Play has concluded for the evening in the $1,650 PCA National with the official final table of eight confirmed. PokerStars Team Pro, Maria Konnikova is among the leaders heading into the final day on Tuesday.
Mostly known for her journalism in the heart of New York City, Konnikova is starting to find her new passion at the poker tables. When the action resumes tomorrow, Konnikova will be looking for her first career title after finishing in the runner-up position multiple times.
The Russian-American is the only lady left standing but she will be on everyone's radar. Konnikova was cruising through the day with an average stack when Kevin MacDonald made a huge river bet bluff and Konnikova picked it off. That sent her near the 1,000,000 chip mark where she now sits with 883,000 chips.
The only player to bag more chips was Alexander Ziskin with 914,000. Ziskin picked up a lot of small pots throughout the day and maintained a steady pace to end the day with the chip lead. Kevin MacDonald made a nice comeback to finish in the top three with 863,000 chips.
Here is a look at the seating assignments and chip counts heading to the final day:
Seat
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Chris Moorman
United Kingdom
379,000
31.6
2
Marcos Carneiro Antunes
Brazil
516,000
43
3
Kevin MacDonald
Canada
863,000
71.9
4
Loek van Wely
Netherlands
743,000
61.9
5
Maria Konnikova
United States
883,000
73.6
6
Ryan Smith
Canada
827,000
68.9
7
Harrison Gimbel
United States
674,000
56.2
8
Alexander Ziskin
United States
914,000
76.2
The action will resume at 12:00 P.M. local time and will play down to a winner. The final eight players are guaranteed to walk away with at least $10,640. However, the winner will be taking home $84,600 and a Platinum Pass to the 2019 PSPC $25,000 event.
Here is what they are playing for:
Place
Prize (USD)
1st
$84,600
2nd
$56,250
3rd
$41,140
4th
$33,210
5th
$26,040
6th
$19,710
7th
$14,480
8th
$10,640
Continue to follow along with the PokerNews live reporting team as we bring you all of the live updates until a winner is crowned.
Chris Moorman opened to 27,000 from under the gun and Ryan Smith called from the cutoff. Harrison Gimbel also called on the button and Sharman Olshan pushed all in for 260,000 out of the big blind. Moorman asked for a count but then folded. Smith thought for a moment and elected to call while Gimbel got out of the way.
Ryan Smith:
Sharman Olshan:
The board ran out and Smith's pair of jacks held on to eliminate Olshan in 9th place. That sets up the official final table of eight and the tournament director has stopped play for the night. The final eight players will return tomorrow and play down to a winner.
Kevin MacDonald was coming close to being the first player to reach the 1,000,000 chip mark but Maria Konnikova put a stop to that. MacDonald limped in from under the gun and Konnikova raised to 30,000 from the cutoff. MacDonald called and the flop came .
MacDonald checked and Konnikova bet 33,000. MacDonald called and the appeared on the turn. MacDonald checked again and Konnikova bet 54,000 this time. MacDonald got his calling chips ready, thought for a moment, and then slid them forward.
The on the river led to MacDonald firing out a bet of 145,000. Konnikova asked for a count and then made the call. MacDonald turned over for a missed flush draw and Konnikova revealed for a pair of queens. Konnikova jumped into the chip lead and is now closing in on the seven-figure mark herself.
Rex Clinkscales opened to 18,000 from the cutoff and Alexander Ziskin three-bet to 50,000 out of the small blind. Clinkscales called and the flop came .
Ziskin led out for 40,000 and Clinkscales pushed all in for his last 185,000. Ziskin instantly called and the hands were tabled. Clinkscales turned over but was up against the of Ziskin. The turn and river were no help to Clinkscales and he became the 13th place finisher.
The action folded to Chris Moorman in the small blind who raised to 12,500. Dylan Wilkerson was in the big blind and made the call. The dealer fanned the flop of and Moorman led out for 10,000. Wilkerson called to see the on the turn.
Moorman bet another 27,000 only to have Wilkerson jam all in for 135,000. Moorman crinkled his face and then tossed in chips to call. Wilkerson turned over for two pair and Moorman showed for a pair and a flush draw. The dealer flipped over the on the river and Moorman made a flush to eliminate Wilkerson in 20th place.
The action folded to the cutoff who raised to 9,000 and was called by Andrei Streltsou in the small blind and Harrison Gimbel in the big blind. The dealer spread the flop of and the action was checked to the preflop raiser.
He continued for 11,000 and Streltsou folded, while Gimbel hung around to see the on the turn. Both players checked to the on the river and Gimbel announced all in. With his opponent only having around 65,000 in front of him, Gimbel was putting him at risk for his tournament life. After a minute of thought, he eventually folded and Gimbel raked in another pot.
The action started with a raise from Damien Steel in the cutoff and Joao Henrique Oliveira three-bet to 22,500 out of the small blind. With the action back on Steel, he slid forward a four-bet to 60,000. Oliveira thought for a moment and then announced all in for 223,200, which was instantly met by a call from Steel.
Steel turned over and Oliveira was left with , needing an ace to keep his tournament life alive.
"Nice hand, nice hand," Oliveira was saying to his opponent before the cards were dealt. However, when the dealer spread the flop, it was Oliveira that now held the nicer of the hands.
In what was by far the largest pot of the tournament, Steel was left scratching his head with two cards to come. The turn brought the and the river was the . Steel sent the majority of his chips to Oliveira and is now on the short stack as the money bubble looms.
On a board reading with around 24,000 in the middle, Yang Zhang checked from the small blind to Katie Lindsay in the hijack. Lindsay bet 12,000 and Zhang made the call.
The river brought the and Zhang checked again. Lindsay thought for a moment and then announced all in for 43,900. Zhang asked for a count and went into the tank for a couple of minutes before eventually calling. Lindsay turned over for a flush and Zhang could only muster two pair with .
That left Zhang fairly short with just 18,000 remaining and pushed all on the very next hand. It was Lindsay who made the call holding against Zhang's .
The was right in the window but was quickly followed by the and . Both players flopped a set with Lindsay holding the stronger one. The and were not one of the outs Zhang needed and he was eliminated early on Day 2.
When the action resumes on Day 2 of the $1,650 PCA National, there will be 61 players returning to their seat. After battling for nearly 14 hours on Day 1, the money bubbles is just on the horizon. Among those returning, triple crown winner and former PCA Main Event winner, Harrison Gimbel (189,000), sits among the leaders.
Gimbel won the PCA Main Event back in 2010 for a whopping $2.2 million. He completed his triple crown this past summer by capturing his first WSOP gold bracelet in the $3,000 No-Limit Hold'Em event. Gimbel has over $4.6 million in career tournament earnings and is looking to add to that here in the Bahamas in 2018.
Gimbel will be chasing the likes of Aleksandr Nemtcov who bagged the chip lead with 297,800 chips. Damien Steel (257,500) and Sharman Olshan (225,300) round out the top three with impressive opening days as well.
The money bubble is not far away with 39 players making the money and a min-cash worth $2,900. However, everyone will have their sights set on the first-place prize of $84,600. The winner will also be awarded a Platinum Pass for the $25,000 PSPC being held in 2019.
The action is scheduled to resume at 12:00 P.M. EST with the blinds continuing at 1,000/2,000 and a running ante of 300. There are another 11 levels on tap for the day, which will be 60-minutes in length. There will be a 20-minute break after every two levels and an 80-minute dinner break after the sixth level of the day. The tournament will wrap up on Day 3 where a winner will be crowned.
The PokerNews live reporting team will bring you all of the coverage from the tournament floor throughout the event.
and Smith's pair of jacks held on to eliminate Olshan in 9th place. That sets up the official final table of eight and the tournament director has stopped play for the night. The final eight players will return tomorrow and play down to a winner.
.
appeared on the turn. MacDonald checked again and Konnikova bet 54,000 this time. MacDonald got his calling chips ready, thought for a moment, and then slid them forward. 
on the river led to MacDonald firing out a bet of 145,000. Konnikova asked for a count and then made the call. MacDonald turned over 
for a missed flush draw and Konnikova revealed 
for a pair of queens. Konnikova jumped into the chip lead and is now closing in on the seven-figure mark herself.
and Moorman led out for 10,000. Wilkerson called to see the 
for a pair and a flush draw. The dealer flipped over the 
on the river and Moorman made a flush to eliminate Wilkerson in 20th place.
and the action was checked to the preflop raiser. 
on the river and Gimbel announced all in. With his opponent only having around 65,000 in front of him, Gimbel was putting him at risk for his tournament life. After a minute of thought, he eventually folded and Gimbel raked in another pot.
and Oliveira was left with 
with around 24,000 in the middle, Yang Zhang checked from the small blind to Katie Lindsay in the hijack. Lindsay bet 12,000 and Zhang made the call. 
for a flush and Zhang could only muster two pair with 
. 
. 
