If you, like many, wonder whatever happened to poker of yesteryear, the sort with trash-talking, ridiculously bloated over-bet pots, and happy-to-cash amateurs, this was an afternoon to observe the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. Maybe it was the reduced Main Event buy-in. Maybe it was simply the fates granting us a nostalgic throwback to the old days. It's hard to mention. Regardless, from the bet-sizing to the banter, today's PCA felt similar to 2005 all over the place again.

It ends, however, back on 2016 form with four of poker's best-known pros within the final six headed into the last day of the principle Event. Topping all of them is Mike "SirWatts" Watson.

Mike Watson

Here's the overall six, where they're seated, and the way they stack up for Thursday's final.

Seat 1: Mike Watson (Canada) 6,585,000Seat 2: Vladimir Troyanovskiy (Russia) 5,025,000Seat 3: Randy Kritzer (USA) 2,565,000Seat 4: Tony Gregg (USA) 5,690,000Seat 5: Phillip McAllister (UK) 3,040,000Seat 6: Toby Lewis (UK) 4,665,000

Watson, Troyanovskiy, Gregg, and Lewis need no introduction to poker players. Gregg has made two previous PCA Main Event final tables. Lewis is an EPT champion. Watson is an WPT champion with millions in winnings and two SCOOP titles. Troyanovskiy is an EPT regular and one among Russia's biggest poker winners. Any of them could win this and it might surprise no one.

Tony Gregg

Toby Lewis

Vladimir Troyanovskiy

Meanwhile, Phillip McAllister is a 22-year-old grinder from the united kingdom referred to as Grindnation on PokerStars with greater than one million bucks in combined live and online winnings. He and Randy Kritzer, a neurosurgeon and recreational player from North Carolina, may have their hands full against the four pros on Thursday.

Randy Kritzer

Phillip McAllister

For all folks that won't see tomorrow, the sport of What Could have been will go on playing for a while. For one-time Main Event final tablist Fabian Ortiz, that game may work on forever.

Today, Ortiz started third in chips but couldn't beat overnight chip leader Pires in any pot of significance. If Ortiz had a hand, Pires was bigger. If Pires was bluffing, he got there anyway. For Ortiz, it was a slow-motion horror show that ended with him getting disemboweled when Pires held an overpair of kings to his own flopped top pair of queens.

Fabian Ortiz

Ortiz's 17th place finish was not the primary of the day (Taylor Paur and Fedor Holz went first), nevertheless it result in a sequence of bust-outs that went so fast, everyone thought we'd be finished by dinner. Fabian Chauriye, Ami Barer, and Stephen Chidwick went separately. (YOU WILL SEE THAT the entire payouts here on our 2016 PCA Main Event results page.)

After that, the Brazilians had reason to believe they'd a lock at the final table. Pires, the person folks started calling the Brazilian Jamie Gold, had run roughshod over the sphere on last three days of play. Until today, every night since Day 2 had finished with Pires within the lead.

Leonardo Pires

That ended today when Pires imploded over the process a few hours. After extending his result in some extent where he had greater than 25% of the chips in play, Pires lost pot after pot. He didn't play small ball. He made big bets and larger bluffs. It ended when Pires bluffed all-in over and a raise and a decision with 4♣3♥ and bumped into Mike Watson's pair of tens. So it goes.

Pires with a last handshake

Paul Gooley departed within the time it took people to forestall marveling at Pires' meltdown, one who wouldn't be the top of the massive blow-ups. Martin McCormick, the day-drinking, hard talking amateur was a polarizing figure on the table.

Yes, I'm speaking to you

After five days of warnings, penalties, and needling, McCormick spent an hour of Day 5 in a spat with Matt Waxman. It hadn't ended when McCormick played a blind-vs-blind hand, indeed blind, to the flop with Ken Demlakian. They checked it through to the turn where Demlakian hit his ace and bet out. McCormick bluffed all in with just a flush draw. He missed, and he was gone.

"I used up all my good luck," McCormick said.

Martin McCormick's quiet(er) exit

After that came the slow game of creating it to the overall table. It finally happened when Matt Waxman shoved A♠7♥ into Mike Watson's A♦Q♥. Watson flopped two queens, made queens stuffed with aces at the turn, and avoided the chopped pot at the river. Waxman was gone in tenth, and the sphere consolidated to the unofficial final table.

Matt Waxman

To come so just about PCA title and fall...that stands out as the toughest beat of all. It happened first to David Eldridge, who managed to double once through Toby Lewis, before losing the following two all-ins against the similar man.

David Eldridge in full pirate "aaargh."

After that it, we lost Timothy Ulmer in 8th, and Aussie Ken Demlakian in seventh to make the overall table of six. We cannot fail to note, Demlakian made it this far after quadrupling up a couple of nights ago after you have his last chips in blind--it was either go big or make his flight the following morning. He now has good enough winnings to pay for that airfare change.

Ken Demlakian

Tim Ulmer

If you want more action before the night ends, we still have ongoing $25,000 High Roller live updates as that tourney winds its way toward a 3rd day. Both it and the primary Event will crown champions on Thursday. Join us then for live updates from starting to end.

Until then, goodnight from the Bahamas.

Ready to qualify for a PokerStars live event? Click here to get a PokerStars account.Brad Willis is the PokerStars Head of Blogging.

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