It may be cold and snowy in Toronto, Canada, but Jennifer Carter is packing her suitcase for the sunny Bahamas. There, the PokerStars Players Championship is only days away. Carter is one of the few people in the world to win not one, but two Platinum Passes to the $25,000 buy-in tournament. I spent some time getting to know her as she gets ready for her Caribbean adventure.
Carter sipped her morning tea as she recalled the first trip to The Bahamas for the inaugural PSPC.
"I was there in January 2019, and when they announced the repeat of the PSPC, I tried my hardest to get another Platinum Pass," Carter reminisces. "I slogged away at the online Mega Path, that's how I got the second one. It was a $2 step satellite and you had to make it through four different satellites. The only way to get through it was to start at the $2 level. I must have tried about 60 times. Parlayed it into a $30,000 package."
It's been over two years now since she won her second Platinum Pass. With live poker dealing with the global pandemic, Carter had to wait longer than expected to get back into the PSPC action.
"I was confident it would happen. Having it announced for Barcelona but then postponed, and ultimately announced back in The Bahamas, I was quite pleased, that's an easy trip for me," shared Carter. And who doesn't love The Bahamas?!"
With so much time between the two packages, she had time to reflect on her first PSPC at the Atlantis venue back in 2019. I asked her how that tournament went, and how that experience would come into play this second time around.
"The first time, I had never played in a tournament that expensive. I'd also never played in a room that size before with hundreds and hundreds of people," she remembered. "It was a bit of a shock, I'm not used to playing live very much, and having all the cameras around, it was intimidating. I did get to Day 2, I found a bag! I busted sometime on Day 2 before the money. This time around, I'm not expecting to go deep, I'm just going to go for the experience and see what happens."
As a big poker fan, she looks up to plenty of professional players and has met many of them. When asked who her favorite was, she couldn't pick just one.
"It's changed over the years. I can't pick a favorite. There are so many. Vanessa Selbst for balls, Liv Boeree for brains, Phil Ivey for poker face, Tom Dwan for range, Jason Sommerville for innovation, Spraggy for humor, Lex Veldhuis for brawn, Matt Berkey for eloquence."
- Jennifer Carter on her favorite poker player
Platinum Pass winners form a special bond, sharing the exciting and nerve-wracking experience with others tends to bring them together. Carter shared how this was especially true in her hometown, and hinted at a fun surprise they have planned.
"The first PSPC we got to know each other, and throughout this waiting period, we've maintained friendships," she smiled. "All the Ontario Platinum Pass winners have become a tight crew. We might have some t-shirts made up! I think there are 14 of us. We're hoping to meet up and stroll into the tournament room together."
It's been four years since Carter first stepped into the PSPC tournament area in The Bahamas. In less than a week, she'll do so again. She fought for the right to be here, besting large satellite fields, and becoming the only woman to claim two Platinum Passes. Now, she has her sight on another large tournament field, this one with a hefty prize pool attached. Will she follow in the steps of Ramon Colillas, who won the PSPC back in 2019 after gaining entry via a Platinum Pass himself? We'll see. No matter what happens, Jennifer Carter is a winner.
Best of luck to you, Jennifer. We'll be looking for you and your Ontario crew, hopefully with piles of chips in front of you.
