PokerStars is celebrating 100 million players this month. Today, we take a deep and sometimes unflattering dive into the PCA photo archives

As you might have seen over the past couple of weeks, the PokerStars Blog has been taking look back at the past 15 years of PokerStars, celebrating the biggest player milestones, and remembering the good ol' days. It's all part of the 100 million player celebration.

I waded through lots of memories. Along the way, I found reports about people we'd never known before the PCA who are now international superstars. I found reports about people who have since gone broke. I found reports about people who are no longer alive. The archive is deep and, in ways I didn't expect, bittersweet in a lot of ways.

As I worked on an essay about the triumphs and tragedies that have come and gone with the PCA, I'll be honest...I got a little sad. The chronicle of the PCA is a story of life and death, and it was a little heavy for a celebration.

Then I saw a picture of Patrik Antonius with hair, and I started to giggle.

Here's the thing: back in the early days of the PCA, our photography was not of the standard it is today. In fact, for the first three years, there was a lot of pointing and shooting going on, but there wasn't a ton of art in it. Nevertheless, in those early years, there were some real gems in the photo archives. As I dug deeper and deeper, I saw faces I knew well in photos that I hadn't seen in a decade. This is where the fun started.

I don't know how long I spent piddling around in the photo archives, but by the time I'd finished, I was running out of time to write. That's when I realized, these photos are are a story in themselves.

If you have played in a poker tournament in the last decade or so, you will know almost every person in the photos below. Some are bigger. Some are smaller. Some have more hair. Some have markedly less. They may not look like they look today, and that's where the fun is. You won't have seen these pictures on Facebook, and if you're young enough, you may never have seen these photos at all.

So, get to clicking and see how many of the people below you can identify. Then, head over to our @PokerStarsBlog Twitter account and let us know your favorites. Enjoy!

PokerStars is celebrating 100 million players this month. See how you can join in the celebration and win some big money here.

Other stories from this series:

PokerStars has the need for speed
Meet PokerStars' longest-serving player of all time
The ghosts of WCOOP
The Moneymaker Boom that almost wasn't
Alexander Stevic and the start of a new era in poker
The PokerStars Sunday Million Two-Timer Club
Smile! You're on Kid Poker Camera!
Biggest poker tournament ever? Check!
So who was that first winner on PokerStars mobile?
PokerStars has the need for speed
'How I took my chance in 100 billion'