Day 4 of the PokerStars Players No Limit Hold’em Championship (PSPC) was an exciting one, as the remaining players dove deep into the money and pursued potentially life-changing payouts, all with the goal of making the final table. And at the top of that final table awaits $5.1 million and a title that will forever be associated with the historic, inaugural, groundbreaking PSPC.
Historic is no exaggeration. The $25K buy-in, rake-free tournament began on January 6, and by early afternoon on the following day when registration closed, the numbers were in. There were 1,039 players in the event, and with the additional $1 million that was added to the first-place prize, the prize pool soared to $26,455,500.
Out of that substantial pile of cash, the top 181 players would win a piece of it, though the largest chunk was reserved for those at the final table, six of whom would become millionaires.
When we last recapped the action, there were 207 players remaining.
https://twitter.com/PokerStarsLIVE/status/1083155158115274753
Baumstein Bursts Ahead on Day 3
The third day of the PSPC started 26 spots away from the money. It took less than 30 minutes for the first player to bust, and Team PokerStars Pros Celina Lin and Leo Fernandez followed.
On the bubble, play slowed as it tends to do. Some players, like JC Alvadaro, doubled. Hand-for-hand took well over two hours, actually, and only ended when Paul Leckey moved all-in with pocket kings and Tianle Wang went in with aces. Leckey departed in 182nd place but received an EPT Monte Carlo prize package worth $11K for his trouble.
Fabio Freitas was then the first player to cash in the PSPC for $25,450. Well-known players followed, such as Parker Talbot, Sam Grafton, Frank Kassela, Bill Perkins, PokerStars Ambassador Benjamin Spragg, David Paredes, Matt Affleck, Christian Harder, Darren Elias, Robert Mizrachi, Nacho Barbero, Ana Marquez, Dan Shak, Victor Ramdin, Blair Hinkle, Bryan Piccioli, Ryan Riess, Christoph Vogelsang, Mustapha Kanit, Dustin Dirksen, Sam and Max Greenwood, and PokerStars Ambassador Felix Schneiders.
https://twitter.com/xflixx/status/1082844605882818560
Play stopped that night with 38 competitors remaining and the minimum payout at $86,400. Scott Baumstein sat atop the leaderboard with 4.24 million chips, slightly above Yiannis Liperis with 4.21 million. Julien Martini was in a distant third with 3.25 million, and Louis Boutin and Ramon Collins rounded out the top five.
https://twitter.com/PokerStarsLIVE/status/1082864880326184961
Baumstein Booms as Final Table Looms
Platinum Pass winner Jacqueline Burkhart was the first player to exit on Day 4, and former PokerStars Caribbean Adventure winner Tony Gregg wasn’t far behind. Dan O’Brien was the first to cash for six figures with his 31st place payout of $105K. Marvin Rettenmaier wasn’t far behind to the payout desk, nor was Joao Barbosa or Martins Adeniya.
https://twitter.com/jackiburkhart81/status/1083127081465274374
As the final table neared, payouts increased. Scott Stewart was the first to cash for $202,400 in 17th place, and Griffin Benger took home $229,700 for his 14th place finish. Kristin Bicknell was the last woman in the tournament, and the PartyPoker Pro was finally ousted in 11th place for $328,500.
Ultimately, the last hand of the night saw Florian Duta at risk with A-K versus the A-J of hearts belonging to Farid Jattin. The board delivered three more hearts to send Duta out in ninth place with $405,000.
Final Table Set with Baumstein on Top
The final eight players, a diverse bunch representing six countries, bagged their chips for the night. The leaderboard for the final table on Friday, January 10, was confirmed as follows:
Two Platinum Pass winners remain in Rivera and Colillas, both of whom have transformed their complimentary buy-ins and travel to the Bahamas into a minimum of $500K profit.
And what exactly are they playing for?
