementioned $5,300. The move did little, as a bump of about 100 entries just meant the prize pool dropped massively, awarding its first winner's prize below seven figures since 2005.

Things only got worse the following year, and 2018's return to $10,300 saw attendance drop in the number of entries to 582, a level not seen since 2005 as well.

The PCA received a major shot in the arm in 2019 when the PokerStars Players No-Limit Hold'em Championship was announced. While the landmark event would run alongside the PCA Main Event, the lure of the most lucrative $25K in history was enough to bring out plenty of grinders and push Main Event attendance back up to 865 for Chino Rheem's victory.

However, that always looked to be temporary fix given that the PSPC was thought to be a one-off and certainly looked unlikely to be repeated every year. With the news that the event will move to Barcelona for 2020, it was confirmed that there would be no similar life raft to keep the 2020 PCA afloat, and PokerStars opted to end the long-running event rather than risk continued decline.

Barring a reboot some time down the road, that means Rheem will go down as the final PCA Main Event champion, closing the books on one of poker's longest-running and most lucrative tournament series.

Tables of PCA Major Event Winners

Main Event

$100K Super High Roller

$25K High Roller

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