Penultimate Day of PCA Main Event to Begin at 12 p.m. ET
The 2023 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) is fast approaching its closing point, with only two more days of action from the the $10,300 PCA Main Event scheduled before the 2023 PokerStars Players No Limit Hold'em Championship (PSPC) gets underway on Monday, January 30.
From the Main Event, just 16 of the original 889 entries remain and those players will return to the Baha Mar Resort for the 12 p.m ET restart.
The semi-finalists have each locked up a payday of at least $68,000 from the $8,623,300 prize pool, however, all eyes will be firmly on the $1.5 million up top.
Michel Dattani (2,900,000) comes into Day 5 as the biggest stack and has a slender chip lead over Jamil Wakil, who sits in second place with a stack of 2,840,000. Not too far behind Wakil is Christoph Csik (2,785,000), who has been in the upper echelons of the chips counts since Day 2.
Other notable names who have put in a deep run and still have a stack to play with include Artur Martirosian (2,285,000), Sergi Reixach (1,610,000) and Jonathan Little (1,195,000).
Starting the day off in the danger zone are Pedro Neves (790,000) and Mauricio Ferreira Pais (800,000). Both players will be looking to run it up, rather than being the next elimination which triggers the next jump, with the final 15 players guaranteeing themselves $78,200.
When the action resumes on Day 5 at noon local time, there will be 03:29 minutes left in Level 23. Returning blinds are 10,000/25,000 with a big blind ante of 25,000 but they will go up almost immediately to 15,000/30,000 with a big blind ante of 30,000. The penultimate tournament day is scheduled to play down to the final six contenders but that plan may be altered.
Day 5 Top 10 Chip Stacks
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michel Dattani | Portugal | 2,900,000 | 116 |
| 2 | Jamil Wakil | Canada | 2,840,000 | 114 |
| 3 | Christoph Csik | United States | 2,785,000 | 111 |
| 4 | Mitchell Halverson | United States | 2,650,000 | 106 |
| 5 | Artur Martirosian | Russia | 2,285,000 | 91 |
| 6 | Clint Tolbert | United States | 1,950,000 | 78 |
| 7 | Sergi Reixach | Spain | 1,610,000 | 64 |
| 8 | Alexandre Raymond | Canada | 1,475,000 | 59 |
| 9 | Ian Matakis | United States | 1,200,000 | 48 |
| 10 | Taylor Paur | United States | 1,195,000 | 48 |
The final 16 hopefuls will return to their seats on the two feature tables at noon local time and try to reach the official final table for the grand finale on Sunday, January 29, 2023. You can follow along right here on PokerNews and on the PokerStars YouTube and PokerStars Twitch channels with updates available on a 30-minute security delay.
and Raymond turned a pair of aces to crack pocket kings and secure a big double.
and Dattani checked, Ferreira Pais checked it back. After the 
turn, Dattani let his shot clock run down to two seconds before he bet 70,000. Ferreira Pais immediately sighed visibly, then grinned, smiled, and tossed in a time bank extension as he went through the motions.
river became a formality as Ferreira Pais bowed out on a pay jump in 16th place for $68,000.
flop but Kolonias was still ahead thanks to his superior kicker. The 
brought in a wheel draw for Wakil but the 
river confirmed the hand for Kolonias.
, bet 155,000 on the 
. Halverson continued for 230,000 on the 
flop after Kolonias continued for 80,000. Kolonias called. 
turn checked through to the 
turn and 