The PokerStars Players Championship Should Set $25K History
The PokerStars Players NL Hold’em Championship is one of the most highly anticipated poker tournaments ever. The event comes with a rake-free $25,000 buy-in, hundreds of Platinum Pass qualifiers and $1 million added to first place prize. The momentous event takes place January 6-10 in the Bahamas and the PocketFives team will be there to cover it from start to finish.
The biggest question ahead of the event is, of course, just how big will it be? Poker pro Chance Kornuth recently asked the question on social media and it appears many are pegging PSPC to be enormous.
How many entries do you think the 25k PPC in Bahamas will get?
— Chance Kornuth (@ChancesCards) December 28, 2018
The largest $25,000 buy-in poker tournament in history was the Season V World Poker Tour World Championship. The event took place in 2007 when poker was booming all across the globe. It attracted a whopping 639 entries who ponied up $25,500 each to create a $15.495 million prize pool. Carlos Mortensen won the event for $3.97 million, and the top three spots each took home seven-figure paydays.
If the PSPC generates 640 entries, it will become the largest field ever in a $25,000 buy-in live poker tournament. That would also set the record for largest prize pool from a $25,000 buy-in live poker tournament, but the fact that the PSPC event is a rake-free tournament means it needs just 620 entries to set the record for largest prize pool generated by a $25,000 buy-in live poker tournament.
Here’s a look at the top 10 largest prize pools in poker history from live tournaments at the $25,000 buy-in level.
| YEAR | TOURNAMENT | ENTRIES | PRIZE POOL |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Season V WPT World Championship | 639 | $15,495,750 |
| Winner: Carlos Mortensen ($3,970,415) | |||
| 2006 | Season IV WPT World Championship | 605 | $14,671,250 |
| Winner: Joe Bartholdi ($3,760,165) | |||
| 2008 | Season VI WPT World Championship | 545 | $13,216,250 |
| Winner: David Chiu ($3,389,140) | |||
| 2005 | Season III WPT World Championship | 452 | $10,961,000 |
| Winner: Tuan Le ($2,856,150) | |||
| 2018 | partypoker MILLIONS World | 394 | $10,000,000 |
| Winner: Roger Teska ($2,000,000) | |||
| 2004 | Season II WPT World Championship | 343 | $8,342,000 |
| Winner: Martin de Knijff ($2,728,356) | |||
| 2004 | Season VII WPT World Championship | 338 | $8,196,500 |
| Winner: Yevgeniy Timoshenko ($2,149,960) | |||
| 2014 | EPT10 Grand Final High Roller | 214 | $7,257,852 |
| Winner: Philipp Gruissem ($1,378,059) | |||
| 2016 | EPT12 Grand Final High Roller | 231 | $6,531,825 |
| Winner: Alexandru Papazian ($1,381,499) | |||
| 2015 | PCA High Roller | 269 | $6,456,000 |
| Winner: Ilkin Garibli ($1,105,040) |
Another question some have had is whether or not the PSPC will replace the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event. That seems unlikely. It’s more likely that the PSPC is a one-off event that doesn’t happen every single year. That said, what does the PSPC need to do in order to become the largest prize pool in PokerStars Caribbean Adventure history? Here’s a look at the biggest prize pools to come out of the PCA.
| YEAR | TOURNAMENT | ENTRIES | PRIZE POOL |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | PCA Main Event | 1,560 | $15,132,000 |
| Winner: Galen Hall ($2,300,000) | |||
| 2010 | PCA Main Event | 1,529 | $14,826,800 |
| Winner: Harrison Gimbel ($2,200,000) | |||
| 2009 | PCA Main Event | 1,347 | $12,674,400 |
| Winner: Poorya Nazari ($3,000,000) | |||
| 2012 | PCA Main Event | 1,072 | $10,398,400 |
| Winner: John Dibella ($1,775,000) | |||
| 2014 | PCA Main Event | 1,031 | $10,000,700 |
| Winner: Dominik Panka ($1,423,096) | |||
| 2013 | PCA Main Event | 987 | $9,573,900 |
| Winner: Dimitar Danchev ($1,859,000) | |||
| 2008 | PCA Main Event | 1,136 | $8,562,976 |
| Winner: Betrand Grospellier ($2,000,000) | |||
| 2015 | PCA Main Event | 816 | $7,915,200 |
| Winner: Kevin Schulz ($1,491,580) | |||
| 2007 | PCA Main Event | 937 | $7,063,842 |
| Winner: Ryan Daut ($1,535,255) | |||
| 2015 | PCA High Roller | 269 | $6,456,000 |
| Winner: Ilkin Garibli ($1,105,040) |
The largest prize pool in PCA history belongs to the 2011 PCA $10,300 Main Event. That year, the PCA Main Event drew 1,560 entries and generated a $15.132 million prize pool, with a $2.3 million first-place prize that went to Galen Hall.
The PCA Main Event was also above $10 million in prize pool money for the years of 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2014. The largest first-place prize in PCA history went to Poorya Nazari, who won $3 million when he took down the 2009 PCA Main Event.
So there you have it. For PSPC to become the largest prize pool for a $25,000 buy-in tournament, it needs to surpass the WPT World Championship’s figure of $15.495 million. To become the largest field size ever in a $25,000 buy-in poker tournament, it will need 640 entries. To become the largest first-place prize from $25,000 buy-in tournaments, the $3.97 million that Mortensen won is the number to beat. For PCA-only records, PSPC will need to surpass a $15.132 million prize pool and a $3 million first-place prize.
Action from the Bahamas kicks off Sunday, January 6, 2019, with the $25,000 buy-in PokerStars Players NL Hold’em Championship from Atlantis Resort & Casino. PocketFives will be on site all the way through until the event’s final day on January 16, so stay tuned for more coverage from the 2019 PCA poker series.