Looking back on the 2007 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, the last time the PCA would be a sanctioned World Poker Tour event, it’s easy to see why it’s one of the most popular live poker events in the world. The amount of up and coming, high-level talent at the 2007 PCA was incredible. While it’s good for marketing to have a televised final table stacked with names like Phil Ivey, Doyle Brunson, and Howard Lederer, the final table of the 2007 PCA sported six rising poker superstars. Primarily online players, the combatants proved that in the PCA, aggression, fearlessness, and bravery sometimes pay off. In 2007, Ryan “Daut44” Daut stormed onto the live poker scene after mastering the art of online poker. The winner of the 2007 PCA, Daut pocketed $1.5 million and a seat in the WPT Championship at the Bellagio. He beat out a final table that included Isaac Haxton, Robert Mizrachi, Robert Ford, Jonathan Little, and Frank Rusnak. The six beat out a field of nearly 1,000 players.
Daut came into the day fourth in chips, but everyone was looking upward at Haxton’s massive chip stack. In fact, Haxton held nearly half the chips in play, reminiscent of Jamie Gold’s 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event run. I remember hearing about how cold and windy it was when the final table was played – outdoors – in front of the Atlantis Hotel on Paradise Island. I had been at the beach the day before and couldn’t believe the difference a day made weather-wise. Rusnak didn’t have to be cold long. He was eliminated when Ford hit a two outer on the river. Rusnak, who plays as “Round42” online, took home nearly a quarter of a million dollars.
The next to go was Little, who was crippled by Mizrachi when he lost with jacks in a race versus A-K; the river card came an ace. A few months later in May, 2007, Little won the Mirage Poker Showdown during Season 6 of the WPT, cashing for over a million dollars.
Mizrachi, however, would be the next person eliminated when he turned top pair, but lost to a backdoor straight draw. The brother of Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi won $409,703. Mizrachi won his first WSOP bracelet during the 2007 World Series, winning Event #50, a Pot Limit Omaha tournament.
Ford was crippled when his pocket twos ran into Daut’s cowboys. He finished third for over half a million dollars. Ford cashed in his very first WSOP in 2007 also, placing 442nd in the 2007 Main Event.
Despite being down 13 million to five million chips heads up, Daut doubled up early in final table play when Haxton semi-bluffed with 10-7 of diamonds on a board of 8-6-3 with two hearts. Daut held A-7 of hearts and his hand held. Down the stretch, the aggressor tended to prevail and Haxton was sent to the rails in second place, but earned $861,789. He cashed three times at the 2007 WSOP including a final table in Event #52, a No Limit tournament.
Daut went on to finish sixth in the Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic during Season 6 of the WPT, winning nearly $200,000. Other top finishers at the 2007 PCA included Scott “BigRiskky” Clements (eighth), Jon “pokertrip” Friedberg (ninth), and 2006 PCA champion Steven Paul Ambrose (20th).
2007 marked the end of an era for the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. In 2008, it became a European Poker Tour event.