The PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) rolls on to Day 5 today, and, as the chips were bagged up at the end of play last night on Paradise Island in the Bahamas, it was Eugenio Mattar, the CEO of Localiza, the biggest car rental company in Latin America, who emerged as chip leader.
And while Mattar has no rating on the Hendon Mob database for tournament cashes, he does make the Forbes list of Richest Brazilians, (# 144, in case you’re interested.) The Brazilian will return today with 2,673,000 in chips as one of 24 players vying for one of the biggest titles in poker.
Not far behind Mattar is double WPT National winner Emrah Cakmak, from France, who is sitting pretty with 2,037,000, and a hair’s breadth behind him is the USA’s Chance Kornuth, 2010 WSOP bracelet winner.
Other notable names chasing the pack include former spelling-bee-champion-turned-high-roller specialist, Pratyush Buddiga, who sits in fifth place, with 1,624,000, behind Sweden’s Andreas Samuelsson.
“s_dot111” Looks for Live Breakthrough
Lying just behind Buddiga in sixth is Canada’s Ratharam Sivagnanam, a name that may be unfamiliar to many, until you realize that he plays online under the name “s_dot111.”
Under that online handle , Sivagnanam is one of the most prolific Internet tournament players in the world, with over $7 million in cashes. He’s yet to make a splash on the live circuit, though, and it will be interesting to see whether he can announce his arrival here.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the chip-count table, and clinging on by the skin of their teeth, are Felipe “Mojave” Ramos of Brazil and Noah Schwartz of the USA.
However, Day 4 was all about the man who finished in 26th place, Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima, or “Ronaldo” as the world knows him mononymously.
While his namesake Cristiano was busy picking up his Ballon d’Or world’s best footballer of the year award on the other side of the Atlantic, the Brazilian Ronaldo, a two-time winner of that same award and now a full-fledged member of Team PokerStars, was making a serious run at the PCA Main Event title.
It was a spirited one, too; one that will allow him to stake his claim as a poker player, rather than just another celebrity “wild card,” although his exit did appear to be something of a blow up.
Ronaldo Busted
Ronaldo’s PCA Main Event demise came late in the day on the featured table.
With blinds at 10,000/20,000/2,000, “The Phenomenon” opened from middle position with K-10 of diamonds, only to be re-raised by fellow countryman Mattar to 200,000. A hot-headed Ronaldo shoved all in for 536,000 more and was called by Mattar, who held queens and vaulted himself into the chip lead. Ronaldo takes home $42,180 for his efforts.
Other high-profile eliminations on Day 4 included the likes of Jonathan Duhamel, Jason Mercier, Ole Schemion, Olivier Busquet, Shannon Shorr and JC Alvarado.
Play now resumes at 12 Noon ET, when the Main Event will be playing down to Wednesday’s final table, so be sure to check in tomorrow for an update.
