Yesterday we worried the 2012 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure might not reach 1,000 entrants for the first time since 2008, but a solid turnout on Day 1b of the event put those fears to rest. In all 654 players registered on Day 1b of the tournament, which when added to the 418 players from Day 1a produces a total attendance of 1,072 entrants for the 2012 PCA.

While this is still the lowest turnout for the event since 2008 –2010 and 2011 both saw over 1,500 entrants take part in the PCA– the 1,072 entrants is still an impressive number, as is the $10 million prize-pool and the $2 million set aside for the winner of the 2012 PCA Main Event.

The larger field also produced far more big-name players including Epic Poker League champion Chino Rheem who finished the day with the second largest chip-stack. Rheem along with the other 326 Day 1b survivors will now be combined with the 218 players who made it through a tough Day 1a of the event for Day 2 of the 2012 PCA. Of the 554 remaining players only 160 will make the money.

Some of the big names who survived Day 1b of the 2012 PCA included Jonathan Jaffe, Arnaud Mattern, Luca Pagano, “Bodog” Ari Engel, Alexander Kravchenko, 2010 PCA Champion Harrison Gimbel, Matt Jarvis, Barry Greenstein, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Matt Waxman, JP Kelly, Phil Collins, Mike Mizrachi, Marcel Luske, David Benefield, Dario Minieri, Tommy Vedes, Noah Boeken, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Bill Chen, Vanessa Selbst, Dan O’Brien, Eric Mizrachi, 2011 PCA Champion Galen Hall, Carlos Mortensen, John Racener, Martin “Dr Giggy” Fournier-Giguere, Ivan Demidov, William Reynolds, Randal Flowers, Lex Veldhuis, David Peters, Toni Judet, David Bach, Eric Cajelais, Greg DeBora, Dennis Phillips, Liv Boeree, Shawn Buchanan, Joe Serock, Ville Wahlbeck, Humberto Brenes, Sam Stein, Zach “CrazyZachary” Clark, Steve “gboro780” Gross, Barry Shulman, Chris Klodnicki, Todd Terry, Christian Harder, Ericka Moutinho, Boris Becker, and Kevin MacPhee.

Here is a look at the Day 1b chip-leaders from yesterday’s action:

1. Alex Venovski – 193,000

2. Chino Rheem – 182,900

3. Jonathan Jaffe – 182,000

4. Philippe D’auteuil – 170,800

5. Istvan Berizdo – 165,900

6. Jasper Wetemans – 153,600

7. Max Leonhard – 149,700

8. Yuliyan Nikolaev Kolev – 149,700

9. Sean Jazayeri – 147,100

10. Micah Smith – 141,100

Here is a recap of Saturday’s Day 1a chip-leaders:

1. Alexey Repik — 220,100

2. Richard Bruning — 193,100

3. Salvatore Bianco — 192,400

4. Marc Tschirch — 176,000

5. Marcel Bjerkmann — 166,000

6. Marco Palombi — 148,600

7. Connor Drinan — 142,700

8. David Granados — 139,300

9. Babak Malekain — 134,800

10. Lawrence Greenberg — 132,600

Day 2 of the PCA Main Event will once again kick off at Noon local time. Side events running on Monday include:

* Day 1 of the $5,000 8-Max No Limit Holdem event

* $1,000 H. O. E. – $25K GTD – Holdem, Omaha 8, Stud Eight

* $1,000 No Limit Holdem “Win the Button” tournament

* $270 PLO Turbo tournament

Tags: Alexander Kravchenko, Barry Greenstein, Barry Shulman, Boris Becker, Chip Stack, Dario Minieri, David Bach, David Benefield, Galen Hall, Greg Debora, Humberto Brenes, Ivan Demidov, John Racener, Jp Kelly, League Champion, Luca Pagano, Marcel Luske, Matt Jarvis, Mike Mizrachi, Noah Boeken

This entry was posted on Monday, January 9th, 2012 at 8:04 am and is filed under Poker News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.