David “Chino” Rheem has won the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) Main Event.
Rheem from South California beat the field of 771 players to take down the $1.5 million dollar pay day.
“You just gotta have fun while you work,” Rheem said to the PokerStars Blog following his win. “That’s the best way. That’s the best work ethic. You gotta have fun while you do it. Just being able to play and having a chance to win it, it’s an honour. It feels good.”
Rheem went head to head with Daniel Strelitz from the United States to take the win. Strelitz finished in second place with $951,480 in prize money.
Rheem now sits 71st on the All Time Money List and his total live earnings are now pushed over the $10.5 million mark.
Third Place Finisher Gives Net Profit To Charity
Rheem’s win is not the only thing that got people talking at the PCA Main Event.
Canadian Scott Wellenbach finished in third place for $671,240. Wellenbach came to the Main Event via a PokerStars qualifier for $530 and was the only amateur player sat at the table.
A translator by day, what really got people talking is that Wellenbach gives all of his net profits from playing poker to charity.
“It’s a real roller-coaster of emotions,” Wellenbach told PokerStars on his third place finish. “I’m sure in a few days it will sink in, and I will be happy with the outcome.”
Here is what Wellenbach has to say about why he chooses to give his winnings to charity.
PCA Rides High
The 2019 PCA Main Event is over but it was deemed a success even before the title had been won.
771 players entered, and there were 94 re-entries, meaning that the combined 865 entries built a prize pool of $8,390,500—making it the largest prize pool since 2015.
Nipping at the heels of the Main Event’s high, the PCA Super High Roller reveled in its very own success, as it topped out with its own four year high. The prize pool of almost $6 million made it the second largest since the event was first introduced in 2011.
PSPC Heralded As A Success
The PCA wasn’t the only success over in The Bahamas. Preceding the event PokerStars ran their first ever PokerStars Players No Limit Hold’em Championship (PSPC) which was won by Spaniard Ramon Colillas for $5.1 million.
After winning a Platinum Pass via the 2018 Campeonato de España de Poker in his homeland of Spain, Colillas the fought off a field of 1039 players (both professional and recreational) to win the multi-million dollar prize.
As PokerStars had worked tirelessly in 2018 to give away over 300 Platinum Pass via different promotional channels they will no doubt be delighted that the $25,000 buy in event was won by a Platinum Pass holder.
