With the festive season upon us, and the biggest live action of the year in the dust, it’s with the new year that players can expect things to really heat up. Starting with the Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure on January 5th — this prestigous tournament brings a wealth of hardened pro’s to the Atlantis resort and casino in the Bahamas. The biggest attraction is of course the $10,000 Main Event, which first took place in 2004, but has, in recent years, put forward outstanding numbers. This years tournament was easily the biggest of the events thus far, with a total of 1,560 runners taking part in the Main Event, fielding a massive prize pool of $15,132,000. In the end, it was American Galen Hall who emerged with the title, after battling fellow online professional Chris “ImDaNuts” Oliver for many hours in heads-up.

Also of note during the series, are the alternative events, which have drawn a great deal of media attention in recent years. This year saw both a high roller event for $25,000, and the “super high roller” event, featuring a whopping $100,000 buy in. Eugene Katchalov was the winner of the latter, claiming over $2,000,000 for his efforts. Similarly, Atlantis and Pokerstars opt for another popular tournament variation, with the introduction of the “Women’s Carribean Adventure.” Featuring a smaller buy in of $1,100, the women’s event offers a softer and smaller field than other events available,  and follows an odd trend of somehow suggesting that women are worse than men at poker, or less equipped perhaps. Strange, when both certainly possess equal intellect. Regardless of any sexism however, the women’s event has found good success, and was most recently taken down by well-known pro Vanessa Rousso. Full details of the tournament schedule can be found here.

Perhaps one of the most interesting facets of the PCA main event is that the coverage will be available from day 2 onwards via TV. Early on this will involve mostly player updates, interviews and coverage of some big pots, while later toward the end — a live stream becomes available via espn3.com. This year featured a near 10 hour coverage of the a final table composed of some of the best players in the game, allowing more thorough context when viewers could see each pot. Either way, catch action here and at the Carribean Adventure website, as we settle into the new year.