Ivey, Negreanu Among Final Dozen in Event #58: $50,000 Poker Players Championship
Stud Games: 10,000 Ante, 15,000 Bring-In, 50,000 Completion 50,000-100,000 Limits
No-Limit & Pot-Limit: 25,000/35,000 Ante, 10,000/25,000 Blinds
Perhaps the most prestigious tournament besides the Main Event at the 2024 World Series of Poker at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas is starting to approach its final stages as Day 3 of Event #58: $50,000 Poker Players Championship has drawn to a close. The starting field of 89 is now down to its final 12 players, all of whom are within reach of a coveted WSOP gold bracelet to go along with $1,178,703, the lion's share of the $4,249,750 total prize pool.
Leading the way heading into the fourth day is high roller regular Chris Brewer. Though he may be best known for his prowess in the no limit hold'em variant, Brewer demonstrated that his skills are not limited to that particular game. After enjoying a late surge, he managed to end the night with a staggering 5,345,000. The drop-off on the leaderboard behind Brewer is steep with French old school pro David Benyamine sitting in second on 3,110,000. Benyamine does have a WSOP bracelet to his name but his last win came back in 2008. A second piece of hardware 16 years on would hardly go amiss.
Speaking of WSOP gold bracelets, only one person has won more than Phil Ivey and his tally of elven. Ivey is in a great position to close the gap between himself and seventeen-time winner Phil Hellmuth by bagging 3,050,000, good for third overall. The path to victory will not be easy, however, as other top tournament crushers remain in contention. Daniel Negreanu is one such crusher and though he has not attained a great deal of success in high rollers at the WSOP the last couple of years, he is well placed to change that narrative as he returns for Day 4 sitting on a workable stack of 1,105,000.
One storyline to watch is Michael Mizrachi's continued quest for a record fourth title in this event. Though he sits second-to-last in the counts with 830,000, it would be foolish to count out The Grinder at this stage as he has repeatedly shown the tenacity to come from behind during his career.
Seat Assignments for Day 4
| Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Renan Bruschi | Brazil | 820,000 |
| 1 | 2 | James Obst | Australia | 1,640,000 |
| 1 | 3 | Chris Brewer | United States | 5,345,000 |
| 1 | 4 | Johannes Becker | Germany | 1,365,000 |
| 1 | 6 | Daniel Negreanu | Canada | 1,105,000 |
| 1 | 7 | Phil Ivey | United States | 3,050,000 |
| 2 | 1 | Dylan Smith | Canada | 1,715,000 |
| 2 | 2 | Michael Mizrachi | United States | 830,000 |
| 2 | 3 | Joao Vieira | Portugal | 2,610,000 |
| 2 | 4 | Jeremy Ausmus | United States | 2,500,000 |
| 2 | 5 | David Benyamine | France | 3,110,000 |
| 2 | 6 | Bryce Yockey | United States | 2,665,000 |
There were 29 hopefuls who returned for Day 3 but with only 14 getting paid, the majority of them would be forced out with nothing to show for their efforts. An early casualty of the day was Denmark's Gus Hansen, the only person felted in the first level of play. Hansen has not played many tournaments of late and was unable to make a triumphant return in this event after last cashing in it in 2009, back when it was a H.O.R.S.E rotation as opposed to a nine game structure.
This time last year, John Monnette finished inside the money after coming in 15th place. Sadly for him, he was unable to repeat that feat 12 months on, instead being one of two players eliminated by Renan Bruschi in the same hand. Michael Rocco was the other individual unfortunate enough to be on the losing end of that particular scenario.
After a slow start to the day, the pace of eliminations did pick up considerably with the likes of Maksim Pisarenko, Michael Moncek, Alexander Wilkinson and one time big stack Aaron Katz all hitting the rail to bring the tournament down to the final three tables.
Jared Bleznick entered the day fourth in chips but struggled to maintain his earlier momentum. He eventually succumbed to Ivey in a hand of limit hold'em a few spots shy of the money. Shortly after, Swedish online legend Viktor Blom fell in 16th place to set the stage for the money bubble and hand-for-hand play.
Unsurprisingly, no one was willing to take big risks on a six figure bubble and as a result, it took well over an hour for a player to eliminated. Though Hal Rotholz had spiked trips and a flush in separate hands to double, he could not claw his way back into the tournament as he was eventually eliminated by Negreanu in 15th place to ensure the remaining 14 players would see a return on their investment.
Typically, one might see a post bubble frenzy of eliminations but that was far from the case today. Rather, only two more players were felted before the day's end. Maxx Coleman was the first to be sent to the payout desk in 14th place, though even he managed to last for some time following Rotholz's elimination. Coleman's run came to an end, however, courtesy of Mizrachi after The Grinder flopped trips in a hand of Omaha Hi-Lo.
Next to cash but fall short of Day 4 was 2019 champion Phil Hui. His impressive 13th place finish was still worth $102,299, so hopefully that will go some way to softening the blow as his wait for a second title continues for at least another year.
Play went on for another 30 minutes following Hui's exit, but no other players hit the rail. The final 12 will return for Day 4 at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, June 26th in the Horseshoe Event Center. This marks a change from the scheduled restart time of 1 p.m. and is due to today's late finish. Play on the penultimate day will continue until just five contenders remain and, given the stellar lineup, should be a thrilling watch for any mixed game enthusiast.
Like today, PokerGO will be streaming Day 4 of this event while the live reporting team at PokerNews will provide comprehensive coverage in sync with any streaming delays.
Be sure to follow along as the WSOP gets one step closer to crowning a champion in Event #58: $50,000 Poker Players Championship!
History of the Poker Players Championship
| Year | Entries | Prize Pool | Winner | Prize (in USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 99 | $4,727,250 | Brian Rast | $1,324,747 |
| 2022 | 112 | $5,362,000 | Dan Cates | $1,449,103 |
| 2021 | 63 | $3,016,125 | Dan Cates | $954,020 |
| 2019 | 74 | $3,552,000 | Phillip Hui | $1,099,311 |
| 2018 | 87 | $4,176,000 | Michael Mizrachi | $1,239,126 |
| 2017 | 100 | $4,800,000 | Elior Sion | $1,395,767 |
| 2016 | 91 | $4,176,000 | Brian Rast | $1,296,097 |
| 2015 | 84 | $3,696,000 | Mike Gorodinsky | $1,270,086 |
| 2014 | 102 | $4,896,000 | John Hennigan | $1,517,767 |
| 2013 | 132 | $6,336,000 | Matthew Ashton | $1,774,089 |
| 2012 | 108 | $5,184,000 | Michael Mizrachi | $1,451,527 |
| 2011 | 128 | $6,144,000 | Brian Rast | $1,720,328 |
| 2010 | 116 | $5,568,000 | Michael Mizrachi | $1,559,046 |
| 2009 | 95 | $4,560,000 | David Bach | $1,276,806 |
| 2008 | 148 | $7,104,000 | Scotty Nguyen | $1,989,120 |
| 2007 | 148 | $7,104,000 | Freddy Deeb | $2,276,832 |
| 2006 | 143 | $6,864,000 | Chip Reese | $1,716,000 |