Maria Lampropulos becomes first woman to win PCA main event Courtesy of PokerStars/The Rational Group It was her second seven-figure win in as many years. Maria Lampropulos was the first woman to win the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure main event, one of the most notable titles in the world of tournament poker.

There's a lot to look back on in 2018, so here is my list of the top 18 stories and moments of 2018 in chronological order. Overall, the poker landscape is in its best place since the devastating effects of Black Friday in April 2011. The $10,000 main event will begin on July 3 and crown a champion on July 16. The Big 50, a $500 bracelet event, has a lot to offer there are re-entries, but every player's initial buy-in is completely rake-free, with 50,000 starting chips, a guaranteed $5 million prize pool and $1 million minimum for first place. Running from May 28 through July 16, the 50th anniversary of poker's most famous event will be celebrated on the first weekend of the series with a new event. Some eyes are already looking ahead to the 2019 WSOP, with key dates for a handful of events recently announced. That's $8 million in the prize pool with players who'd normally never dream of playing for such a sum, and with so much added value this tournament will almost certainly set a record as the largest field for a $25,000 buy-in and one of the largest prize pools in the history of tournament poker.

By the time the tournament kicks off, more than 300 seats will have been given away.

Over the course of the tour, players won $25,000 seats that were added to the prize pools of $86 events and a variety of other tournaments and promotions. Over the course of 2018, PokerStars created a Moneymaker Tour that began in August and ran until the end of year, which celebrated the 15th anniversary of Chris Moneymaker's 2003 WSOP main event victory.

As the calendar turns to January, many poker players are resting up to play in the PokerStars Players Championship (PSPC), a $25,000 no-limit hold'em event being held in a few weeks at the Atlantis Casino in Paradise Island, Bahamas, during the annual PokerStars Caribbean Adventure series.

Wsop bracelet winners