Friday, 29th March 2024 01:07
Home / Uncategorized / PCA 2014: Running good (right into trouble)

The path to this year’s PCA has been a tough one for many people. The so-called Polar Vortex that pounded North America canceled many flights and delayed even more. Twenty-one-year-old Raymond “Aznxray” Chen was among those people anxiously checking their watches at the airport gate.

See, getting out of Edmonton, Alberta isn’t the easiest task when the air is cold enough to freeze your breath. For Chen, it was a matter of simple run-good.

The full-time student’s good fortune began when he qualified for the PCA in a 25,000 FPP satellite. It meant a free trip to the Bahamas and a $10,000 entry in the year’s first big tournament.

Then, things turned ugly. One of his flights to the PCA was delayed by three hours.

“I thought I would miss the flight to Nassau,” he said.

But how good does he run? This good: the connecting flight to Nassau had mechanical problems, delaying it enough that Chen made his flight to paradise.

Raymond Chen_Main Event_Day 1B_2014 PCA_Giron_8JG8317.jpg

Now that he’s here, however, determining how good he’s running is another matter. See, when Chen walked in today, he found he was sitting at one of the toughest tables in the room. Seated around him are Team PokerStars Pro Marcin Horecki, Matt Stout, Steve O’Dwyer,and Chris Klodnicki. Worse that that, they are in the corner of the room full of tables that won’t get broken today.

So, Chen–while running good and flying good–has landed in a tough spot. While it may sound terrible, he’s already worked his 30,000 starting stack up to near 40,000. With the kind of luck he’s having, who’s to say he won’t find a way to make something good happen out of it. If an airline can do it, certainly Chen can.

Brad Willis is the PokerStars Head of Blogging

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