PCA 2014: Cast of Hundreds

It happens always in the course of the PCA. Somebody comes as much as me, shakes my hand, and says, "THAT IS amazing, Lee - I've had a good time; thanks for all of the labor you do." Needless to say, it's gratifying and i am gracious in accepting the compliment. But I'm always careful to inform people who I'm only one guy out of hundreds who make the development what it's.

And in fact, I WOULD LIKE go no further than Joe Stapleton, who recently wat the Bluff Magazine Poker Commentator of the Year award. To anybody who congratulates him on the award, Joe says, "Well, that award is for James (Hartigan) too, a minimum of. But really it's for everyone at the TV team. I'm just the fellow whose voice they hear - but without most of these other folks, I'm nothing."

Joe gets it.

If Joe and that i tried to inform you about all of the individuals who make the PCA happen, you'd lose interest long before we finished. The folks who manage our Team Pros and the oldsters who man the player lounge. The dealers, floor staff, and tournament directors (Trivia quiz: what number of PCAs has chief tournament director Mike Ward worked? Trick answer: what number of PCAs have there been?). The television people of whom Joe speaks - producers and camera-persons, directors and card recorders and gaffers. Sound-people and coordinators and those whose jobs I DO NOT even start to understand but without whom there'd be no webcast. The registrations individuals who get thousands of players into dozens of events, and the workers on the PCA bank who handle deposits and withdraws. Bloggers, photographers, and media individuals who get the words and images out to a voracious poker community.

Chief event organizer James White (Spanish name: Jaime Blanco) and VIP Host Garry Gates (Spanish name: Gregorio de las Puertas) who instituted a sock-off this year. Gates won the general table by wearing socks with an image of Jesus (Spanish name: Jesus) woven into them.

Gregorio de las Puertas gana

Dozens of PokerStars and entire Tilt Poker employees who attend PCA once a year on "working holidays" as a peer-nominated award for excellence of their job the prior year. They have got a couple of days within the Bahamian sun, but they're also handing out player bags, assisting bloggers, hosting the player lounge, and doing a lot of jobs necessary for the event's success.

And in fact, there are a host of people that make the PCA successful but aren't even here to share the Atlantis and Caribbean Sea with us. They arrange the satellite tournaments on PokerStars and whole Tilt Poker, that is how Dominik Panka got to the PCA (and won $1.4 million). They read and reply to thousands of emails from hundreds of players. One of the most questions are common ("How am i able to get adjoining rooms with my parents?") and a few not so ("AM I ABLE TO bring my seeing-eye dog with me?"). But hard-working folks clear those mailboxes 24/7 so our players get prompt and accurate answers.

Joe Stapleton and that i would both like to let you know a wide variety of reports in regards to the individuals who make the PCA the fantastic experience it's. We're aware that we're simply two of a handful of public faces for a great team of parents. But there are too many of us and too many stories. So whilst you compliment Joe or me, we say, "Thank you, on behalf of all our colleagues. We sure appreciate the type words."

In closing, though, I'LL single out one guy, because he's virtually the sui generis of the unsung PCA hero. His name is Leonard and he's the (unofficial) president and CEO of the PCA Bank (aka "The Bank of Leonard"). It is a tiny little bank that opens yearly during January within the Bahamas, handles a couple of million dollars in deposits and withdraws, after which shuts down until its next phoenix-like reemergence the next year.

Leonard arrives a few days early and gets everything ready up. He supervises a team of mostly working holiday staffers, and reconciles every transaction the bank does. He was extra proud this year because they've automatic non-stop reconciliation; if there is a mistake (and they are rare) then it's caught and corrected within minutes. Leonard even wrote a manual for his volunteer workers so they'd know the procedures even before they hit the bottom on Paradise Island.

Leonard doesn't leave Atlantis until the last transaction is reconciled, the last tournament payout confirmed, and the safe is sitting on a pallet ready for storage until next year. Between arriving and leaving the Atlantis, Leonard rarely leaves the bank, which helps explains why it runs so smoothly.

You may not recognize Leonard - he's the fellow sitting behind the PCA bank office, engrossed in his laptop, with the intention that the entire dollars and cents add up. But without Leonard, and hundreds of individuals like him, there is not any PCA.

When Leonard is dressed like this, the PCA is within the books

Joe Stapleton and that i would be the first two people to inform you that.

Postscript: This may be my last blog entry from the 2014 PCA. Up to now couple of days, there's been one recurring phrase that I've said (and heard) as I've shaken people's hands: "Safe travels." These kind of individuals who play at and organize the PCA and other PokerStars events - they get on a large number of airplanes. Airport shuttles, taxis, and trains. I never take that without any consideration and that i always whisper a silent way to the universe when every cameraman, dealer, poker player, media worker, and PokerStars employee is safely home. We aren't only a team - we're a certified family and a part of the worldwide poker community. "Safe travels" is greater than a phrase - it is a heartfelt wish for we all until the following community gathering.

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Lee Jones is the top of Poker Communications at PokerStars; he first joined the corporate in 2003. He have been eager about the pro poker world for the reason that mid 1980's.

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