Win A Trip Of A Lifetime! My 2016 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Satellite Qualifiers Guide Explains How
It is that time of year again, when you look ahead to the depths of the coming winter and imagine yourself taking part in one of Poker’s biggest and best live events – the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the sun-drenched Bahamas.
For 1000’s of players, the thrill of winning tickets, boarding that plane and playing against the greats of poker for millions in prize money comes true each year.
You don’t need to break the bank to book your trip, these can be won from just 10 ‘player points’ or a few dollars. This article explains the different ways to win your trip, and covers all the need-to-know information about the event itself.
PokerStars Caribbean Adventure – Overview Of The Event
The dates for your diary are 6th to 14th January 2016. The ‘Main Event’ starts on the 8th and 9th Jan with 2 separate day 1’s.
The venue is the famous Atlantis Resort and Casino in the Bahamas, and experience of a lifetime with sun, watersports, world class dining and luxury as a standard. I promise, this will be an unforgettable trip even without the poker element!
There are many tournaments running, kicking off with a super high-roller $100k event (great for publicity and to attract the stars). There are many events with $600 to $5300 buy-ins each day, and the main event is $10,300 to buy-in direct. The prize packages on offer at PokerStars.com include flights, accommodation, expenses and your tournament buy-in on top.
Expect featured ‘TV’ tables and more than a million for the winner – there is a guaranteed prize pool of $10,000,000 for 2016, which will leave a lot of people who enter very rich indeed!
PokerStars Caribbean Adventure 2016 – Your Prize Package
There are two prize packages to win.
The first is worth $15,950 and includes the $10,300 Main Event Entry, all-inclusive accommodation covering the entire event and $2000 cash for flights and expenses. The alternative is to win just the $10,300 for entry and to make the other arrangements yourself.
One thing to cover is that you will be able to withdraw money from a special ‘PokerStars Bank’ while there – and can even take your prize money straight to your PokerStars.com account. This should make life a lot easier.
PokerStars Caribbean Adventure – Different Ways You Can Win A Package
Satellite qualifiers are going on right now, and take several forms (qualifying paths). There is the ‘mega path’ which is aimed at the smallest bankroll players and starts with just 10 player points. There are direct qualifiers at $700 with satellites leading into those events, and there are also special Women-only qualifiers. I will describe each one below:
Mega Path PCA Qualifiers: With these you have to snowball your FPPs (frequent player points). You start with 10, then 50, 150, 250, 900, 2000, 10,000, 40,000, 120,00, 335,000 and finally play in a ‘final’ which gives away one prize package for every 966,750 FPPs in the prize pool (why not just a million??).
There are variations like rebuys and 3x turbo games along the way to get you there, and a lot of the players in these games are simply giving away their chips. Sure, it’s a tough road, but there again, how many other places offer you the chance of turning 10 points into a seat in the $10 million tournament in the Bahamas! See the Mega Path page over at PokerStars.com for more.
Regular PCA Satellite Qualifiers: The majority of the qualifiers are for cash, and this is where things get very complicated to explain. There are so many possible combinations of qualifying path, sub-qualifiers and different structures that two players could meet at the event and have never even played the same games! There are more 3x turbos in the line-up this year. While these are crazy push-fests, it does at least mean recreational players are relatively safe from the pros in this format.
The basic premise is that you need to win a seat in one of the $700 or $215 direct qualifiers, or $320 'Seat Only' Qualfiers. These give away the prize packages, often guaranteeing one or more packages (more at the weekends).
Most of us can’t afford to buy-in direct at this level, and so there are a huge range of sub-qualifier tournaments to get you there. These games start from $3.30c, feed into $27 games and then $215 tournaments. If you like you can combine Sit N Goes (1 table tournaments) or 2x / 3x turbos (which are like extended and super-fast rebuy tournaments) to get yourself there.
My tip is to go to the PokerStars lobby, choose ‘Events’ then ‘PCA’ and take a look down the list!
Steps Sit N Go PCA Qualifiers: Steps are 1-table tournaments, you finish in the top 2 at the lower levels, and get awarded a ticket for the next stage. They start at $7.50c and go up to $2100 for Step 6… where you can win a PCA package.
These games are great for those who do not have too much time on their hands for the bigger multi-table tournaments. You can play one for an hour, then break and come back for the next stage whenever. There is also an ‘exit point’ at Step 4, where your $215 ticket can be used for any tournament of that value – including the PCA qualifiers.
Women-Only PCA Qualifiers: As part of the PokerStars Women promotions, there are special female only qualifiers and sub-qualifiers. The goal with these is to hit the regular $215 qualifiers, and there are $3.30, $8.80 and $33 sub-qualifiers on the way there.
PCA Qualifiers 2016 – Final Thoughts
I can not think of a better way to beat those post festive season blues than playing this amazing event. The sea, sand… and of course millions in prize money!
If you have not yet played at PokerStars.com, please remember, you can claim up to 3 welcome bonuses there (totaling $600) when you register use Marketing Code PSPxxx, when you deposit, you can claim those bonuses with Bonus Code STARS600 - I'll see you at the PCA!
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