Mike Watson Wins 2016 PCA Main Event for $728325

PARADISE ISLAND, BAHAMAS – Mike “SirWatts” Watson has won the 2016 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $5,300 Main Event for $728,325.

Watson, who hails from St. John's, the capital of Newfoundland in Canada, beat PCA 2009 runner-up Tony Gregg heads-up to seize the title and prestigious Main Event trophy. Gregg was thwarted yet again in his bid to become champion; it was his third appearance on the PCA final table and he is the only player in EPT history to have reached the final of the same event three times. The pair cut a deal heads-up, with Gregg taking $612,175 for second.

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, today’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