With the recent elimination of Thomas Taylor in 10th place, the unofficial final table of nine has been formed. Here is a look at the new seating assignments and chip counts.
Chris Moorman was down to just 11 big blinds and pushed all in for 141,000 from early position. Ludovicus Van Wely called from the hijack along with Alexander Ziskin in the big blind.
The flop came and Ziskin checked to Van Wely who bet 100,000 into a dry side pot. Ziskin quickly folded and the remaining two hands were face up. Moorman held and Van Wely showed .
The turn brought the and Van Wely Moorman was still ahead with his pair of kings. The on the river changed nothing and Moorman scored a huge triple up late in the day.
Maria Konnikova opened to 24,000 from under the gun and was called by Marcos Carneiro Antunes on the button and Ludovicus Van Wely in the big blind. The flop came and the action was checked to Antunes who bet 35,000. Van Wely called and Konnikova let her hand go.
The turn brought the and Van Wely checked again. Antunes fired another 59,000 and Van Wely stuck around to see the on the river. Van Wely checked once more and Antunes reluctantly rapped the table. Van Wely tabled and Antunes mucked his cards while he shook his head, disappointed that he couldn't find a bet on the river.
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.
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.