Mike Watson Wins PCA 2016 Main Event For $728.325
Watson, 31, has been a regular on the live poker scene for over a decade and has a sterling resumé to show for it. He is best known on the European Poker Tour for his performance in high roller events including runner-up in the EPT11 Grand Final €50k Super High Roller for €672,300 and third in both the EPT9 Barcelona €50k Super High Roller and the 2013 PCA $25k High Roller. He has also won WSOP-E and WPT events for a combined haul of nearly $3 million. Watson is also highly successful online and won two watches in the latest SCOOP series. Ranked fifth on Canada’s all-time money list, yesterday’s victory takes him over the $9 million mark in live tournament winnings.
He said: “It means a lot to win a Main Event with a big field and especially the PCA being one of the flagship events of the EPT, and really a premiere event in the whole poker calendar. It has special meaning to me that Steve Paul-Ambrose won it ten years ago. He was a mentor to me and that makes it extra sweet.”
Tony Gregg’s previous PCA runner-up finish was in 2009 when he walked away with $1.7 million. In 2012, he finished sixth for $364,000. The 29-year-old American, who now has lifetime live tournament winnings of over $10 million, also has impressive online results. Under the screen name "wwwBTHEREcom", he has accumulated more than $1.5 million in cashes. His results include a $2k 1R1A SCOOP 2013-High title for $197,720 and a Sunday Million victory in 2011 for $195,000.
EPT Vilamoura champion Toby Lewis came close to winning a second Main Event title but was eliminated in fourth place for $267,340 while Russia’s Vladimir Troyanovskiy finished fifth for $207,940. As well as well-known poker pros, this year’s finalists also included two recreational players: American neurosurgeon Randy Kritzer who finished sixth for $153,920 and Australian civil engineer Ken Demlakian who was seventh for $110,220.
PCA 2016 Main Event final table results:
1st - Mike Watson, Canada, $728,325 *
2nd - Tony Gregg, USA, $612,175 *
3rd - Phillip McAllister, UK, $356,020
4th - Toby Lewis, UK, PokerStars qualifier, $267,340
5th - Vladimir Troyanovskiy, Russia, PokerStars qualifier, $207,940
6th - Randy Kritzer, USA, $153,920
7th - Ken Demlakian, Australia, $110,220
8th - Timothy Ulmer, USA, $78,540
* denotes heads-up deal
Source: EPT Press