Laura Garzón: From 6 FPP to the $10,300 PCA Main Event

When 21 year old Laura Garzón Cortes from Colombia realized she had only 7 frequent player points left on her PokerStars account, she decided to play an online satellite costing 2 FPP. The satellite was a “FPP Mega-Path”, which ultimately had 6 packages for the PCA Main Event at the Bahamas on top.

In the first round Garzón, who goes by the screen name “candylaustar” on PokerStars, had one rebuy and one add-on, meaning she had only 1 FPP left on her account. Fortunately Garzón made it to the next round and the next and the next … After seven rounds Garzón was able to take down one of the PCA packages at a final table that included online sharks like Mikey Petersen, Chris Oliver and Rupert Elder. After her win Garzón said:

I am extremely happy and before the tournament, I could hardly sleep. After the tournament, it was practically the same. I feel a lot of responsibility in regards to be able to play such a big tournament. I am very motivated, but I try to keep focused.

The PCA Main Event is taking place right now and Garzón has managed advanced to Day 3 with 100,500 chips in her stack (average: 139,8886) .

To celebrate Garzon’s success PokerStars has announced a special “candylaustar Caribbean Adventure” tournament on January 16th, costing two FPPs. There is $1,000 in the prize pool, plus an extra $250 for every level Garzon remains in the Main Event. Let’s hope the young online qualifier goes all the way!

Photo: Laura Garzón, PokerStars