Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure Will Not Return in 2020

Published on September 13th, 2019 1:14 pm EST

Pokerstars revealed earlier this week that the PCA (Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure) will not be returning in 2020.

The PCA, which started on a cruise ship back in 2004, was once the crown jewel of Pokerstars' live tour schedule. Many poker players would take a break from winter in the Northern Hemisphere by hopping on a plane to Bahamas and the Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure, before hopping over to Melbourne for the Australian Open and Aussie Millions.

Things changed over the past number of years, however, as many players elected to skip the PCA festival. One of the biggest complaints cited by players was the hassle of not being able to bring larger amounts of cash to and from the event, as it would inevitably lead to issues with airport authorities. The bloom came off of the PCA rose, and the numbers suffered.

The first PSPC was held at the 2019 PCA, though Pokerstars has elected to hold the 2020 PSPC at next year's EPT Barcelona. The writing was on the wall when this move was announced, and Pokerstars officially announced the closing of the PCA earlier this week.

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The closing of the PCA means that the EPT Barcelona is now the crown jewel of Pokerstars' live tournament schedule. The turnout for this year's EPT Barcelona main event was absolutely massive, and next year's should be even bigger.

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The high point of the 15-year Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure run was when Galen Hall took down the 2011 PCA main event for $2.3 million.

This tournament had a massive field of 1,560 entries, which ended up generating a total prize pool of over $15 million.

A few months later, "Black Friday" happened and the numbers never recovered.

Source: Pokerstars.com - Closing the book on the PCA

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