The Top 5 Reasons to Qualify for the PokerStars Carribean Adventure
Paradise Island, Bahamas. We know, it’s such a hard sell, which is part of the reason that the PokerStars Carribean Adventure is at the top of everyone’s list when it comes to the best tournament experiences of the year.
The PCA is not so much a poker tournament anymore, but a full-blown festival of poker that keeps on growing year after year. In 2009, 1,347 players journeyed to the Atlantis Resort and played in the PCA Main Event, creating a prize pool that eclipsed $12.6 million — that’s a long way from 2004 when Gus Hansen topped a field of 221.
If you need just a little more convincing about why you should try and win your way to the 2010 PCA, here are our top five reasons to qualify.
5. Fifty events to choose from
The PCA is no one-shot deal when it comes to tournaments. Aside from the $9,700 Main Event, 50 side events are on this year’s schedule from spanning every discipline of poker from PLO8 to Badugi to 6-max limit hold’em.
Love the 8-Game tables on PokerStars? You'll find three 8-Game tournaments at the PCA with buy-ins ranging from $500 to $5,000.
Is heads-up play your specialty? Try out the “Battleship” events where two opponents play an online heads-up no-limit hold’em match in a live setting.
Several ladies-only events are also planned for this year’s PCA including a $1,000 NLHE main event as well as a Ladies Poker Bootcamp with instruction from Team PokerStars Pros Vanessa Rousso, Vicky Coren and Katja Thater.
4. Bring the family
If there ever was a poker festival that is also family friendly, the PCA is it. So what if your significant other doesn’t know a flop from a river? Bring your honey to the Bahamas and give the kids a few extra days of Christmas vacation while you’re at it. There are miles of beaches, nearly a dozen pools, and the world-renowned Dolphin Cay where you can get up close to a pod of 14 bottlenose dolphins. Oh, and did we mention the 141-acre water park?
3. Rub elbows with the pros
In many ways, the PCA is like summer camp for online poker players. Screen names are put to faces and players get the chance to not only socialize with their peers, but also mingle with some of the world’s greatest players.
Team PokerStars Pro will be out en masse for the PCA, you’ll get a chance to hang out with the likes of Daniel Negreanu, Humberto Brenes, Joe Hachem, Greg Raymer, Barry Greenstein, and newly minted WSOP Main Event champion Joe Cada both on and off the felt.
2. Winning a seat won't bust your bankroll
It doesn’t matter whether you have $20 or $200,000 in your PokerStars account — there’s a way for you to win your way to the PCA. Cash satellites start from $1.10.
If you’ve been hoarding those Frequent Player Points for a rainy day, put them in action! You can roll up a PCA package with as few as 5 FPPs.
We’re big fans of the Step satellites here at PokerNews HQ, and they are running around the clock with $15,300 PCA packages at the end of the rainbow for winning a Step 6. Start with a Step 1 for $7.50 or 500 FPPs and check out our Bankroll Builders guide to Step satellites for some tips on strategy.
1. It's the Bahamas in January, hello!
Seriously, need we say more? Whether you’re in Albany or Atlanta, Richmond or Reykjavik, you’re likely freezing your ass off right now. It’s 86 degrees in the Bahamas right now. Think about how much you’d like it to be sitting outside in that 86 degrees, sipping a cold one and looking out at crystal blue waters, and get yourself on the satellite grind.
PCA Satellites are running 24/7 on PokerStars. Sign up for an account today and win your way to the Bahamas.
