This was the day for the files of "men who were supposed to be somewhere else."

Ryan "g0lfa" D'Angelo had an appointment today. He was scheduled to have both of his wrists fitted with gold World Championship of Online Poker bracelets, his token prize to go along with the thousands of dollars he won for crushing not one, but two WCOOP events last year. There is an exclusive reception tonight for him and his fellow 2009 WCOOP winners. On any normal day, that would be the biggest thing on D'Angelo's calendar. Instead, he ends Day 4 of the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure with a 7,483,000 stack and as the runaway chip leader.

And then there is John Duthie. If the name does't ring a bell, you don't know very much about the European Poker Tour. Duthie is the man who created the EPT and grew it the behemoth baby it continues to be. In that time, Duthie has not once sat his rear end in an EPT chair for the purposes of playing a tournament. This year at the PCA, however, Duthie decided to take a seat and play. Now the man who also claims membership on Team PokerStars Pro goes into Day 5 with 5,304,000, the second biggest chip stack.

John Duthie



Both men were probably supposed to be somewhere else on Day 4. D'Angelo could've been off having cocktails with Slash and all the other celebs. Duthie could've been off pointing at things around the room and making them better with the mere suggestion of improvement. Instead, they are the men with the chips. They join 22 other players who will return here Sunday afternoon to play down to the 2010 PCA final table (PCA chip counts).

Day 4 began with 62 players and the potential for an early end. While it didn't go fast, the pain wasn't overly delayed for the 38 people who gave up the ghost. Among them were a host of names you know: Team PokerStars Pros Johnny Lodden and Florian Langmann; Huck Seed; Liz Lieu; Bill Gazes; Alex Brenes and many others who will have to settle for a bundle full of cash and the wait for the 2011 PCA Main Event (2010 PCA winners).

There are many threads running through this story and we're not sure where any of them lead yet. There are two, though, that we can't omit from this report.

If you've been following the coverage since the beginning this year, you know that Wayne Bentley finished Day 1A with the chip lead at 329,500 chips. The 28-year-old former truck driver and army man drives a cab back home, but plans to put an end to that if he can put together enough money here. He then went on to Day 2 and finished third in chips. Day 3 was a struggle, but he still came out with half a million. When play began today, it looked like our story might be coming to an end. Bentley's stack was picked apart in just about every possible way and he was at one point down to fewer than 80,000 chips. We were just about to sign his death warrant when he began to rally. At day's end, Bentley is swaggering away with 2,878,000 and a shot at the final table.

Wayne Bentley

And then there is the Fabulous Growing ROI story in the form of Darren Keyes. Keyes is no stranger to live events. He was part of Team Moneymaker a couple of years ago at the World Series of Poker and, most recently, made the final table of the LAPT event in Playa Conchal, Costa Rica. Keyes remains in the field tonight as the player with the best possible return on investment. He got his seat here through one of PokerStars' Mega-Path satellites. He started his journey for 75 Frequent Player Points and worked his way up the ladder. Now guaranteed $75,000, it's almost impossible to calculate his ROI. It's somewhere in the 4,000,000% range. Is he excited?

"I may not look it, because I'm tired, but yeah I am," he told us at the end of play..

Darren Keyes

Those are the stories as we end this day of play. The vagaries of tournament poker could change everything by this time tomorrow, but tonight we're leaving it there. It's enough to hold the story until we return Sunday at midday.

If you'd like to start handicapping the rest of the field, here's a complete look of how they stack up on our PCA chip counts page. If you'd like to see everyone who has cashed so far, please head on over to our 2010 PCA winners page.

Not enough for you? Well, here's how the Day 4 went down, blow by blow, tear by tear, drop of blood by drop of blood.

Day 4 sprint
Level 21
Level 22
Level 23
Level 24
Level 25

Despite the winnowing field and scope of nationalities, our foreign correspondents are still click-clacking away at their keyboards. You like the hurdy-gurdy talk? Go Swedish. If that doesn't do it for you, we also have German, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese straight out of the mind of a Brazilian. That should be more than enough to keep you busy.

As always, a tip of the hat to our tireless and well-preserved photographers Joe Giron and Neil Stoddart.

We hate to leave you this early in the night, but our eyes and notebooks are required elsewhere. The PokerStars party featuring Kelly Rowland kicks off tonight at 9pm. If you are around, we'll be the pasty, pudgy white guys dancing like nobody's watching.

Live updates from Day 4, level 22 of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event brought to you by Stephen Bartley, Howard Swains, Brad Willis, and Simon Young.

Click refresh to see the latest updates below. Click through to the chip count page for selected notable chip counts, updated regularly throughout the day.

Previous coverage: Day 1A wrap | Day 1B wrap | Day 2 wrap | Day 3 wrap | Level 21

Blinds: 10,000-20,000-2,000

2.55pm: Break time
We're now on a break. Back in 10.

2.50pm: Bentley back among the big boys
Let's just remind you, Wayne Bentley was down to his last 75,000 chips earlier today, and now he is up to around 1.5 million. He just doubled up through Jake Toole - the final all in was for 567,000 and there was already a load in the pot. Bentley had aces and the full board was [jc][jd][qc][kh][10c]. It seemed likely that Toole had taken the lead in the hand at some point, but eventually lost to the runner-runner straight. "That's like an online hand," said someone on the rail, to widespread agreement.

2.45pm: Earlier today...

2.40pm: 41 left
Jonathan Aguiar is out. It happened over the course of two hands, the first of which saw the chips in the middle, Aguiar holding [kd][qh] to 605's [jh][jd]. A jack had hit the turn and cost Aguiar everything but 34,000 which went into the middle on the next hand. He waited for a caller, packing up his headphones and sunglasses. 608 raised, getting no takers and took on Aguiar with [ah][ts] to Aguiar's [th][9h].

It was all over on the flop, the board running: [as][jh][jd][2c][5s].

2.35pm: Bansi keeps Zahmat alive
Bijan Zahmat doubled up through Praz Bansi with [ac][qs] on a board of [9c][6c][qc][6s][7s]. The final all in was for 278,000. It's only a small nibble from Bansi's stack, but keeps Zahmat in the game.

2:34pm: Chappus eliminated, Ryan "g0lfa" D'Angelo running away (and messing up bracelet ceremony)
So, you might have heard of this guy who won two WCOOP bracelets last year. And you might have heard he has overtaken the chip lead on Day 4. What you might not have heard is that there is supposed to be a big bracelet ceremony for WCOOP winners today and, being a double bracelet winner, D'Angelo was expected there.

"We may have to take his bracelets to him at the table," said Bryan Slick, WCOOP head honcho.

It's looking more and more like that will happen. D'Angelo just came in for a raise and then called Mike Chappus' re-raise. The flop fell [Ts][[9h][3h]. D'Angelo checked and Chappus shoved for nearly 700,000.

D'Angelo made an online-fast decision saying, "I can't fold on that flop. I call."

D'Angelo: [As][Tc]
Chappus: [Ah][Qc]

Chappus couldn't pick up a queen and is out.

"I'm stackin'em, I'm stackin'em," D'Angelo said. He's now well over the four million chip mark.

2.25pm: I keep overplay my aces
Jake Toole makes it 50,000 under the gun, but in the next seat PokerStars qualifier Randy Hanley makes it 110,000. It's folded all the way around to Toole again, who lets it go.
Hanley lets out a sigh and turns over [ac][as]. "I hate the way I overplay aces," he said. "I really should try just calling there to win a huge pot."

2.20pm: Schwartz shunted
Eric Schwartz is out. He moved all in pre-flop for 240,000 and almost had a called in Randy Hanley, who thought long and hard about what to do with his own short stack. Eventually he folded, but James Tolbert, in the small blind, moved all in over the top and isolated Schwartz. They showed: [ad][ks] for Tolbert, better than Schwartz's [9d][js]. The flop wasn't great for Schwartz: [kh][8c][7d], leaving him looking for a ten. It didn't come on either turn or river and out he went. Hanley patted himself on the back for his fold; Tolbert raked in the chips.

2.15pm: A wow hand
Tobias Reinkemeier opened for 50,000 in early position, getting calls from Mike Chappus, John Duthie and Ryan D'Angelo in the big blind. On the flop of [qc][6c][4c] D'Angelo, who has about 3.4million, checked to Chappus who bet 150,000. Mike Chappus passed but after a pause for thought Duthie moved all-in. D'Angelo made an easy fold while Reinkemeier shuffled in his seat. Then called.

[6d][6s] for Duthie
[4h][4s] for Reinkemeier

Cue an "Oh wow" from somewhere. A [3d] on the turn and a [7h] on the river. Reinkemeier was out. Here one minute, gone the next and John Duthie is up to 2.5million.

"Very nice hand," said Hafiz Khan.

"Very lucky," replied Duthie.

2:12pm: Aaron Jones flushes Haugen
With about half a million already in the pot on a board of [7s][qh][9s][8h][qs], Aaron Jones pushed all-in for 509,000. Matthew Haugen sat at the end of the table and looked uncomfortable. His jugular pulsed, his lips twitched, he cracked his knuckles. Finally, quietly, he said, "Call."

Jones flipped up [js][9s], good for the win and enough to put him on 1.5 million. Meanwhile, Haugen is down to 800,000.

Jones raking Haugen's chips

2.10pm: Some chip movements
Ryan D'Angelo is the runaway leader at the moment, with 3.5 million, but there's also a lot of movement at the other end of the chip ladder. While some of the short stacks have departed (Seed, Gazes, Langmann, etc.), Wayne Bentley is proving to be immortal. Down to 75,000 early today, he now has bounced back to around 480,000. Most recently he was seen with pocket aces and a pile of chips being shoved in his direction.

2pm: D'Angelo the chip monster
PokerStars qualifier Ryan D'Angelo takes the PCA chip lead with 46 players remaining. Already on 2,750,000 after they came back from the break, he swiftly dispensed with Bryce Yockey, who had been on more than a million not so long ago.

On a [6c][5d][10c][ks][7h] board, Yockey checked and then D'Angelo moved all in, putting Yockey at risk. He dwelled for a short time before calling, only to be shown D'Angelo's [kh][10h] for top two pair.

D'Angelo is now on more than 3.5million, and that's good for the chip lead.

1.55pm: Gone to Seed
Huck Seed and Bill Gazes are out of the PCA. No details yet, but we have spies everywhere, so we hope to fill in the blanks soon.

1.50pm: The sole Team PokerStars Pro
John Duthie is the last Team PokerStars Pro standing following the elimination of Florian Langmann. The German had only seven big blinds left and pushed with Q-10 offsuit, but was called by the small blind who had A-7. Langmann never improved, despite the tease of a gutshot draw on the turn, and is out in 51st place.

1.47pm: Runners and riders
The full official chip counts are now featured on our chip count page.

1.45pm: Liz Lieu-ses
Richard Toth opened for 45,000 which Liz Lieu raised another 75,000 from the big blind. Then came Toth's all in and a call from Lieu. She turned over [qd][qs] while Toth showed [ah][kc]. Lieu didn't watch the flop: [4h][6h][5d] but that wasn't the problem. The problem was the [as] on the turn which swung things in Toth's favour. A [4d] on the river and that was that.

"It's okay," said Lieu, before adding: "Ugly." It's always ugly.

Liz Lieu

1.40pm: Break's over
We're back up and running on day 4 with 54 players remaining.

Live updates from Day 4, level 21 of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event brought to you by Stephen Bartley, Howard Swains, Brad Willis, and Simon Young.

Click refresh to see the latest updates below. Click through to the chip count page for selected notable chip counts, updated regularly throughout the day.

Previous coverage: Day 1A wrap | Day 1B wrap | Day 2 wrap | Day 3 wrap

Blinds: 8,000-16,000-2,000

1.20pm: Taking the double to the break
"Hey, I needed some chips," said Bernd Rygol as he stacked up a tower of them as the other players drifted off to the break. That was how he explained the reasoning behind an open shove under-the-gun with [ah][qh] that was looked up by Benjamin Zamani in the big blind. Zamani had [jd][jh] and Rygol's 199,000 was a mere fraction of his stack. The board came [3c][7s][qs][4s][7h], which was good for Rygol. He now has more than 400,000 as they enter level 22.

1.18pm: Don't mess with Mandy
Amanda Baker is closing in on the 2 million mark, and she's doing it without having to show her cards. Within one orbit of the table, she pushed players off two big pots. The first came when Darren Keyes came in for a raise and Alex Brenes re-popped it to 90,000 from the button. Baker moved all-in from the big blind with enough to cover both players. Both folded.

A few hands later, Baker led out on a [9h][[kc][qh] flop and then called a raise from Damien Rony. On the [8h] turn, Baker checked and Rony put out 200,000. Baker moved all-in and Rony folded.  

Baker is still stacking her chips...in the meantime, don't mess with her.

1.15pm: Duthie digs in
John Duthie opened on the button and saw a flop with Bryce Yockey in the small blind. It came [6s][9d][kd]. Yockey check-called Duthie's bet of 35,000 and both checked the [qc] on the turn. When the [7h] emerged on the river Yockey check-called again, 50,000 from Duthie this time who turned over [jh][qh] to take the pot.

1.05pm: Debut Duthie on top
On a flop of [th][2d][7c] Amit Makhija checked to Bryce Yockey who bet 43,000. Makhija called for a [qh] turn and checked again. Another 98,000 this time from Yockey, his cards protected by a sumo wrestler figurine. The 98k was enough weight to shove Makhija out of the way.

Yockey was in action again on the next hand, opening for 35,000 from under the gun. The action reached John Duthie in the big blind who raised another 51,000. Yockey called for a flop of [2d][4h][ah]. Now Duthie bet 95,000 which Yockey called. With a [3d] on the turn Duthie bet again, 300,000 this time. Yockey surrendered as new boy Duthie, playing his first ever EPT, moves beyond two million.

John Duthie

1pm: The Kenny Nguyen show
When it gets to this stage of a tournament, every table is an action table. But when it gets to this stage of a tournament and Kenny Nguyen is still involved, there is one action table with more action on it than the others.

Florian Langmann opened in early position to 37,000 and Bryn Kenney three-bet to 80,000 one seat to his left. Nguyen, in the big blind, moved all in for 260,000 and got the two aggressors to fold.

On the next hand, Benjamin Zamani opened for 34,000 and Nguyen called from the small blind. The flop came [7c][10h][4s] and as it was being dealt, Nguyen annouced: "Check blind to you!" Zamani checked blind right back at him, and so the dealer went all the way to the turn of [3d]. "Check blind to you," chirruped Nguyen again, but Zamani bet now, making it 46,000. Nguyen called. "Check blind to you," came the familiar refrain from Nguyen as the dealer exposed the [6h] on the river. Zamani checked too and Nguyen announced: "Ace king!" Zamani showed [jd][jh] to take it.

12:57pm: One of the best ROIs ever...
You know how we mentioned Darren Keyes just a moment ago? Well, even if he were to get knocked out right now, he would be cashing in one of the best returns ever.

Darren Keyes

For that story, we turn to special correspondent Bryan Slick, tournament guru for PokerStars.

The PCA Mega-Path was created as a way to give players an opportunity to get to an expensive event for a small buy-in, in some cases extremely small. This was accomplished by hosting a series of 4,300 MTTs which led to a final on December 20th, the direct buy-in cost for which was 321,000 FPP. A dozen players reached the PCA having started at a buy-in level of 200 FPP or less.

One of those, Darren 'Woodylord' Keyes, is still alive as I write this... having gotten in via a 75 FPP Round 1 satellite and working his way to and through the final. With 55 players remaining, he's guaranteed to win at least $45,000... a staggering ROI of 3.75 Million per cent.

Few things we do when setting up tournaments, especially satellites, are as thrilling as seeing players get the opportunity to live out a dream. Not only do tournaments like the PCA give players the chance to compete on an even playing field with the world's best, the satellites to the events provide an opportunity for just about anyone to make their way here.

How could you NOT be excited seeing someone like Darren with a mountain of chips in front of him deep into this event? I wish him the best of luck, especially after having met him.

12:55pm: Keyes loses a monster
Keyes lost a monster 1.4 million pot, doubling up French PokerStars qualifier Damien Rony in the process. On the [kd][js][6h][ks] board, Keyes checked, Rony made it 96,000 and Keyes re-raised to 300,000. Rony was having none of it, and pushed all in for around 500,000 more. Call!

Keyes: [ah][jc]
Rony: [kc][qh]

Trips were good, and the [3c] river did nothing to help

Keyes, who was left with around 410,000. "I just did not believe you," he told Rony, who was enjoying stacking up his new, sizeable stack.

12:41pm: Gimbel's gamble
It was three ways to a flop of [3d][7s][qh] that saw Eric Froelich and Damien Rony check to chip leader Harrison Gimbel's button. Gimbel bet somewhere in the neighborhood of 65,000. Froelich and Rony both called. All three players checked the [kc] on the turn. When the [3s] came on the river, Froelich and Rony checked again. This time, Gimbel bet 300,000. Froelich didn't think long before calling. Rony folded and Gimbel showed [Ad][3c]. Froelich's cards went into the muck--and not nicely--and Gimbel stacked a pot worth nearly 800,000.

12.40pm: News from the front
Danny Suied is out, victim of a kings against queens crash. He had the queens, Mike Chappus had the kings.

Praz Bansi, still assembling his stack, just pushed Matthew Haugen off an under-the-gun raise from his spot on the button. Haugen came out firing again on the next hand, opening for 40,000 before Bo Schultz pushed all-in from the small blind. Haugen called showing [ac][js]. Schultz had [7d][7s]. The board ran [3d][2d][kd][ks][5h] to double Schultz up.

12.38pm: Bansi has nothing to Karp about
Praz Bansi loses a quarter of a million, doubling up Ryan Karp in the process. We only caught the action at the end on a board of [ah][3h][as][8c][4s]. Bansi - still stacking his overnight chips into some sort of order - had the respectable [ah][qc] but PokerStars qualifier Karp, from the US, had better of it with [ac][ks]. He's up to more than 500,000 now.

12:36pm: Shulman shaking his head
Barry Shulman started the day sixth in chips. Now the winner of the 2009 World Series of Poker Europe is muttering and unhappy.

On the first hand and looking at a [ac][qh][qc][10s][4s] board, Schulman bet 200,000, but was met with a re-raise to 500,000 from Paul Knebel, who left just a 100,000 or so behind. That was too much for Schulman, and he let it go.

Seconds later, Richard Toth came in for a raise from the button and Shulman three-bet from the small blind. Toth shoved for a total bet of 531,000 and Shulman called. It was [2][2h] for Toth and big slick for Shulman. The board ran out [4d][6s][9d][qd][4c].  

Shulman shoved three stacks of red 10,000 denomination chips forward.

"I lost a million in two hands," he said. "Unbelievable."

12.35pm: Duthie moving along
Team PokerStars Pro John Duthie, the EPT founder who is playing his first EPT event here, open raised on the button to 37,000. It's folded around to Hafiz Khan on the big blind, who gives Duthie a knowing look before folding.

"I promise I won't do that again," Duthie says, certainly telling a fib.

"Sure," Khan replied. "Next time it will be 38,000."

12.30pm: Playing out of the bag
Praz Bansi has arrived late again, which is especially problematic when you have such an absolute monster pile of chips. It's now about half an hour into the first level and he still hasn't yet managed to get them into anything resembling an order. In fact, he was playing a hand almost the minute he sat down, at which point his chips were still in their bag. On a flop of [qc][8h][ks][kc][9h] Aaron Jones bet 85,000 and Bansi folded. One wonders what might have happened had he had a handful with which to raise.

12.25pm: Lodden joins the rush of eliminations
Johnny Lodden shoved with [kc][qh] on the button and was called by Peter Feldman's big stack and his [4d][4h]. There was nothing to help the Team PokerStars Pro on the flop and he departs.

When there was hope...

When hope was gone...

12.20pm: Out, out, out
This is officially a flurry. Of eliminations. Alexsey Timashkov is the latest to take the walk, getting it all in pre-flop against Jeff Madsen. The only problem for Timashkov was that his [as][jd] was not nearly good enough to beat Madsen's [kd][kh]. The Romanian departs.

Also already on their way to the cash out table are Sergey Serafimov and Roger Teska. They can't get there soon enough.

12.18pm: Bentley battered
Wayne Bentley looks to be on the verge of elimination after two consecutive hands. He opened for 38,000 on the button but was pushed off it by Tamas Lendvai re-raising all in on the button. Bentley took some time but had to fold.

On the next hand Tyler Reiman opened for 37,000 under the gun. When the action reached Bentley he announced raise from the cut off, another 100k more. 208 then moved all in and Bentley called, turning over [as][ks] and saying "I can't fold that." Reiman had [qd][qc].

The board ran [5c][6c][8d][9c][3s].

"He's got me 'ant he?" asked Bentley to no one in particular. The answer was no but the Englishman, who led the event after day 1a, is left with less than 80,000.

12:14pm: Henning Gunby eliminated
Just a couple of minutes into the first level of the day, Henning Gunby ran into Mike Chappus' pocket tens, which were apparently good enough on a jack-high board for whatever Gunby put in the muck.

12.05pm: Seed germinates
Huck Seed got his entire stack in pre-flop with [qc][kh] against the [9h][9s] of Kent Lundmark. Seed shook his head, but liked the flop: [10d][3c][jd], which gave him plenty of extra outs. He didn't have to wait long until one of them appeared. The [as] on the turn was good enough to double him up early to 450,000. That's enough to keep growing.

12pm: No one knows
Apologies for the lack of updates on the prizewinners page. The tournament staff did not collate a master list of winners yesterday, meaning we're still chasing full, official information on who finished where. We will have it today. I hope.

11.45pm: Before we start
Consider it the programme before the show, an introduction to today is right here.

11.35pm: Pick you winner
Get the current scores now and all day on the chip count page which is updated relentlessly throughout the day.

11.30am: Back for day four
We're here early and if you're reading this you are too. Good job. It's 62 to 24 today, however long it takes. It could be a short one but this kind of day has a tendency to bite back when you least expect it. Joe Cada and Peter Eastgate have just concluded their sumo match, the wreckage from last night's amFAR final table has been swept away. We're ready to play.

"Poker players have the biggest hearts," Montel Williams said. To stress the point, Daniel Negreanu added: "Poker players are very generous people." It may not be the wider world's view of card players, but in the poker community, very few people would disagree. We've seen before how poker money is given back to good causes, and tonight was a thrilling example.

This was the amFAR and PokerStars.net Charity Tournament, held in the cavernous Imperial Ballroom in Atlantis, home for this and much of next week to the PCA. Stars of television, the music industry, glamour, sport and poker turned out, giving their money and their time to play an event to raise cash and awareness for amFAR's vital AIDS research program. None had a problem turning over the $5,000 entry fee. Team PokerStars Pro William Thorson even bought in twice after busting early.

The stars were joined by five PokerStars qualifiers who won their seats in various online satellites to be here. As it turned out one them, Spencer Benjafield, took the title, beating Team PokerStars Pro Alex Gomes after a sensational heads-up battle that turned the match on its head.

Benjafield got $37,500 for his first place, but the real winner was amFAR. With a total prize pool of $195,000, half was given straight to the charity, represented here by its chairman, and well-known designer Kenneth Cole. That means at least $97,500 will go to AIDS research. I say 'at least', because as is so often the case, much of the prize money won tonight will be quietly donated by the players as well.

Spencer Benjafield

So who was here? From music we had Kelly Rowland, Slash from Guns 'N Roses and Nelly, and from TV there was Montel Williams and Carlos Bernard, star of hit series 24.

Kelly Rowland

Montel Williams

From glamour there was 2008 Playboy Playmate of the Year Jayde Nicole as well as supermodel-turned new PokerStars NAPT host Joanna Krupa, and from the world of sport Team PokerStars SportStars Boris Becker, Fatima de Melo and Mats Sundin. Also former soccer stars Teddy Sheringham and Poli Rincon, and French professional kick boxer Jerome Le Banner.

Jayde Nicole

Then, of course, there was the poker community. From Team PokerStars Pro, a massive line up, including the current WSOP Main Event champion Joe Cada, former champion Greg Raymer, Daniel Negreanu, Humberto Brenes and Vanessa Rousso. Cada summed up the goodwill when he said: "Playing here in this charity event means a lot to me, especially as it means I get to give something back after being fortunate enough to win so much myself at the WSOP Main Event. amFAR is a great cause and I hope we raise a lot of money as well as awareness for their work."

Once they got down to business there were four tables playing a shootout format. With 5,000 starting chips we played each table until just two players were left. Those two survivors would then progress to the final. Some big names fell early. William Thorson flopped a set of kings, but ran into a flopped set of aces. Out soon after, he was allowed to buy in again. It was for charity, after all. Raymer did not make it through, nor did Rousso, Cada, Slash, Rowland, Nelly and a whole lot more.

Nelly

Slash

When the dust had settled, these were the final eight:

Montel Williams, TV star
Carlos Bernard, star of hit show 24
Mats Sundin, Team PokerStars SportStar
Fatima de Melo, Team PokerStars SportStar
Leo Fernandez, Team PokerStars Pro
Alex Gomes, Team PokerStars Pro
Luis Medina, Team PokerStars Pro
Spencer Benjafield, PokerStars qualifier

On the TV stage, the eight were given another 5,000 chips to start with and the action was furious. Bernard, even though he was to go out in sixth place, was by far the star of the show in the early levels. His play was so aggressive that his constant raising and taking of pots became comedic. The tournament director developed a new catchphrase.. "And Carlos takes the pot" .... while Fatima de Melo was reduced to near hysterics.

Carlos Bernard sandwiched between Mats Sundin and Leo Fernandez

First out was Medina, killed off by Sundin. Then Fernandez bit the dust; his chips heading in the direction of Williams. In sixth was Bernard, while in fifth we lost de Melo - the last lady standing. Both those two lost their chips to Alex Gomes, who was by now building a huge chip lead. That lead extended when Gomes accounted for Sundin and Williams, leaving himself with just Benjafield to deal with.

At the start of heads-up, Gomes had 36,000 to Benjafield's 4,000. A formality, you may think. You'd be wrong. A succession of quick double ups, and Benjafield, a Brit who works on the North Sea oil rigs, took the lead for himself. Finally, he clinched it. All in pre-flop, Benjafield had [8h][6h], behind Gomes' [ad][4s]. But the board ran [9d][jh][6c][qs][jd] and it was all over.

Alex Gomes gets the bad news

Benjafield was gracious in victory, befitting of the event. "I just can't believe it," he said. "I never thought I would win, and when we got heads up who would have guessed I could turn the chip stacks around. It's been such a great day meeting and playing with the celebrities and the pros. It will take some time to sink in."

Kenneth Cole had started the day by saying amFAR's work could be compared to a poker player. It takes calculated risks in order to try new ways of research into AIDS, he said, and if the gamble works, then it's many lives that will be saved.

If you'd like to find out more about amFAR's important work, then you should visit their website, www.amfar.org

amFAR's Kenneth Cole addresses the floor

You can catch up with our live reporting of the tonight's excitement right here:

Stars out for charity extravaganza
Round one
The final table

So it's good night from me, and thanks to Neil Stoddart for his usual excellence behind the camera. We'll leave the last words to the stars of the show...

Watch PCA 2010: Celebrities of the amfAR & PokerStars.net Charity Tournament on PokerStars.tv