Only Six Players Remain in the Fight for the PokerStars Players Championship
A field of 1,014 players has been whittled down to just six in the fight for the 2023 PokerStars Players No-Limit Hold'em Championship in The Bahamas. All six of the remaining players have locked up at least $1,000,000 and have guaranteed to record their largest career live-poker result in doing so. Leading the way into the fifth and final day of the tournament is Nacho Barbero, who has the most experience of any of those remaining.
Barbero will be returning to the felt with a comfortable lead on his hands after bagging up 19,325,000 chips, good enough for one-third of the chips in play. He will be followed by three average stacks in Aliaksandr Shylko (12,200,000), Philipe Pizzari (11,975,000), and Pedro Marques (10,475,000). Rounding out the rest of the field is Max Menzel (5,025,000) and the short stack of Niclas Thumm (1,800,000).
Menzel and Thumm will have a lot of work to do to rise to the top when all is said and done but they are in line to benefit the most by receiving a Platinum Pass to enter the field. Turning a complete freeroll into a seven-figure payout is only something that most people can dream of and these two players have turned it into reality.
Day 5 Seating Assignments & Chip Counts
| Seat | Name | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Philipe Pizzari | Brazil | 11,975,000 | 48 |
| 2 | Niclas Thumm | Germany | 1,800,000 | 7 |
| 3 | Nacho Barbero | Argentina | 19,325,000 | 77 |
| 4 | Max Menzel | Germany | 5,025,000 | 20 |
| 5 | Aliaksandr Shylko | Belarus | 12,200,000 | 49 |
| 6 | Pedro Marques | Portugal | 10,475,000 | 42 |
Although each player has already locked up a seven-figure payday, there is still plenty of money and prestige up for grabs over the next few hours. The pay jumps will become more significant than ever and the first-place prize of $4,053,200 will be life-changing for whoever comes out on top.
The final table was reached last night but in quick succession, Andrei Boghean and Petar Kalev were eliminated in a matter of minutes. With just seven players remaining, only one other player would miss out on the hype of Day 5 at the PSPC. That unfortunate fate would fall on the lap of Thomas Eychenne who was eliminated just as the players were set to head on their final break. Here is a look at the final table results and payouts for the 2023 PSPC:
Final Table Results and Prizes
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | $4,053,200 | ||
| 2nd | $2,542,300 | ||
| 3rd | $1,911,200 | ||
| 4th | $1,551,300 | ||
| 5th | $1,251,500 | ||
| 6th | $1,001,200 | ||
| 7th | Thomas Eychenne | France | $801,000 |
| 8th | Petar Kalev | Bulgaria | $621,300 |
| 9th | Andrei Boghean | Romania | $449,700 |
The action will get underway at 12:30 p.m. local time with the blinds resuming on Level 31 at 125,000/250,000 and a 250,000 big blind ante. The levels will be 60 minutes in length until just three players are left at which time they will be cut down to just 30 minutes. The PokerNews live updates will continue to be in sync with the PokerStars live stream on a 30-minute delay to protect the integrity of the game.
Keep it tuned in here for all of the latest updates and to find out who will rise to the occasion and take home the 2023 PSPC trophy and over $4 million.