How do you celebrate a $2.3 million cash windfall? Buy an island? Burn a couch? Dance a jig? For 2011 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) Main Event winner Galen Hall, a party at a swank San Francisco hotel and a trip for 20 friends on a party bus were just what the doctor ordered, according to an article that appeared on Thursday in the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper.
According to the news outlet, Hall held a party at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins in San Francisco. Then, the next day, it was time to party… on a bus. The Chronicle explained, “The following day, he took a party bus with 20 friends to Sam’s Anchor Cafe in Tiburon for brunch.” According to Google Maps, the journey is about 15 miles due north on U.S. 101 across the famed Golden Gate Bridge. Tiburon is adjacent to Angel Island.
Hall will be attending Stanford University pursuing a Masters of Business Administration later this year. On how actively involved he’ll be in the poker world while in school, Hall told the PocketFives.com Podcast last month, “MBA programs are super busy and super fun. It’s a good opportunity to be around a lot of really interesting people. It’s only two years and it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn a lot. I don’t know how much poker I’ll be playing at school, probably very little.”
According to the Chronicle, Hall also works part time with Identified.com. He owns the 72nd spot worldwide in the PocketFives.com Rankings and took down the Absolute Poker $150,000 Guaranteed last November for nearly $42,000. His other recent online poker scores include a final table in the PokerStars Sunday Second Chance on Halloween for $37,000 and a win in the Sniper $80,000 Guaranteed on Absolute Poker in August for $27,000.
Hall defeated Chris “Gettin Daize” Oliver heads-up in the PCA Main Event after a marathon battle and booked a $2.1 million first place prize following a two-way chop. Oliver settled for a $2.0 million consolation prize from a tournament that saw 2003 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champ Chris Moneymaker bow out in 11th place. The field numbered 1,560 – the largest PCA Main Event ever held – and the prize pool topped $15 million. The PCA is held each year at the Atlantis Resort and Casino on Paradise Island in the Bahamas.
Hall imparted two pieces of advice for Chronicle readers looking to excel at poker. First, “Practice makes perfect. To log his reps for the PokerStars event, Hall typically played 16 tables at once for eight to 12 hours on Wednesdays and Sundays, and recommends others do the same.” He added, “Choose your venue wisely. Hall played No Limit cash games at Lucky Chances Casino in Colma for a while, but ultimately gave it up because the games moved too slowly.”
Prior to his victory in the Bahamas, Hall had just two live scores to his name, according to the Hendon Mob database. Both came during previous runs of the WSOP in Las Vegas and totaled $6,300. His victory earlier this year at Atlantis was worth 365 times that amount.
Read the entire San Francisco Chronicle article.
