Maria Lampropoulos Wins PCA Main Event for $1,081,100

It was a case of out with old and in with the new for 2018, all-time female great Vanessa Selbst’s retirement paving the way for Argentina’s Maria Lampropoulos to take over the helm with a $1,081,100 scoop of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event – her second seven-figure score leapfrogging her to 5th spot on the female lifetime money-winners list.

After her record-breaking PartyPoker MILLIONS win in April of last year – the first non-High Roller $million payday for a female – the diminutive Lampropoulos said “It really feels like a magic moment I’m in right now," and that magic has just been doubled as she took on and beat some of the best players in the world in Paradise Island this week.

With 582 entries to the $10K buy-in flagship event, the prizepool had swollen to a massive $5,645,400 with the likes of Adrian Mateos, Koray Aldemir, Liv Boeree and David Peters making it deep into the money – with Lampropoulos guaranteeing she’d be the last woman standing when she knocked Boeree out herself in 17th spot.

A final table ‘of the highest quality’ was streamed live on PokerStars.tv and as the PS blog stated, viewers ‘were treated to tricks, bluffs, aggression and solidity’ – unsurprising given that Mateos, Aldemir and Canada’s Shawn Buchanan all have excellent pedigree – almost $30million between them in tournament earnings. Throw in the new female on the block and it was a poker masterclass.

With the short stacks falling early on the 6th day of play, Spanish sensation Adrian Mateos made his bid for the title but the swings and roundabouts of poker fortune conspired against him – a huge hand against Buchanan ending his dreams in 4th spot…

Germany’s Koray Aldemir certainly wasn’t scared to get it all-in when needed, an outrageous bluff holding pocket 3’s grabbing the attention of the Twitter-followers of the PCA…

…but eventually he too succumbed as he was first short-stacked and then had to watch as his last-gasp effort was hit by trips, the river king pairing his hand but too little, too late…

Heads-up for the title and it would be history in the making – no female ever winning the PCA in its 13 years – and Lampropoulos did it in style, pulling away from Buchanan and finishing him off with a flopped pair, her boyfriend Ivan Luca rushing down to greet the new PCA champ…

"I am very proud," Lampropulos said afterwards. "Every woman here - dealers, floors - every woman is very happy for me, and I'm grateful for that," adding: "I am very, very happy. I'm so excited. This is incredible. I know that this is hard to believe for everybody. It's my second huge main event, and I'm very thankful."

2018 PCA Main Event Results