On Monday, Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Selbst won the 2013 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $25,000 High Roller Event, earning $1,424,420. Selbst is now the winningest female player in the history of tournament poker, besting former No. 1 Kathy Liebert by more than $1.1 million. Selbst defeated Russian Vladimir Troyanovskiy heads up – Troyanovskiy also made the final table of the $100,000 Super High Roller at the tenth anniversary of the PCA.
2013 PCA $25,000 High Roller Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vanessa Selbst | United States | $1,424,420 |
| 2 | Vladimir Troyanovskiy | Russia | $792,180 |
| 3 | Mike Watson | Canada | $462,320 |
| 4 | Ole Schemion | Germany | $354,860 |
| 5 | Shaun Deeb | United States | $289,880 |
| 6 | Bryn Kenney | United States | $229,900 |
| 7 | Tobias Reinkemeier | Germany | $174,940 |
| 8 | Micah Raskin | United States | $129,940 |
The final table started fast, and within 12 hands, three players were eliminated. Micah Raskin was the first player to bow out when he three-bet jammed over an open from Ole Schemion. With the blinds at 12,000/24,000/3,000, Schemion opened to 48,000 from under the gun with 
, and Raskin moved all in for 344,000 from the hijack seat with 
. The action folded back to Schemion, who called.
Raskin made a pair of jacks when the flop fell 
, but the turn and river bricked 
, 
respectively, and the American was eliminated in eighth place.
On Hand #10, Schemion claimed another victim – this time it was fellow countryman Tobias Reinkemeier. Schemion opened to 48,000 from early position with 
, Reinkemeier three-bet to 130,000 on the button with 
, and the action folded back to Schemion, who moved all in for effectively 638,000. Reinkemeier called.
The eights held as the flop, turn, and river came 
, eliminating Reinkemeier in seventh place.
Two hands later, Schemion knocked out out a third player from the official final table. The German opened to 48,000 from under the gun with 
, Bryn Kenney three-bet shoved for 433,000 with 
from the cutoff seat, and the action folded back to Schemion, who snap-called.
It was all but over when the flop fell 
, giving Schemion a full house, and Kenney’s tournament was over when the 
turned. A meaningless 
completed the board, and Kenney was off to collect sixth-place money.
Schemion’s hot start stalled shortly after he knocked out Kenney when he unsuccessfully tried to bluff Selbst. With the blinds still at 12,000/24,000/3,000, Selbst opened to 50,000 from early position with 
. Schemion defended from the big blind with 
, and the dealer fanned 
. Both players checked. The turn was the 
, Schemion led out for 67,000, and Selbst tanked before raising to 141,000. Schemion called. The 
completed the board, Schemion checked, and Selbst slid out 465,000. Schemion check-raised all in for effectively 1.205 million, and Selbst snapped it off.
Suddenly, the Team PokerStars Pro had the chip lead, while Schemion plummeted to the bottom of the counts.
The German took another hit from Selbst at the start of Level 23. With the blinds at 15,000/30,000/4,000, Schemion opened to 60,000 from under the gun with . Selbst three-bet to 143,000 on the button with 
, and Schemion responded with a four-bet to 266,000. Selbst called. The flop fell 
, Schemion led for 119,000, and Selbst called. The turn was the , Schemion checked, and Selbst fired 216,000. Schemion snap-called. The river brought the 
, Schemion checked a second time, and Selbst moved all in for effectively 765,000. Schemion quickly folded.
Despite plummeting down the counts, Schemion wasn’t the next player to bust – it was Shaun Deeb. Deeb, who entered the final table with the chip lead, played a massive blind vs. blind pot against Selbst when the Team PokerStars Pro hit a very fortuitous river card. With the blinds remaining the same, Selbst raised to 75,000 from the small blind with . Deeb defended from the big blind with 
, and the flop was 
. Selbst led out for 60,000, Deeb raised to 208,000, Selbst re-raised to 465,000, and Deeb moved all in for 1.567 million. Selbst tanked for nearly three minutes, then called.
The on the turn was a brick, but the spiked on the river, eliminating Deeb in fifth place. Despite taking a massive chip lead, Selbst was very apologetic towards Deeb, who shrugged it off and later joined the James Hartigan and Joe Stapleton in the broadcast booth.
Schemion was eliminated during one of the first hands of Level 24. With the blinds at 20,000/40,000/5,000, Vladimir Troyanovskiy opened to 85,000 with . Schemion three-bet to 200,000 on the button with two fives — leaving just 110,000 behind — and Mike Watson called in the small blind with 
. Troyanovskiy folded. The flop fell 
, and Watson led out for 100,000, thinking he was putting Schemion all in. Schemion called, leaving just a few thousand behind, and the turn was the . Finally, the money went in. The German needed a five to stay alive, but the completed the board, and he was eliminated.
Three-handed play lasted only 45 minutes or so, when Selbst trapped Watson. The Canadian opened to 80,000 on the button with , Selbst three-bet to 210,000 from the small blind with , and Watson made the call. The dealer fanned 
, Selbst led for 260,000, and Watson tank-called. The turn was the , giving Selbst a pair of queens to go along with her flush draw, and she checked. Watson saw this as an opportunity to bet, and fired 320,000. Selbst called. The river was the 
, giving Selbst her flush, and she checked once again. Watson tanked before moving all in, and Selbst snapped it off.
Watson was eliminated in third place, earning $462,320, and heads-up play began with Selbst commanding a more than 3-to-1 chip lead.
Selbst took the first two pots against Troyanovskiy, but there was no quit from the Russian. After making a key fold with two pair, he doubled to over 30 big blinds with against the of Selbst. He then doubled again with on a board of 
. Selbst had a pair and a flush draw with , but the bricked on the river, and Troyanovskiy was back up over 50 big blinds.
In the middle of Level 26, Troyanovskiy had a shot to close the gap even further, but Selbst binked another key river card. On the final hand played, with the blinds at 30,000/60,000/10,000, Troyanovskiy raised to 125,000 on the button with two kings, Vanessa Selbst three-bet to 290,000 with , and Troyanovskiy tanked for the better part of a minute before four-betting to 550,000. Selbst moved all in for effectively 1.735 million, and Troyanovskiy snapped it off.
Selbst’s rail cheered for an ace, but the flop changed nothing.
The final table area became quiet as the turned, and Selbst, who had stood up to sweat the hand, sat back down to start cutting out chips.
She shot back up out of her chair when the spiked on the river, however, as she realized she was the winner of the $25,000 High Roller.
"I’ll take it," she said with a shocked look on her face. "I’d rather be lucky than good."
Congratulations to Selbst for earning the second-largest score of her career and becoming the winningest female player in tournament poker history. Join us in February as we travel to France for the next stop of the European Poker Tour; EPT Deauville.
For now, goodbye from the Bahamas, and thanks for joining us throughout the 2013 PCA!
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