Every poker player dreams of winning a huge tournament that lands them an insane amount of money whilst being in an incredible country.
Not only did Aliaksandr Shylko manage to achieve that by winning $3,121,838 in the PokerStars Players Championship, he also did it in the sun-kissed Bahamas.
It wasn’t plain sailing for Shylko though, as late on Day 4, Aliaksandr survived a three-way all in thanks to a King on the turn. The final two was Shylko and German PokerStars Platinum Pass winner Max Menzel and when Menzel ripped a straight on the river he went all in. Unfortunately for him, Shylko, who had a full house thanks to the turn, called instantly and became champion.
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What made this tournament even more incredible was that 400 of the players in the tournament won a PokerStars Platinum pass for just $0.50. Going through online qualifiers, these lucky winners, thanks to PokerStars won the $25,000 entry into the tournament, six nights in a 5* hotel and $1,900 expenses.
Even more incredible about this opportunity is that two of those PokerStars Platinum Pass winners, Max Menzel and Niclas Thumm made the final table. Meaning both players entered the tournament through qualifiers, won a trip to the Bahamas and earned a combined total of $3,542,500.
The top six in the tournament all managed to take home over $1 million (a personal live cash best for all involved) with second placed Menzel earning a cool $2,859,990.
Poker players, legends and WSOP champions all gathered to the Carribean Island at the start of the year for the second-ever PokerStars Players No Limit Hold’em Championship, following its break due to COVID.
With 1014 entries into the tournament, the event is now the second-largest $25k tournament ever played, with the first being the 2019 PokerStars Players Championship. One of those in the money at the tournament was influencer Rory Jennings aka Chelsea Rory who finished in 108th place and earned himself $46,500.
There were some famous faces that made their way to the Caribbean to either play or watch the action unfold. UK Twitch streamers such as Spraggy (Ben Spragg) and EasyWithAces (Fintan Hand) were joined by the American announcer, Bruce Buffer.
Thomas Thorn