New Record Attendance in Sight on Day 2 of the 2023 PokerStars Players NLHE Championship
Four years after the inaugural PokerStars Players No-Limit Hold'em Championship took place in The Bahamas with 1,039 entries, the return of one of the most highly-anticipated live poker tournaments is en route to setting a new attendance record. Day 1 of the 2023 PSPC attracted 1,005 runners but the late registration remains open for another two levels and following break at approximately 2.20 p.m. local time at the lavish Baha Mar Resort.
Out of those, at least 678 hopefuls will return to their seats for Day 2 as of noon local time, and a duo sits atop the leaderboard. Online poker legend Chris Moorman and Tony Tran increased their starting stack of 60,000 nearly six-fold and claimed 356,000 chips to their name. They are followed by fellow big stacks Josh Arieh (312,500), Bastian Hess (295,000) and Martin Zamani (287,000), who all aim to parlay their early run-good into a deep run over the next few days.
With several PokerStars ambassadors in contention, the one to fare the best so far has been Canadian online streamer Arlie Shaban, who returns seventh in chips with 259,000. Several of his compatriots survived the eight levels on Day 1, such as Benjamin Spragg, Sam Grafton, Jen Shahade, Andre Akkari, Laurie Tournier, Mason Pye, and Alejandro Lococo.
2023 PSPC Top 10 Chip Counts for Day 2
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Moorman | United Kingdom | 356,000 | 237 | |
| 2 | Tony Tran | China | 356,000 | 237 | |
| 3 | Josh Arieh | United States | 312,500 | 208 | |
| 4 | Bastian Hess | Germany | 295,000 | 197 | |
| 5 | Martin Zamani | United States | 287,000 | 191 | |
| 6 | Fernando Pons Garcia | Spain | 282,500 | 188 | |
| 7 | Arlie Shaban | Canada | 259,000 | 173 | |
| 8 | Aaron Olechnowicz | Mexico | 258,000 | 172 | |
| 9 | Eric Afriat | Canada | 250,500 | 167 | |
| 10 | Oskar Prehm | Germany | 242,000 | 161 |
Defending champion and PokerStars ambassador Ramon Colillas started his title defence on the main feature table alongside Woman FIDE Master Alexandra Botez and remains in contention as well. Back in 2019, the Spaniard won the inaugural edition of the $25,500 buy-in for a payday of $5.1 million after earning his entry in a Platinum Pass freeroll and ultimately defeating Julien Martini in heads-up. Colillas survived Day 1 with 49,500 in chips, while Botez advanced with 39,000.
Several European Poker Tour (EPT) champions such as Roberto Romanello, PCA 2023 third place finisher Artur Martirosian and Martin Jacobson all return for Day 2 as well. Fellow World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event winners Chris Moneymaker, Ryan Riess, Espen Jorstad, Greg Raymer and Scott Blumstein are among a large slate of some of the biggest names in the world of poker to participate and showcase their talents on The Bahamas.
More than 400 Platinum Pass winners arrived with the hopes of following in Colillas' footsteps by taking down the second-ever edition of the PSPC. Three of them can be found in the overnight top ten, as Hess and Sharban are joined by Fernando Pons ((282,500). Further notable Platinum Pass winners to return for Day 2 are Rafael Eltz, Max Menzel, Chad McVean, Alexander Herrmann, Dinesh Alt, Andrew Chen, Xavier Robert Ros and Antonio Ramon Munoz to name all but a few.
Day 2 is set to continue at noon local time, and Level 9 will feature blinds of 1,000/1,500 with a big blind ante of 1,500. The level duration continues at 60 minutes each, and there will be a break every two levels. It is expected that up to eight levels will be played once more, bringing the field closer to the money bubble.
More than $24.6 million is already in the prize pool, and that amount is all but sure to increase further with two levels of late registration. Stay tuned for all of the action on The Bahamas as the PokerNews live reporting team will be on the floor to provide as many key hands as possible en route to crowning a champion.