Sergi Reixach Leads at End of Day 1b of the $10,300 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event
The final starting day of the 2023 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) $10,300 Main Event has concluded and a field of 474 entries was reduced to just 238 after eight levels of play. Following a hiatus of three years, this series returned to The Bahamas and switched locations to the luxurious Baha Mar Resort, which has already been home to large live poker festivals throughout the last few years.
Sergi Reixach managed to bag big as he ended the day with 196,900, closely followed by Michael Rocco (195,400).
Other notables who managed to bag big include defending champion Chino Rheem (141,200) along with high rollers Chris Brewer (140,300), Artur Martirosian (138,100), and Sergio Aido (124,700).
2023 PCA Main Event Day 1b Top 10 Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sergi Reixach | Spain | 196,900 | 164 |
| 2 | Michael Rocco | United States | 195,400 | 163 |
| 3 | Mauricio Pais | Germany | 171,700 | 143 |
| 4 | Krasimir Yankov | Bulgaria | 163,200 | 136 |
| 5 | Laszlo Bujtas | Hungary | 161,000 | 134 |
| 6 | Elias Gutierrez | Spain | 154,600 | 129 |
| 7 | Anatoly Nikitin | Russia | 148,500 | 124 |
| 8 | Nenad Dukic | Croatia | 148,000 | 123 |
| 9 | Mitchell Halverson | United States | 147,000 | 123 |
| 10 | Chino Rheem | United States | 141,200 | 118 |
Moreover, PokerStars ambassadors Benjamin Spragg (63,100) and Ramon Colillas (62,000) managed to bag two starting stacks each. They will each take their largest stack into play on Day 2.
Today's 239 survivors will join the 80 survivors from Day 1a at 12:00 p.m. local time Wednesday, January 25th, for Day 2. With the field attracting 640 entrants already this tournament has generated a huge prizepool of $6,246,800. That will continue to grow as players who have not yet made it to Day 2 can still register late in the first two levels of play until the start of Level 11.
Action of the Day
A big field started the day as players hoped to build a stack early. However, things didn’t go as planned for Chris Brewer, who busted in the first level of the day in a four-bet pot when he called off with overcards and a flush draw for his tournament life. Undeterred, Brewer fired another bullet and bagged a big stack at the end of eight levels of play, as mentioned above.
Meanwhile, Aido managed to get off to a good start after rivering an ace-high flush in early action.
Davidi Kitai enjoyed success in the middle of the day as he managed to win a big pot when he triple-barrelled with pocket jacks on a nine-high board. His opponent, Boris Kolev, went deep into the tank before calling off Kitai’s overbet with ace-queen for a bluff catcher.
Mauricio Pais found some run good towards the end of the day as he eliminated Yervand Boyadjian when the river gave Boyadjian top two pair while giving Pais a set of jacks. That allowed Pais to become one of the biggest stacks in the room.
2023 PCA $100,000 Super High Roller champion Isaac Haxton couldn’t carry forward his success into the Main Event as he was eliminated in the last level of the day as his overpair ran into the set of sevens from Samad Rashid. All the chips went in on the nine-high flop, and Haxton was eliminated when no jack came to his rescue.
High Roller Aido managed to double up through Taylor Paur in a five-bet pot in the last level of the day. Aido flopped top two pair with ace-jack to defeat Paur’s ace-queen. PokerStars Ambassador Alejandro Lococo was eliminated in the process, ensuring he would not advance to Day 2.
Stay tuned to PokerNews as the live reporting team will be giving full coverage of the $10,300 PCA Main Event until a champion is crowned on Sunday, January 29th, as well as coverage of the second edition of the PokerStars Players No-Limit Hold’em Championship which kicks off on Monday, January 30th.
flop checked through to the 
turn. Aido bet 25,000, leaving 14,200 behind. Paur, the bigger stack, then put Aido all in and was snap-called.
completed the board and Aido scooped in the massive pot while sending Lococo to the rail.
flop, it was Haxton who opted to check. Rashid bet 4,000 into 9,000 and Haxton then check-raised to 15,500.
turn or 
river, as Rashid dragged in a very healthy pot and became one of the biggest stacks in the room.
completed board with 10,800 in the pot. 
for nines and threes and Yau sent his hand into the muck. 
flop checked through to the 
turn. Sturm led out for 2,700 and Yau made the fold.
flop. 
river as Kennedy further improved to the nut flush.
but the 
river confirmed the double up for Pais.
. 
river. With around 22,000 in the middle, Kolev checked again and Kitai jammed.
