ShareIke Haxton started the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) this week where he ended off last week’s PokerGO Cup, by taking down a title – this time the $100k buy-in SHR and a monster $1,082,230 cash after a three-way ICM deal...
Haxton was one of 49 entries as the PCA got underway in the Baha Mar resort in the Bahamian port of Nassau, with Justin Bonomo, Bryn Kenney, Fedor Holz and Patrik Antonius among the stacked field chasing seven paid spots.
England’s Ben Heath was the unfortunate player to bust on the money bubble late on day two, at the hands of Spain’s Adrian Mateos...
Heath: 9♠9♦
Mateos: J♥ J♦
Board: K♦ Q♦ 7♥ 2â™ Qâ™
Tim Adams, one of three Canadians to make the money, fell shortly afterwards in 7th spot for a $249,600 payday, leaving the final six to return for day three and a shot at the $1.5million top prize.
Unfortunately for Canadian poker fans, neither Dvoress nor Mike Watson could do anything with their short stacks, falling to Pardo and Haxton respectively. It wasn’t to be Pardo’s day, however, as the Spanish pro then went from chip leader to 4th place casualty, leaving Haxton, Davies and Mateos to battle out the podium spots.
After Haxton’s chip lead was whittled back to an average stack, the trio decided to do an ICM chop and then play turbo-style to decide a champion.
Mateos edged the payouts, Davies pocketed his career-best cash, and Haxton closed in on Steve O’Dwyer’s 14th spot in the all-time moneywinners list.
Syracuse-born Haxton took out both of his rivals to lift the trophy and explained the decision to do a deal to PokerNews after his victory: "I think Seth and Adrian are both really great players, so once we got to even stacks, I was perfectly happy to chop it up.
“When I had the big chip lead, I thought, you know, I have an advantage there from the chip lead that isn't fully captured by the same calculation and it's hard to agree on a number.”
He added, “So we didn't really even discuss it up until that point. I think basically everyone's on the same page about that. It's really difficult to chop three-handed when stacks are very different because it's hard to reach an agreement about what everybody's position is worth. But then once it got to equal, I think, yeah, we're all just happy to lock $1,000,000 each and call it a day.”
Final results
| 1 | Ike Haxton | $1,082,230* |
| 2 | Seth Davies | $1,078,347* |
| 3 | Adrian Mateos | $1,095,903* |
| 4 | Juan Pardo | $522,900 |
| 5 | Mike Watson | $404,100 |
| 6 | Daniel Dvoress | $320,900 |
| 7 | Timothy Adams | $249,600 |
*After 3-handed ICM deal
Of his back-to-back wins at the PokerGO Cup and the PCA, Haxton stated: “I don't think I've ever won two tournaments in a row before, and these are pretty good ones to do it in...so yeah, I'm feeling great. This is a fantastic start to the year.”
Meanwhile, day two of the $10k Main Event takes place today, the prizepool set at a whopping $6.2million. We’ll bring you all the best of the action and results from the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure so be sure to check in for your daily updates!
