How Does Selbst's 2014 PCA Rank Amongst Best Recent Tournament Performances?
Coming out of the 2014 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, it's very clear that Vanessa Selbst had the best overall tournament series out of everyone that played. She cashed in the three largest events on the schedule — the $10,000 Main Event, the $25,000 High Roller, and the $100,000 Super High Roller — and earned over $1,400,000 million in prize money.
While that is one heck of a tournament series, it did leave myself and my PokerNews colleagues asking the question: What other recent performances, outside of the World Series of Poker, are on par with Selbst's outstanding 2014 PCA?
Looking back a couple of years, Justin Bonomo's performance from the 2012 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final sticks out. Bonomo won the €100,000 Super High Roller for $2,165,217, placed 28th in the €10,000 Main Event for $46,209, and took fourth in the €25,000 High Roller for $351,188. All told, Bonomo pocketed $2,562,614 in Monaco.
Outside of Bonomo, notables performances were had by Ole Schemion and David Benefield at the 2013 EPT Barcelona, and Igor Kurganov at the 2013 Aussie Millions. How well do those performances compare? Let's take a look, and keep in mind that we are considering only main events and high rollers with three or more results from a single festival.
To keep things nice and easy, we will refer to all prize amounts in USD for simple overall comparison.
At the beginning of 2013, "Team Germany" stormed Down Under and nearly cleaned out Crown Casino in Melbourne on their own, but it was Kurganov who had the best overall series. First, he finished runner-up in the AU$100,000 Challenge for $643,976. After that, a fourth-place finish in the AU$250,000 Challenge netted him $527,849. Then to top it off, Kurganov won the AU$25,000 Challenge for $290,317. Altogether, he earned $1,462,142.
Following the summer, the first stop on the EPT's new season was in Barcelona. In the beautiful Spanish city, it was Schemion and Benefield who stood out the most, even despite not actually winning a trophy.
Schemion took sixth in the €50,000 Super High Roller for $212,959, 123rd in the €5,000 Main Event for $13,377, and sixth in the €10,000 High Roller for $121,328 — a total of $347,664.
Not to be outdone, Benefield had very similar results. He finished fifth in the €50,000 Super High Roller for $278,439, 110th in the €5,000 Main Event for $15,183, and eighth in the €10,000 High Roller for $64,008 — a total of $357,630.
Lastly, the biggest overshadowing would definitely be from the 2014 PCA where Selbst put up all of her results, and again it involved Schemion.
At the 2014 PCA, the young, rising German star did something very similar to Selbst, and something also similar to his own 2013 EPT Barcelona. He took seventh in the $100,000 Super High Roller for $277,080, 144th in the $10,000 Main Event for $17,600, and seventh in the $25,000 High Roller for $216,040 — a total of $510,720.
| Player | Festival | Total Earnings |
|---|---|---|
| Justin Bonomo | 2012 EPT Grand Final | $2,165,217 |
| Igor Kurganov | 2013 Aussie Millions | $1,462,142 |
| Vanessa Selbst | 2014 PCA | $1,400,220 |
| Ole Schemion | 2014 PCA | $510,720 |
| David Benefield | 2013 EPT Barcelona | $357,630 |
| Ole Schemion | 2013 EPT Barcelona | $347,664 |
With the PCA kicking off the 2014 for poker in a big way and Selbst's performance earning her the early lead in the Global Poker Index Player of the Year race, big things are on the horizon this year and the action on the felt aims to be bigger and more impressive than ever.
Which performance do you think is the best? Voice your opinion in the comments section below.
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