Following our blog posted last Friday which posed the question of whether the amount a player wins should even be considered when comparing the achievements of different poker players; the high roller event at the 2012 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure seemed to lend weight to the philosophy.

The event was won by Ukrainian player Leonid Bilokur, an accomplished player even before he won the first prize ($1.1 million). When asked how the money would change his life he merely shrugged, brushing off the question in that old fashioned way. It was too important a title to be sullied by the issue of money.

In second place was Jonathan Duhamel, a former World Series winner (a title worth nearly $9 million alone) with nothing left to prove to anyone – to anyone but himself that is.

On course for victory, before Bilokur made a remarkable comeback heads-up, Duhamel was visibly devastated that he’d fallen short of another title. Was it the money he was interested in (Duhamel took away more than $1 million after cashing in four of five events)? No. The Canadian only wanted the esteem of a new title, the number “1” shining proudly on his tournament Palmares.

In a world in which money is so often a dividing factor, it makes a refreshing change that money should take second place to honour and achievement. Maybe the shift towards achievement rather than money is already well under way.