2011 January 11, Chad Holloway

The 2011 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event continued today with 173 players and the intention of playing down to six levels or to the final 48 players, whichever came first. As fate would have it, the field reduced itself before the clock ran out and ended in the latter stage of Level 22.

Adam Geyer began the day as the chip leader and put his big stack to good use. He was one of the final 48 players, although he ended the day with just 435,000. A few others who will be joining him on Day 4 include PokerStars Team Pro (USA) member and 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion Chris Moneymaker (1.636 million), Max Lehmanski (2.32 million), Mike Sowers (1.36 million), Dmitriy Stelmak (1.303 million), Ilan Rouah (1.343 million), Sam Stein (970,000), Eddy Sabat (918,000) and the Day 3 chipleader, Chris Oliver (3.675 million).

While some players thrived, many failed to survive. Among those who fell during Day 3 action were former November Niner Eric Buchman, David “Doc” Sands, Dwyte Pilgrim, Faraz Jaka, and Team PokerStars Pros Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Victor Ramdin, JP Kelly, Pieter de Korver, and perhaps the biggest heartbreak of the day, Greg Debora of Team PokerStars (Canada).

With 49 players remaining, Debora moved all in for his last 214,000 from under the gun and the action folded all the way to Wesley Wiemes in the big blind, who tank-called for nearly half his stack.

Debora:
Wiemes:

The flop didn’t hit Wiemes directly, but he added three more outs to a seven which would counterfeit Debora’s small pair. The dealer wrapped the table, burned a card and delivered a harmless on the turn. With all eyes on the table and everyone standing, the dealer wrapped the table one more time, burned the last card and spiked the on the river giving Wiemes a winning pair of eights and eliminating Debora from the tournament. Debora’s elimination signaled the end of the evening and brought the field down to the final 48 players.

The remaining players will return on Wednesday to reduce their number by half and determine the top 24. Action is set to resume at 12 P.M. EST here at the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. Join the PokerNews Live Reporting Team then for all the latest action and eliminations.

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Fri, 01/07/2011 – 20:44 – PokerPages Staff

Poker pro Prahlad Friedman has signed for Team UB.com. The 32 year old had been heavily linked with the switch following the high profile departures of Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke last week.

Friedman is one of the most accomplished players on the scene having made his first cash-in at live tournaments over eight years ago in the Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic Main Event.

He downed his first, and only, World Series of Poker bracelet in 2003 when he bested a star studded field to win the $1,500 Pot Limit Hold’em event for a $109,000 pay day.

The California native has continued to run deep in some of the world’s biggest tournaments and posted a top 20 finish in the 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event.

Team PokerStars sponsored pro Daniel Negreanu questioned Friedman’s decision to join UB earlier this week as the speculation surrounding his imminent signing gathered pace.

Friedman was a victim of the UB ‘Super User’ scandal in 2008, losing a substantial amount of money and confidence in his game.

He revealed in the wake of that incident that he would never sign for a poker site and that he would only wear logos for charities or other worthy causes.

Friedman will make his first appearance in the sixth annual UB.com Online Championship which kicks off on January 16.

He joins the likes of Joe Sebok, Brandon Cantu, Maria Ho, Tiffany Michele and Eric Baldwin in representing the US friendly CEREUS Network poker room.

For more information about the biggest names in poker visit the PokerPages Popular Players section.