PokerStars Caribbean Adventure - Live Updates

The 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure is over and Harrison Gimbel is our champion! We’re rushing out to the floor to get some photos and interviews but in the meantime check out what happened on the last hand.

Harrison Gimbel had accumulated a massive amount of chips and was poised for the death blow.

It started when Ty Reiman made it 620,000 to go from the button. Gimbel made it 1.8 million to go and Reiman moved all in for just over 10 million. Gimbel made the call and looked over to see Reiman flip over pocket eights. Gimbel turned over pocket tens.

The T♦ 6♦ 2♥ flop was not what Reiman needed. Gimbel had flopped a set and Reiman was down to a runner runner miracle. The 8♥ turn kept Reiman alive with a quad draw. Needing the last eight in the deck, the last card to fall on the felt at the 2010 PCA Main Event was a useless J♠.

Gimbel wins and we’ll have a wrap up including pics and interviews ASAP.

We just saw another all-in that ended up with our two players holding the same hand at showdown. Ty Reiman opened his button to 600,000 and got a call from Gimbel in the big blind.

The flop came down 7♠ 2♣ 2♦ and Gimbel check-called 825,000. The 2♥ landed on the turn and Gimbel check-called again for 1.85 million.

The river was the 3♣ and after a check from Gimbel, Reiman shoved all-in. Gimbel called quickly and they both turned over a seven, 7-8 for Gimbel and J-7 for Reiman.

They reel in their chips and carry on to the next hand.

Harrison Gimbel just pulled way ahead of Ty Reimer and it was very interesting hand that made it possible.

Reiman opened his button to 525,000 and Gimbel called to see a flop of 6♥ 5♦ 4♥. Gimbel checked and Reimer fired 630,000. Gimbel made the call and the T♣ hit the turn.

Gimbel check-called again, this time 1.8 million and the 7♥ hit the river. One last check from Gimbel and Reiman fired 4.2 million.

This time Gimbel wasn't content to just call, shoving all-in. Reiman folded surprisingly quickly and, even more surprisingly, showed 7♦ 8♥ for the straight!

That was a big fold by any estimation and he had no trouble showing it as it went in the muck.

Gimbel jumps to 35 million while Reiman slips to 10 million.

The dinner break is over and our two final players are back in their seats to continue this epic battle. $2.2 million will be going to the winner so this is some serious business.

Both Tyler Reiman and Harrison Gimbel have proven they belong here and we're expecting some suave maneuverings from both of them before this thing is over.

The chip counts are to your right and we're going to be here until the bitter end.

Will Reiman win? Will Gimbel? Will we actually write something interesting instead of asking ourselves rhetorical questions? The answers after this.

Ty Reiman and Harrison Gimbel, our heads-up players in this main event, have been sent to dinner. You might wonder why they would break when the end is so near but the answer is really quite simple.

The camera crew that's filming this for television is entitled to dinner breaks, must be a union thing. At any rate we'll be back in action at 7:30pm and no one, union or otherwise, will stand in the way of playing this sucker out.

Join us then.

Barry Shuman impressed everyone by making it to this final table and for a little while it looked like he might be making a run at his second major title in the last few months. For those of you who don't know he took down the massive WSOP Europe main event at the end of 2009.

He managed to double up just a few hands before with a 40-60 pre-flop all-in but it would the same setup that would end up sending him home in third.

He open-shoved Q-T and got called by Harrison Gimbel with A-9. The only paint on the board was a jack on fourth street and Barry Shulman's epic run is over.

On the bright side he takes $1.35 million for his trouble.

Barry Shulman was squarely in the danger zone moments ago with around 2 million and when he picked up A-4 in the small blind it was good enough to move in.

Tyler Reiman was in the big blind and insta-called with K♠ J♠. Shulman retained a small edge with the T♠ T♦ 5♠ flop and managed to hold it through the 4♥ turn and Q♥ river.

Shulman takes it down and stacks up his newly acquired 4 million stack.

Benjamin Zamani ran well and played well to get this far but, sadly, his run has come to an end. Zamani opened and Harrison Gimbel moved all-in.

Zamani was sitting on around 5 million more and decided to make the call with A-T. He was racing against pocket eights but fell way behind in the hand when teh flop came down ace-high.

The turn and river were bricks and Ben Zamani is out in 4th for a cool $1 million.

Ryan D'Angelo was considered by many to be the favorite at the outset of this final table, and it wasn't just because he was the chip leader.

He took down two, count them, two WCOOP titles in the same series and has demonstrated throughout this event that he's got serious MTT game.

His final hand was much like the one that crippled him in the first level of the day, a big flop with jacks against A-K. The death blow began with Ben Zamani opening and Ty Reiman three-betting.

D'Angelo then shoved and after Zamani folded, Reiman called with the jacks. Things looked great for D'Angelo through the flop and turn and Reiman was down to a wheel draw and his two overs.

The river was a king and that was all it took to send Ryan D'Angelo to the rail in fifth place for $700,000.

Just moments after taking that cruel hit at the hands of Ben Zamani, Barry Shulman managed to double up and get himself back in this event.

Ryan D'Angelo opened and Harrison Gimbel made it 1.1 million to go. Shulman then moved in for 2.1 million and after D'Angelo folded, Gimbel made the call.

Shulman: A-Q

Gimbel: 5-7

Gimbel was priced in and simply said, "Whoops," as he turned over his hand.

There was no drama on the board and Shulman's A-Q high was good for the double. He's now back up close to 5 million.

Ben Zamani has found himself all-in with the worst of it a few times this tournament and every time so far he's managed to hit and stay alive.

He open-shoved A-J and got snapped off by Barry Shulman with A-K. Zamani had two diamonds in his hand. That's what we writers call "foreshadowing".

One diamond hit the flop, another hit the turn and a third hit the river to give Zamani the flush and a new lease on his tournament life. NH Ben Zamani.

Over the last level we've seen a ton of confrontations between Ty Reiman and Ryan D'Angelo and, until this last hand, it's been Reiman coming out on top.

D'Angelo opened this hand and was three-bet yet again by Reiman. This time D'Angelo made the call and the flop came down J♦ 7♠ 4♥.

Reiman cbet 1.2 million and D'Angelo wasted no time moving all-in. Reiman insta-mucked and D'Angelo rakes in a big pot without having to show down his cards.

Ben Zamani raised it up and Ryan D’Angelo made it 575,000 to go. They saw a heads up flop of 9♥ 3♦ 4♣.

Both players checked the flop, but Zamani fired 375,000 on the 9♣ turn. D’Angelo made the call and the river came down the K♠.

Zamani, who has been making some pretty interesting bets all tournament long, fired 575,000. D’Angelo smelled something fishy and called. Zamani tabled the A♦ 5♥ for just ace high which was enough to win the hand.

Our hats go off to Zamani if he was value-betting ace-high there.

D’Angelo showed his Q♣ 6♣ and threw them into the muck.

Barry Shulman, who has been playing snug as a bug in a rug, decided to get involved and and raised it up to 300,000. Benjamin Zamani who was down to just 1.6 million shoved all in. It folded to Aage Ravn who went into the tank before shoving over the top for about 5 million. Harrison Gimbel shocked everyone by asking for a count and then moving all in!

Barry laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation and folded. It was time for everyone to turn up their hands:

Aage Ravn A♣ Q♣

Harrison Gimbel J♣ J♦

Benjamin Zumani 8♥ 8♣

It was a gutsy play by Gimbel but, as it turned out, he was barely in the lead. That lead wouldn't last long, however as the dealer put out a flop of 5♣ 8♠ 7♦.

Zamani pulled ahead in a big way, flopping a set of eights. He was now in great shape to triple up while Gimbel was in good shape for the side pot. The turn was the 2♠ and the river was the 6♦.

Ravn headed for the exit while Zamani stacked up his newly found 5 million. Gimbel supplemented his stack with the extra Ravn chips from the side pot and is now up to 12 million.

Ravn can’t be too disappointed. Despite starting the day with the smallest stack, he outlasted a couple of players and earned himself a few extra hundred thousand in the process. He’ll be taking home $450,000.

Tyler Reiman now has 18.6 million in chips. It’s twice what he started the day with and more than twice as much as second place Harrison Gimbel’s 8.6 million.

Reiman, a respected online player, looks poised for a breakout victory here in the Bahamas. He has had live success, winning a $1k Heartland Poker Tour event for $51,000, cashing twice on the EPT and making the final two tables at the last UltimateBet Aruba Poker Classic in 2009.

As we saw from the hand that eliminated Tom Koral Ty is capable of some very creative play. With six players left and plenty of action to come we've got a great opportunity to see it in action.

Zac Goldberg started the day seventh in chips and went out in seventh place. His parents surprised him by flying down to support him and now they can spend the rest of the day together.

The end came for Goldberg after he got all in against Aage Ravn preflop with pocket tens to Ravn’s A♠ Q♦.

Goldberg was still in the lead after a K♥ J♠ 8♥ flop but an ace on the turn left him looking for one of the remaining three queens in the deck to make broadway.

It wasn’t meant to be. A brick came on the river and Goldberg was banished to the payout line where he collected $300,000.

Ben Zamani made it 240,000 to go and found three callers. Barry Shulman, Harrison Gimbel, and Aage Ravn all saw a flop of 4♦ 9♠ T♦. Ravn moved all in and everyone folded.

The hand itself isn’t too interesting but what is interesting is that Ravn has gone from 1.6 million to 4.6 million without showing down a single hand.

He's been picking his spots flawlessly and has moved right into the middle of the pack.

Ryan D’Angelo’s day is not going according to plan. He started the day with over 10 million in chips and almost immediately his stack started to disappear.

After getting down to less than 3 million, D’Angelo raised it up from the button and Harrison Gimbel, the richest man in town, nonchalantly moved all in.

D’Angelo stood up and deliberated a bit before making the call. Gimbel turned over pocket nines and D’Angelo showed A♥ T♦. Someone at the table mentioned that they had folded a nine which, after a ten high flop, made it nearly impossible for Gimbel to win.

The turn and river were bricks and D’Angelo was back up to around 6 million.

It’s déjà vu all over again.

Benjamini Zamani limped and Ty Reiman came along. It folded to Tom Koral who raised it to 650,000. Zamani folded but Reiman min raised it to 1.3 million. Koral went into the tank for a bit before moving all in for about 5 million.

Reiman snap-called. Just like the Duthie hand yesterday, Reiman found himself in a hand where it was pocket aces versus pocket queens. Unlike yesterday, Reiman was in the driver’s seat with the rockets.

The paintless flop was followed by a painted turn and river. Unfortunately for Koral, neither of those paints was a queen. Koral makes an unexpectedly early exit today. He’ll get $201,300 for his efforts.

As promised, it didn’t take long for all hell to break loose.

On the first hand Zac Goldberg made it 180,000 to go and the short stack, Aage Ravn, moved all in. Goldberg folded and Ravn scooped the much needed pot.

After that it quieted down for about ten minutes until Ryan D’Angelo raised it up preflop. It folded to Harrison Gimbel who made it 650,000 to go.

D’Angelo pushed back to 1.3 million. Gimbel, not backing down, pushed all in for just over 5 million and D'Angelo called. Gimbel turned over A♦ K♦ and D’Angelo tabled the slightly superior J♣ J♠.

Gimbel needed to get some help, and he did. An ace came on the flop, another one on the turn, and then just for the fun of it, a king on the river to give him a full house.

D’Angelo was chopped down to half of what he started the day with while Gimbel stacked up a mountain of chips worth more than 11 million.

Yes we all know that Phil Ivey isn’t at this final table. Neither is durrrr. Many of the names here may seem unfamiliar. They won’t be for long.

This tournament has, for the most part, been a playground for the world’s top online pros and the final table reflects it.

In one corner we have Ryan “G0lfa” D’Angelo. He’s a 24 year old New Yorker that’s best known for being only the third player in WCOOP (World Championship of Online Poker) history to win two events in one series.

Proving that he’s not a one trick pony, he won $300,000 in the 8-game and $442,100 in HA (half PLO, half Pot Limit Hold-em). He comes into this final table with the chip lead.

Over in the other corner, second in chips, is Tyler “puffinmypurp” Reiman. Just 21 years old, he’s already played several EPT events and turned of age just in time to play a few tournaments at the WSOP.

This will be his first big score in a live tournament, though he has already made a bunch of cash online.

Benjamin Zamani, known as “xthesteinx” online, is coming into today near the bottom of the leader board but despite being 23, he’s already been playing poker professionally for several years.

He’s knows how to play a shortstack and is very capable of making a comeback and taking this tournament down.

Let’s not forget the guy with the white hair that is sticking out like a sore thumb at this table. It’s Barry Shulman. At 63 years old he’s lived over three Harrison Gimbel (19 years old) lifetimes.

Shulman has done a lot of work behind the scenes for poker in the past and, lately, he’s been doing well by participating in the game. Fresh off a win on World Series of Poker Europe, Shulman is keeping the momentum going and will be starting the day with a solid stack.

In seat four is Tom Koral. A Chicago native, Koral’s been around the professional poker scene for about six years.

He got his start by depositing $75 in an online poker account and running it into six figures within a year. Ever since that start he hasn’t had a losing year but he hasn’t made as big a score as he’s guaranteed himself today.

Aage Ravn is the only player that is not from the United States. He hails from Narvik, Norway and has come a long way to participate in this event.

It was well worth the trip. Despite coming in with the shortest chip stack, he’s already guaranteed himself $201,300. Since he’s starting the day so low on ammunition he has nothing to lose. Expect to see him come out firing in a last ditch effort to get back into the game.

Zac Goldberg, another New Yorker, is an online player though not full time – yet. He’s still in school studying finance at the University of Arizona. He started playing poker at age 16, which means he has five years of experience under his belt.

No matter what happens today, this will be his biggest score so far.

Last but not least – though certainly youngest, is Harrison Gimbel. He’s just 19 years old but already has a few nice scores under his belt.

He won the 2009 Florida State Poker Championship taking down $67,860. He’s also made the final table of the Sunday Million busting sixth and pocketing about $40,000. If he were to win today, he would be the youngest champion in PCA history.

 So there you have it. One of these eight players will go home tonight with $2.2 million more dollars in their back accounts than they woke up with today. 

Here are the start of day counts.

Ryan D'Angelo: 10,090,000
Tyler Reimen 9,350,000
Barry Shulman 6,805,000
Harrison Gimbel 6,000,000
Thomas Koral 5,370,000
Benjamin Zumani 3,700,000
Zach Goldberg, 2,040,000
Aage Ravn: 1,690,000

The action promises to be fast and furious so stick around, blink and might miss it!