Punta Cana Poker Classic 2018

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• Punta Cana Poker Classic 2018 Schedule
• Punta Cana Poker Classic 2018 Results

Guillermo Olvera won an exciting conclusion to the Americas Cardroom-sponsored Punta Cana Poker Classic Main Event to collect the first prize of $171,000.

Guillermo Olvera won an exciting conclusion to the Americas Cardroom-sponsored Punta Cana Poker Classic Main Event to collect the first prize of $171,000.

Due to the fantastic packages being offered by primary sponsor Americas Cardroom, 490 players arrived in the Dominan Republic last week to compete in the $500,000 guaranteed Punta Cana Poker Classic Main Event – smashing the guarantee and creating a $712,950 prize pool which was shared by the top fifty players.

Dana Workman takes us the the 2nd Punta Cana Poker Classic at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in the caribbean region of Dominican Republic. Originally published Dec 14, 2011 Visit: https. Leave the stress and worries behind with the Punta Cana Poker Classic package that includes everything you need, rendering your wallet obsolete. Cash games are available nightly starting at 8 p.m. Inside the Hard Rock Poker Room. The exclusive new gaming lounge is also a no-brainer for guests seeking an unforgettable VIP casino experience.

The $1,650 buy-in tournament attracted such names as WSOP November Niner Marc Etienne 'Go_Irish_Go' McLaughlin and last year´s WPT Montreal Main Event winner Jonathan Roy but, by the time the final table was set, both players had been sent to the rail. When play resumed at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Chilean poker player Leo Otazo held the chip lead ahead of two former WPT Main Event winners – Chanracy Khun and Anthony Zinno.

Ace-King Good for Iavouelli

With blinds of 25,000/50,000 (ante 5,000) when the final table of the Punta Cana Poker Classic got underway, it was no surprise to see Stuart Marshak shoving from the off. Twice in succession he managed to collect the blinds and antes, but it was to be third time unlucky when he shoved with pocket Queens into the Ace-King of Jonathan Iavouelli, and an Ace landed on the flop – Marshak quickly out in ninth place.

Jonathan Iavouelli chipped up almost immediately to beyond one million chips when getting all-in – again with Ace-King – and receiving a call from Derrick Scott (pocket Sixes). A King on the flop and a second one on the River crippled Scott, and the American was soon eliminated in eighth when Chanracy Khun rivered a straight and Scott missed his club flush draw.

Three Bad Beat Stories

Despite two quick eliminations, the action continued thick and fast. Patrick Serda was bust in seventh by Anthony Zinno after his flopped set of Eights was not good enough to overcome Zinno´s flopped set of Aces, and Gabriel Diaz was sent to the rail in sixth when Chanracy Khun rivered a Ten to best Diaz´ flopped top pair of Nines and quieten the Peruvian LSOP winner´s vocal support.

With the elimination of Diaz, Chanracy Khun moved into the chip lead; but he was soon to be eliminated himself after Anthony Zinno had forced him out of a massive pot, and then he suffered an incredible bad beat at the hands of Leo Otazo. Otazo had moved all-in with J♠ J♥, and it was an easy call to make for Khun – who was holding K♦ K♠. However the board ran 8♥ 9♠ Q♥ / 10♥ / 9♦ to give Otazo a straight and move him into the chip lead. A rather upset Khun gone in fifth place.

There was a Mexican, a Chilean and two Americans …

The formerly anonymous Guillermo Olvera now started to get into the act, and he reduced Anthony Zinno down to the short stack before Leo Otezo finished the job Ace-Nine > Jack-Ten. Olvera and Otezo combined again to first cripple and then eliminate Jonathan Iavouelli in third; but only after the last American player standing had got in with pocket Kings against Otezo´s pocket Sixes, and watched in horror as the board gave Otezo a rivered straight.

Going into the heads-up (blinds 60,000/120,000 – ante 15,000) both players were similarly stacked with about 5 million chips each, and for two hours the balance of power swung back and forth to the cheers of 'Vamos' from the animated Mexican and Chilean supporters. Eventually, Guillermo Olvera opened up a gap between the two players and, in attempting to recover his position ahead of the Punta Cana Poker Classic, Leo Otezo moved all-in with Q♦ 2♦ on the flop of 10♦ 3♠ {4♦ç.

Olvera made the call having two diamonds of his own – K♦ 7♦. The Turn of 6♣ was of no use to Otezo, as a Five on the River would have given Olvera a better straight, and the Chilean was left hoping for a Queen on the River. Unfortunately for Otezo – and against the run of play on a final table that had already seen its fair share of bad beats – the A♠ completed the board and Mexican Guillermo Olvera had become the 2013 Punta Cana Poker Classic Champion.

Canada has churned out some pretty good things over the years. It's also a preferred destination for American players to visit during major online poker series. In honor of British Colombia's Tim Andrew winning Canada's first bracelet of the 2018 WSOP – he topped a field of 3,250 entries to win Event #11: $365 PLO Giant – we've decided to examine some of the best players from the 'Great White North.'

1) Daniel Negreanu

No list of Canadians players would be complete without 'Kid Poker,' arguably the most famous poker player in the world. He not only sits atop Canada's all-time money list but also poker's all-time money list, as tracked by Hendon Mob.

The six-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner has 108 WSOP cashes totaling $17,131,359. He also has a single WSOP Circuit ring for his win in the 2006 Grand Casino Tunica Main Event for $755,525. He's also the only player to win the WSOP Player of the Year title twice doing so in both 2004 and 2013.

Negreanu's top three tournament scores are $8,288,001 for finishing runner-up to Dan Colman in the 2014 WSOP $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop, $3 million for taking second to Justin Bonomo in the 2018 $300K Super High Roller Bowl, and $1,770,218 for winning the 2004 World Poker Tour Five Diamond World Poker Classic.

Negreanu won his first big tournament – the 1997 World Poker Finals – when he was just 21 years old, and he hasn't slowed down since. When he turned 40 in 2014, Negreanu was deservedly a first-ballot Poker Hall of Famer.

Daniel Negreanu Poker Stats ^{(August, 2018)}

Twitter: @RealKidPoker

2) Sam Greenwood

Few players have had as good a year in 2018 as Sam Greenwood, who has thus far amassed more than $4.2 million in earnings. That comes on the heels of three consecutive years of $2 million or more in earnings. In 2014, he had just $92,094 in live tournament winnings.

Punta Cana Poker Classic 2018 Leaderboard

Amazingly, Greenwood's great year comes without a single WSOP cash (at least at time of publication). Some of his big scores in 2018 include $1,853,387 for winning the EPT Monte Carlo Super High Roller, $155,669 for winning the WPT Amsterdam High Roller, $1,227,792 for winning the partypoker MILLIONS Grand Final Barcelona Super High Roller, $449,938 for finishing third in the APPT Macau Super High Roller, and a trio of cashes at the PCA for nearly $350K.

Greenwood, who has four seven-figure scores to his name, is also a WSOP bracelet winner after taking down the 2015 WSOP Event #22: $1,000 NLHE for $318,977, which now seems like small potatoes for this high roller.

Sam Greenwood Poker Stats ^{(August, 2018)}

Twitter: @SamGreenwoodRIO

3) Mike Leah

A grinder to the core since 2006, Leah has more than $7 million in live tournament earnings. Earlier this year he won the World Poker Tour Fallsview Poker Classic after a controversial heads-up deal. Nonetheless, he saw his name etched on the WPT Champions Cup and won a reported $358,531.

Leah mixes it up in tournaments of all different buy-ins and variants. This was evidenced at the 2018 WSOP when he finished fourth in the $50K Poker Players Championship for $364,197. He also won $116,166 for taking seventh in Event #49: $10,000 PLO Championship.

A five-time WSOP Circuit ring winner, Leah also has a gold bracelet from when he won the 2014 WSOP Asia-Pacific Event #10A$25,000 High Roller for $524,411. His biggest score to date came back in 2014 when he finished runner-up to Dan Colman in the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open for $1,047,638.

Mike Leah Poker Stats ^{(August, 2018)}

Punta Cana Poker Classic 2018 Picks

Canada has churned out some pretty good things over the years. It's also a preferred destination for American players to visit during major online poker series. In honor of British Colombia's Tim Andrew winning Canada's first bracelet of the 2018 WSOP – he topped a field of 3,250 entries to win Event #11: $365 PLO Giant – we've decided to examine some of the best players from the 'Great White North.'

1) Daniel Negreanu

No list of Canadians players would be complete without 'Kid Poker,' arguably the most famous poker player in the world. He not only sits atop Canada's all-time money list but also poker's all-time money list, as tracked by Hendon Mob.

The six-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner has 108 WSOP cashes totaling $17,131,359. He also has a single WSOP Circuit ring for his win in the 2006 Grand Casino Tunica Main Event for $755,525. He's also the only player to win the WSOP Player of the Year title twice doing so in both 2004 and 2013.

Negreanu's top three tournament scores are $8,288,001 for finishing runner-up to Dan Colman in the 2014 WSOP $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop, $3 million for taking second to Justin Bonomo in the 2018 $300K Super High Roller Bowl, and $1,770,218 for winning the 2004 World Poker Tour Five Diamond World Poker Classic.

Negreanu won his first big tournament – the 1997 World Poker Finals – when he was just 21 years old, and he hasn't slowed down since. When he turned 40 in 2014, Negreanu was deservedly a first-ballot Poker Hall of Famer.

Daniel Negreanu Poker Stats ^{(August, 2018)}

Twitter: @RealKidPoker

2) Sam Greenwood

Few players have had as good a year in 2018 as Sam Greenwood, who has thus far amassed more than $4.2 million in earnings. That comes on the heels of three consecutive years of $2 million or more in earnings. In 2014, he had just $92,094 in live tournament winnings.

Punta Cana Poker Classic 2018 Leaderboard

Amazingly, Greenwood's great year comes without a single WSOP cash (at least at time of publication). Some of his big scores in 2018 include $1,853,387 for winning the EPT Monte Carlo Super High Roller, $155,669 for winning the WPT Amsterdam High Roller, $1,227,792 for winning the partypoker MILLIONS Grand Final Barcelona Super High Roller, $449,938 for finishing third in the APPT Macau Super High Roller, and a trio of cashes at the PCA for nearly $350K.

Greenwood, who has four seven-figure scores to his name, is also a WSOP bracelet winner after taking down the 2015 WSOP Event #22: $1,000 NLHE for $318,977, which now seems like small potatoes for this high roller.

Sam Greenwood Poker Stats ^{(August, 2018)}

Twitter: @SamGreenwoodRIO

3) Mike Leah

A grinder to the core since 2006, Leah has more than $7 million in live tournament earnings. Earlier this year he won the World Poker Tour Fallsview Poker Classic after a controversial heads-up deal. Nonetheless, he saw his name etched on the WPT Champions Cup and won a reported $358,531.

Leah mixes it up in tournaments of all different buy-ins and variants. This was evidenced at the 2018 WSOP when he finished fourth in the $50K Poker Players Championship for $364,197. He also won $116,166 for taking seventh in Event #49: $10,000 PLO Championship.

A five-time WSOP Circuit ring winner, Leah also has a gold bracelet from when he won the 2014 WSOP Asia-Pacific Event #10A$25,000 High Roller for $524,411. His biggest score to date came back in 2014 when he finished runner-up to Dan Colman in the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open for $1,047,638.

Mike Leah Poker Stats ^{(August, 2018)}

Punta Cana Poker Classic 2018 Picks

Twitter: @GoLeafsGoEh

4) Ari Engel

If there's one man that can put Leah's grind to shame it's Engel, who many would consider the biggest poker grinder in the world. For years, the Canadian pro hasn't had a home and has instead lived out of a suitcase bouncing from tournament to tournament. Like Leah, he plays tournaments of all buy-in levels.

He has nine WSOP Circuit gold rings but is still searching for his first piece of gold hardward to go around his wrist. In 2016, Engel had his biggest score when he won the Aussie Millions for $1,120,110. Other big scores for the grinder include finishing fifth in the EPT12 Barcelona High Roller for $347,219, $177,045 for winning the 2014 $1,500 Punta Cana Poker Classic, and $173,560 for placing fifth in the 2017 partypoker MILLION North America.

He's also a Heartland Poker Tour and Mid-States Poker Tour champion and won the 2012 Empire State Poker Championship.

Ari Engel Poker Stats ^{(August, 2018)}

Twitter: @AriEngelPoker

5) Kristen Bicknell

Ontario's Bicknell made a name for herself at the 2013 WSOP when she won the Ladies Championship for $173,922 and a bracelet. Three years later, she proved it was no fluke as she won a second bracelet and $290,768 in prize money by taking down Event #46: $1,500 NLHE Bounty.

Bicknell is already enjoying a career year in 2018 thanks to a number of big scores including $279,549 for winning the APPT Macau National High Roller and $200,000 for finishing second to her boyfriend Alex Foxen in the $5K MSPT Venetian. At the end of 2017, she also won the $5K side event at the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $199,840.

Bicknell's success resulted in her becoming a partypoker pro, and she remains one of poker's rising stars.

Kristen Bicknell Poker Stats ^{(August, 2018)}

Punta Cana Poker Classic 2018 Schedule

Twitter: @krissyb24poker

Punta Cana Poker Classic 2018 Results

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  Poker TimePoker PlayersDaniel NegreanuAri EngelMike 'goleafsgoeh' LeahKristen BicknellSam Greenwood

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  Daniel NegreanuKristen BicknellSam GreenwoodAri Engel