$10,300 Main Event | 2018 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure

2018-01-14 11:18 UTC-4

$1,081,100 Awaits the Winner of the PCA 2018 Main Event!

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One of poker’s youngest phenoms will return to action this afternoon with the chip lead when play resumes on Day 6 of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure 2018 Main Event. Just five players stand in front of Spanish prodigy Adrian Mateos and his quest for a second PokerStars Main Event title.

Kicking off at 3:00 PM inside the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island in the Bahamas, 23-year old Mateos leads a stacked final table that includes Shawn Buchanan, Maria Lampropulos, Koray Aldemir, Daniel Coupal, and Christian Rudolph.

Seat	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	Maria Lampropulos	Argentina	3,505,000	44
2	Shawn Buchanan	Canada	3,755,000	47
3	Adrian Mateos	Spain	5,675,000	71
4	Daniel Coupal	Canada	1,275,000	16
5	Christian Rudolph	Germany	905,000	11
6	Koray Aldemir	Germany	2,340,000	29

Over the last couple years, few players have found the success that Mateos boasts. The three-time bracelet winner has amassed over $12 million in tournament earnings and was the 2017 GPI Player of the Year. Mateos has 11 career wins including the 2015 EPT Grand Final in Monaco.

Coming in with the second-best stack is Canadian Shawn Buchanan. The 35-year-old pro has been crushing the live an online poker scene for a long time amassing more than $6 million in live earnings and he has a record six SCOOP titles on the virtual felt.

Argentina's Maria Lampropulos sits in third place and has made quite a name for herself recently. Most notably, Lampropulos captured the partypoker Millions Nottingham for £1,000,000 and has over $1.7 million in career earnings.

German High Roller Koray Aldemir comes into Day 6 fourth-best but should feel right at home with his track record. Aldemir has over $7.7 million in tournament earnings and is no stranger to Mateos. In fact, Aldemir finished runner-up to Mateos when Mateos won his second WSOP bracelet in the $1,500 Summer Solstice event. Aldemir will not have forgotten that and will look to return the favor.

The only true relative unknown player left in the hunt is Canadian Daniel Coupal. Coupal is already guaranteed his best-ever live cash and with just $143,000 in career earnings, will almost double that no matter where he finishes today.

Coming in as the short-stack is German Christian Rudolph. Like Coupal, Rudolph is also guaranteed his best-ever live cash today having won $123,674 for finishing fourth in the 2013 Ceasers Palace Mega Stack Series Championship Event. Rudolph has impressive online results as well, with Sunday Million and Sunday Warm-Up victories under his belt.

Here is what the finalists have left to fight for:

Place	Prize	Place	Prize
1	$1,081,100	4	$372,600
2	$672,960	5	$293,560
3	$481,560	6	$229,760

The PokerStars TV cards-up broadcast starts at 3.30 p.m. local time. The stream is available in a wide number of languages, on desktop and mobile on PokerStars.tv, Facebook, YouTube and Twitch channels. PokerNews will bring you updates from the final table in conjunction with the live stream so not to spoil the outcome.

Follow @pokernews on Twitter for live updates and more. Also, follow PokerNews on Facebook and Instagram.

The player profiles underneath are courtesy of PokerStars.

Jogador	Fichas	Oscilação
Adrian Mateos	5,675,000
Shawn Buchanan	3,755,000
Maria Lampropulos	3,505,000
Koray Aldemir	2,340,000
Daniel Coupal	1,275,000
Christian Rudolph	905,000

Tags: Adrian Mateos Christian Rudolph Daniel Coupal Koray Aldemir Maria Lampropulos PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Shawn Buchanan

2018-01-14 11:15 UTC-4

Seat 1: Maria Lampropulos, 36, Buenos Aires, Argentina

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Maria Lampropulos started traveling around the live poker circuit with her boyfriend Ivan Luca back in 2014. Back then, Luca was a rising star, and Lampropulos would often rail Luca during his deep runs while playing only small tournaments herself. But things have drastically changed since then.

Lampropulos started making her first steps towards the bigger scene back in February 2016, earning €68,200 for second place in the WPT National Brussels Main Event. Only two weeks later, the Argentinian couple met in a unique heads-up in the Eureka 6 Rozvadov Main Event. Lampropulos chopped the prizes with Luca and walked away with another €95,404 in her pocket.

But it was last year that saw Lampropulos make the final leap to the top class. She won the partypoker MILLIONS Nottingham for a whopping £1,000,000 to claimed a truly major feather in her cap. Lampropulos currently lies in sixth place on the Argentinian all-time money list with over $1.7 million in cashes. She's on a mission to prove that her seven-figure victory in England wasn't just a one-off.
Lampropulos already demonstrated her prowess on Day 3 when she skillfully crafted her chip-leading stack on the feature table, pressuring her opponents during the bubble. Lampropulos is the last woman standing, eyeing to become the first female champion in the PCA Main Event history.

Lampropulos' Main Event run:

End of Day	Chip Count	Position
Day 1	83,200	55 / 341
Day 2	299,500	18 / 101
Day 3	758,000	6 / 43
Day 4	2,313,000	2 / 16
Day 5	3,505,000	3 / 6

Jogador	Fichas	Oscilação
Maria Lampropulos	3,505,000

Tags: Maria Lampropulos

2018-01-14 11:14 UTC-4

Seat 2: Shawn "buck21" Buchanan, 35, Vancouver/BC, Canada

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Shawn Buchanan is one of the most decorated players in online poker history. Notoriously known as "buck21" on the internet, Buchanan became the first player ever to complete the PokerStars "Triple COOP" after taking down the TCOOP-33: $82 Razz Turbo Event back in January 2014. That tournament earned him only a small five-figure prize but Buchanan's showcase of COOP series wins is far richer than that. He's captured a record six SCOOP titles, doubling his three-title collection with further three wins in 2016 alone. That spectacular hat-trick included two six-figure paydays of $270,125 and 214,436, respectively.

Incredibly accomplished online, the 35-year-old Canadian pro has been stellar on the live felt as well. He has amassed well over $6 million in live tournaments, and his PCA Main Event cash will help him move inside Canada's all-time top ten. Buchanan's pedigree features a WPT title from 2007 Mandalay Bay Poker Championship. That victory worth $768,775 remains Buchanan's career-best live result to date. He has two other wins to his name, both of them from PCA.

It's hard to believe that such a well-rounded player hasn't won a WSOP bracelet yet. Buchanan, who excels in mixed games, has had several near misses. He might get extra motivation to try to finally claim the gold wrist-wear should he take down the PCA Main Event here. He'd be two-thirds of the way to completing the elusive Triple Crown; something he's already mastered online.

Buchanan's Main Event run:

End of Day	Chip Count	Position
Day 1	77,600	65 / 341
Day 2	172,500	39 / 101
Day 3	299,000	23 / 43
Day 4	992,000	7 / 16
Day 5	3,755,000	2 / 6

Jogador	Fichas	Oscilação
Shawn Buchanan	3,755,000

Tags: Shawn Buchanan

2018-01-14 11:13 UTC-4

Seat 3: Adrian "Amadi_017" Mateos, 23, San Martín de la Vega, Spain

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Adrian Mateos has been one of the brightest stars in the world since entering the stage five years ago. The 23-year-old Spanish prodigy has already achieved what the vast majority of the poker pros can only dream of. He just overtook the top position in Spanish all-time money list, surpassing Carlos Mortensen towards the end of 2017.

Mateos has cashed for more than $12.2 million through his career, and his showcase boasts some of the greatest titles in the world. At such a young age, it may be too early talking hall-of-fame performances, but Mateos is certainly on the right path to eventually join the club.

Last summer, Mateos became the youngest player ever to win his third WSOP bracelet, beating the legendary Phil Ivey for the record. Mateos' first notch was nothing smaller than the 2013 WSOPE Main Event victory for €1,000,000. He claimed his second bracelet in the 2016 Summer Solstice event, beating fellow final-tablist Koray Aldemir heads-up. Finally, Mateos took his third wrist-wear in the $10k NLH Heads-Up Championship last June to complete the hat-trick.

In the meantime, he became the first (and so far only) Spanish EPT Main Event champion after outlasting one of the toughest final tables in the history of the prestigious tour at the 2015 EPT11 Grand Final. He was rightfully rewarded with another seven-figure prize, taking home €1,082,000.

Mateos is widely considered one of the fearest players in the world. His impressive results stand out even in the super high roller fields. The Spaniard conquered that area as well, making countless final tables. Mateos won the €50k High Roller last May in Monaco, pocketing €908,000 after only a one-day effort. He's simply one of the most talented players the game has ever seen, and anyone will have a hard time stopping the beast from snagging another trophy.

Mateos' Main Event run:

End of Day	Chip Count	Position
Day 2	69,900	86 / 341
Day 3	358,000	8 / 101
Day 4	620,000	11 / 43
Day 5	236,000	16 / 16
Day 5	5,675,000	1 / 6

Jogador	Fichas	Oscilação
Adrian Mateos	5,675,000

Tags: Adrian Mateos

2018-01-14 11:12 UTC-4

Seat 4: Daniel Coupal, 36, Regina/SK, Canada

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Saskatchewan's Daniel Coupal has been a seasoned veteran who started playing poker 17 years ago. The 36-year-old from Regina discovered poker at a casino, and the game has now been part of almost half of his life.

Coupal is a wheat and lentils farmer and amateur poker player. He mainly competes in cash games, but he's also notched some tournament cashes during his years on the felt. His biggest accomplishment was a final table during the inaugural World Poker Tour season back in 2003. He claimed his $43,075 sixth-prize in international waters after battling against some of the old-schoolers on a cruise ship.

Coupal, who has a degree in law, said he's been enjoying the competition with Oleg Titov who seems to sit always to his left. When Coupal is off the poker tables, he likes to play golf.

Coupal's Main Event run:

End of Day	Chip Count	Position
Day 1	106,900	22 / 341
Day 2	321,000	14 / 101
Day 3	285,000	24 / 43
Day 4	386,000	13 / 16
Day 5	1,275,000	5 / 6

Jogador	Fichas	Oscilação
Daniel Coupal	1,275,000

Tags: Daniel Coupal

2018-01-14 11:12 UTC-4

Seat 5: Christian Rudolph, 29, Germany

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Christian Rudolph is an accomplished professional player with many respectful results both live and online. His most famous moment on the PokerStars circuit, however, came from the rail. Rudolph was rooting for Andre Lettau at the famous final table at EPT100 in Barcelona where the Germans constantly shouted for "seven," no matter the circumstances. Lettau eventually won the event in Barcelona, and now it might be his buddies' turn as Rudolph himself has a shot at the title, marching to the PCA final table.

Rudolph's previous best live cashes came in the United States. His biggest payday was $123,674 for fourth place in the 2013 Ceasers Palace Mega Stack Series Championship Event. He's also been to two WSOP final tables, finishing fifth for $94,799 and sixth for $79,611. He's racked up just under $450,000 in live tournaments.

But Rudolph has been even more dangerous in the online waters. He's amassed tons of great results on PokerStars including first place in a Sunday Million as well as a Sunday Warm-Up victory.

Rudolph's Main Event run:

End of Day	Chip Count	Position
Day 1	92,200	44 / 341
Day 2	367,500	7 / 101
Day 3	390,000	20 / 43
Day 4	1,285,000	6 / 16
Day 5	905,000	6 / 6

Jogador	Fichas	Oscilação
Christian Rudolph	905,000

Tags: Christian Rudolph

2018-01-14 11:11 UTC-4

Seat 6: Koray Aldemir, 27, Berlin, Germany

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Koray Aldemir is another product of the famous Skype chat group of German players that has produced some of the world's best poker talents including the one and only Fedor Holz. Now knocking on the door of the top 10 in Germany's stacked all-time money list with $7.7 million in career earnings, Aldemir worked his way up to the highest stakes.

He first took up poker on the New Year's Eve of 2006. Then 16-year-old Aldemir was introduced to the game by a friend, and while he didn't know the rules, he won. Winning has remained the narrative of Aldemir's stellar poker career ever since.

Originally from Berlin, Aldemir moved to Cottbus to study business administration in college, and that's where he started playing more regularly. He was also making his first steps on the live scene. Selling shares from small tournaments, Aldemir got in touch with Rainer Kempe. That was the base camp for his fantastic rise to the top. Suddenly, Aldemir was accompanied by the sharp and motivated minds of Kempe, Julian Thomas or Fedor Holz, all of them grinding mid stakes back then. And all of them storming to the most prestigious scene soon after that.

Aldemir moved to Vienna to study psychology while laddering through the stakes. It was two years ago when Aldemir's career finally took off as he stepped up his game to a whole different level. Some early indications came already in the spring of 2015 at EPT11 Malta where Aldemir parked in 16th place for €35,800. But his true breakthrough came at the 2016 World Series of Poker. Aldemir finished second to Adrian Mateos in the $1,500 Summer Solstice bracelet event, taking home $252,805.

More importantly, his Skype buddies strongly believed in Aldemir. So much so that they convinced him to take a shot in the $111k Big One for One Drop Event, a tournament Aldemir would have never been able to play on his own. Their instincts proved to be right, Aldemir impressed the world with a third-place finish for a handsome $2,154,265.

Since then, Aldemir has become a prolific home run hitter who crushes the toughest tables all around the world. He claimed his second seven-figure score in February 2017, taking down the Triton Super High Roller in the Philippines for about $1.3 million. Aldemir added another 12 six-figure prizes to his name through the last year, establishing himself among the fearest players on the felt.

Aldemir's Main Event run:

End of Day	Chip Count	Position
Day 1	80,800	57 / 341
Day 2	256,000	24 / 101
Day 3	757,000	7 / 43
Day 4	1,420,000	5 / 16
Day 5	2,340,000	4 / 6

Jogador	Fichas	Oscilação
Koray Aldemir	2,340,000

Tags: Koray Aldemir

$10,300 Main Event

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