Day 1a of the $10,000,000 Guarantee Main Event from the 2014 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure has come to a close. A total of 295 players came out to action for this starting flight, and roughly 200 of them have advanced to Day 2. Emerging as the chip leader was Dylan Hortin. He bagged up an impressive 160,500 in chips and has set the bar high for everyone else.
Several notables kicked off their poker year in this event, but for some of them, it didn't quite go as planned. Team PokerStars Pro Lex Veldhuis saw his hopes dashed early, as did fellow Team Pro Vanessa Rousso. PokerStars Team Online member Mickey Petersen was also eliminated on Day 1a.
Another player who busted was also arguably the most high-profile entry in this event thus far, and that was former NBA star Gilbert Arenas. The three-time NBA All-Star only lasted two full levels before busting at the start of Level 3. He was eliminated at the hands of the overnight chip leader, and that is where Hortin's building began.
Of those who managed to survive were Calvin Anderson, Joseph Cheong, Eugene Katchalov, Liv Boeree, John Juanda, and the reigning World Series of Poker Main Event champion Ryan Riess. Riess got down to under 10,000 relatively early in the day, but turned things around a little bit and finished on 16,500.
Tomorrow will be the second and final starting flight to this marquee event, and it is expected that around 700 players will be in the mix. If the event is going to hit the $10,000,000 guarantee, the Imperial Ballroom at the Atlantis Resort is going to have to be packed from wall to wall.
Day 1b will commence at 12 p.m. local time, and you can be sure to find all of your live updates right here on PokerNews.com.
Martin Raus raised to 1,075 from early position and Eugene Katchalov defended his big blind, landing a flop to the table.
Katchalov checked to Raus who continued for 1,300, only to see Katchalov check-raise to 3,500, Raus called, the hit the turn, and Katchalov bet 4,500. Raus called again, resulting in the river completing the board. Katchalov shoved for effectively 12,575 and Raus snap called.
Katchalov tabled for jacks full of aces, but Raus turned over for quad fives.
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Former NBA star Gilbert Arenas has been eliminated, and he was busted by Dylan Hortin right at the start of Level 3.
According to JC Alvarado, who was seated across the table from Arenas, Hortin had opened from under the gun to 600, and Arenas tossed out two chips in an attempt to make the call. The problem was, the two chips he tossed out were one yellow T1,000 chip and one black T100 chip, totaling 1,100. His action was ruled a raise to 1,100. Action then folded back to Hortin, and he made it 5,000 to go.
Arenas made a comment along the lines of, "Oh, you're going to do me like that? I still like my hand, though." He then moved all in for around 27,000, to which Hortin snap-called.
Hortin tabled , which had the suited for Arenas in bad shape. Despite being dominated, the flop gave Arenas much more hope than anticipated. Following bricks on the turn and river, though, Arenas was eliminated from the tournament as he failed to come from behind.
Hortin collected the pot and moved to roughly 65,000 in chips.
Poker tournaments attract all types of people — professional grinders, amateur players, celebrities, and athletes. One such athlete that is making the dive into this massive $10,000,000 guaranteed PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event is former NBA star Gilbert Arenas.
A three-time NBA All-Star, the 32-year-old "Agent Zero" has no known tournament results, but that doesn't mean he isn't familiar with the game. It is very well known that many NBA players (along with most other athletes) love to play poker, especially while on the road with their teammates. Arenas, though, was reportedly involved in a confrontation with former teammate Jarvaris Crittendon about a poker game, and then allegedly brought multiple guns into the team's locker room.
In January 2010, the NBA suspended Arenas indefinitely for the remainder of the season. He was then traded from the Washington Wizards the following season to the Orlando Magic. After his stint with the Magic, Arenas joined the Memphis Grizzlies and played with them for one season. He then signed with the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association in November 2012.
Just last month, Arenas told TMZ that he was going to change his plans for retirement and instead train to get back into the NBA.
Only time will tell if Arenas will be able to make any noise in this event, but he definitely doesn't look like he's a newbie to the game. He handles his chips well and can be seen paying good attention to the action at his table. We'll keep you posted as to how he proceeds as the day moves on.
Welcome to live coverage of the 2014 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event!
Paradise Island in the Bahamas is once again the center of the poker universe to kick off the calender year and the Imperial Ballroom of the Atlantis Resort is where all of the poker action will unfold.
As poker's largest festival outside of the World Series of Poker, the PCA consistently draws a star-studded Main Event field. Last year, Bulgarian pro Dimitar Danchev topped a field of 987 to claim the first-place prize of $1,859,000. While Danchev is scheduled to play on Day 1b tomorrow, there will be familiar faces throughout the Day 1a field today. Team PokerStars Pros Eugene Katchalov, Jake Cody, Liv Boeree, Vanessa Rousso, David Williams, Maxim Lykov, Johnny Lodden, Christophe De Meulder, and Lex Veldhuis are scheduled to play, and will be joined by PokerStars Team Online's Mickey Petersen and Marc-Andre Ladouceur.
Also expected to take to the felt today are 2012 PCA Main Event final tablists Kyle Julius and Faraz Jaka, as well as the likes of Griffin Benger, Sorel Mizzi, Olivier Busquet, Paul Volpe, Bryn Kenney, and Steven Silverman, to name a few.
There was also a sighting of former NBA star Gilbert Arenas in the tournament room yesterday, and rumor has it he'll be in the Main Event field at some point. If that happens today, you can bet you'll be the first to know about it.
With a $10,000,000 guaranteed prize pool this year, a seven-figure first-place prize will be awarded for the ninth consecutive year. Here is a look at past champions, including their first-place prize and the field sizes they bested.
Year
Winner
1st Prize
Entries
2013
Dimitar Danchev
$1,859,000
987
2012
John Dibella
$1,775,000
1,072
2011
Galen Hall
$2,300,000
1,560
2010
Harrison Gimbel
$2,200,000
1,529
2009
Poorya Nazari
$3,000,000
1,347
2008
Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier
$2,000,000
1,136
2007
Ryan Daut
$1,535,255
937
2006
Steve Paul-Ambrose
$1,388,600
724
2005
John Gale
$890,600
461
Play is schedule to kick off at 12 p.m. local time, so be sure to follow along throughout the day for live updates on all of the exciting action!
![[user68268]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
flop to the table.
hit the turn, and Katchalov bet 4,500. Raus called again, resulting in the 
river completing the board. Katchalov shoved for effectively 12,575 and Raus snap called.
for jacks full of aces, but Raus turned over 
for quad fives.
for Arenas in bad shape. Despite being dominated, the 
flop gave Arenas much more hope than anticipated. Following bricks on the turn and river, though, Arenas was eliminated from the tournament as he failed to come from behind.
