Carribean Adventure Poker Tournament
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Nolan Dalla
Director of Communications, PokerStars.com
nolan@pokerstars.com
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Craig Sinel / Scott Womer
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2006 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Attracts Record Turnout: Awards More Than $7 Million in Prize Money
College student Steve-Paul Ambrose wins $1.3 million first prize in championship event
PARADISE ISLAND, BAHAMAS - January 17, 2006 – The center of the poker universe moved to the Bahamas during the first two weeks of the new year as PokerStars.com hosted the third annual PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA). The poker tournament took place at the Atlantis Casino and Resort, on the beaches of Paradise Island. Most of the players attending won their tournament entries and paid vacations by qualifying online at PokerStars.com, the world’s largest and most innovative poker tournament website, some for as little as $6.
The championship event attracted a whopping 724 entries, over 60 percent higher than last year’s number, with a total prize pool of $5,647,200. The winner was Steve Paul-Ambrose, a 22-year-old college student from Canada. Ambrose, a student at the University of Waterloo (in Ontario), outplayed the huge field -- including the last three world poker champions – over a five-day span and won $1,363,100 for first place. He was cheered to victory by his mother, sister, and several friends who watched anxiously as the final table was taped for broadcast on the World Poker Tour. Ambrose won his way into the PCA via a satellite tournament held on PokerStars.com for a total investment of $102.
“I don’t think it has fully sunk in yet,” Ambrose at a post-tournament press conference. “I was just so excited to be playing with some of the greats like Raymer and Moneymaker, but I never thought I would win it all. I am so glad PokerStars put together this great event to allow someone like me to compete, to win, and now – to defend my title next year.”
Five of the six players who made it to the final table were relative newcomers to the poker tournament scene. Most who made it into the money were cashing in a live tournament for the first time ever – proving once again that online poker can be a significant training ground for major televised tournaments. The PCA also attracted several notable professionals and superstars, including current and former World Series of Poker champions Joe Hachem, Greg Raymer, Chris Moneymaker, and Tom McEvoy. But in the end, it was the young Canadian college student who walked away with the top prize.
The PCA also featured six secondary tournaments, which awarded over $1 million to winners. There were also a number of high-stakes cash games which attracted players from the United States and many countries throughout Europe, Central and South America. But perhaps the most memorable juncture at the PCA, aside from the record-setting main event, was the inaugural World Championship of Battleship Poker, launched exclusively by PokerStars.com. Sixty-four online poker players paid the $1,000 entry fee and played a series of heads-up matches reminiscent of the traditional parlor game, called “Battleship.” The matches were played online on PokerStars.com, but in a unique twist, each set of opponents was seated across from one another, battleship-style. Michael Banducci, from Traverse City, MI was the first-year winner.
“This year’s PCA was even bigger and better than we expected,” said Lee Jones, poker room manager for PokerStars.com. “And that’s really saying something based on our high expectations from last year. This tournament brought everything together – great poker action, a multi-million dollar prize pool, and world-class amenities at the Atlantis. Best of all – the PCA demonstrates once again that PokerStars.com is leading the way when it comes to originality and turning regular poker players into champions.”
Coverage of the 2006 PCA will be shown later this year on The Travel Channel as part of the network's hit show -- the World Poker Tour.
For more details, visit: http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/
About PokerStars
PokerStars (www.pokerstars.com) is the world's most innovative online poker site. PokerStars was the first site to introduce features that became industry standard such as sophisticated multi-table tournaments, integrated game statistics, players' notes, personalized images, time bank for tournaments and big bet ring games, satellite tournaments, multi-table sit and go tournaments, and much more.
To date, PokerStars has dealt over four billion hands and run more than 18 million poker tournaments, awarding well over $1 billion in prize money. PokerStars is one of the world’s largest poker rooms, with 4 million registered player accounts. PokerStars' support team is truly unique, as help and assistance is available around the clock from people who know and understand the game of poker and the importance of impeccable customer service.
The PokerStars.com site is also one of the most secure. PokerStars uses industry-leading security software to ensure the integrity of the system, including encryption, card shuffle randomness and preventative measures against cheating and collusion. Money covering player's balances is held in segregated accounts managed by the Royal Bank of Scotland, ensuring that PokerStars can fulfill its obligations to players at all times.
PokerStars is an official member of the World Poker Tour, and the title sponsor of the European Poker Tour (EPT) and the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. During the last three years, PokerStars.com sent more players to the World Series of Poker than any other source or website. A whopping 1,116 entrants qualified to play this year via PokerStars satellites. PokerStars is the site where the 2003 and 2004 World Series of Poker champions won entries into the World Series of Poker. The reigning world poker champion Joe Hachem, has also been an active player at PokerStars since 2001. He joined Moneymaker and Raymer as official representatives of PokerStars.com, thus fortifying the company trademark, "Where Poker Players Become World Champions."
