Kitty Kuo opened to 6,500 in early position and Byron Kaverman called from the big blind. The flop fell and Kaverman check-called a bet of 9,000 from Kuo.
The turn brought the and Kaverman checked again. Kuo sized up a bet of 20,000 and Kaverman still called. The completed the board and Kaverman still checked. Kuo ripped all in, putting her opponent to the test for his remaining stack of 39,500.
Kaverman took his time in the tank for a couple of minutes before finally calling. Kuo flipped over for just ten-high while Kaverman tabled for ace-high which got a reaction from the rest of the table.
The players have now gone on their second 20-minute break of the day and will return to the felt shortly. The 500-Denomination chips will also be raced off during this time.
Registration closed with a total of 1,014 runners and now the field has been cut down to only 376 remaining.
Here are some of the highlights from the past two levels:
A field of 1,014 players generated a prizepool of $24,843,000. Just 175 players will be guaranteed a slice of this, with a min-cash worth $35,100.
A seat at the final table of nine will earn a player $449,700, with six players set to cash for over $1,000,000. That includes the winner of the 2023 PokerStars Players NL Hold'em Championship who will take home $4,053,200.
Dinesh Alt started the day with a shorter stack but has since been accumulating chips left and right. The latest addition to his growing tower came from a preflop contest in which he scored a fortunate knockout by sending Richard Alati to the rail.
Alati opened to 10,000 and Alt three-bet to 25,000. His opponent then jammed for 72,000 and Alt quickly called with the far bigger stack.
Richard Alati:
Dinesh Alt:
The flop further increased the lead of Alati with the nut flush draw. However, the turn gave the Swiss a pair of jacks and he retained the lead on the river.
The 2023 PokerStars Players No-Limit Hold'em Championship drew a field of 1,014 players from 63 different countries and generated a prize pool of $24,843,000, from which the champion will take home $4,053,200. The top six finishers will earn 7-figure payouts, while the top 175 players will take home a min-cash of $35,100.
The top five nations were the United States (265 - 26.1%), Spain (132 - 13.0%), France (105 - 10.4%), Canada (87 - 8.6%), and Germany (64 - 6.3%)
The PSPC 2019 featured 1,039 players from 63 countries. The top five nations were the United States (376 - 36.2%), Canada (97 - 9.3%), United Kingdom (63 - 6.1%), Brazil (60 - 5.8%), and France (50 - 4.8%).
Alejandro Lococo opened from the cutoff to 9,000 and Andy Wilson three-bet to 40,000 from the big blind. Lococo then four-bet jammed all in and Wilson called it off, putting himself at risk of elimination.
Andy Wilson:
Alejandro Lococo:
After seeing that his clubs were no good, Wilson needed to hit a king or queen to survive. There was a king in the window on the flop, but unfortunately for him, it was followed by two aces.
The turn left him drawing dead and the completed the board for Lococo to win the hand and Wilson was eliminated.
Lococo is now one of the biggest stacks in the room with over 400,000.
There was 70,000 in the pot before the flop. Ronan Houssein was on the button against Santiago Plante in the big blind.
The flop came and Plante bet 18,000. Houssein called.
The was the turn and Plante check-called a 40,000 bet from Houssein.
The river was the and Plante checked. Houssein put Plante all in for 63,000. Plante went deep into the tank for several minutes staring Houssein down. Plante eventually called. Houssein showed for ace-high while Plante showed to take down the pot.
PokerStars Ambassador Arlie Shaban said to PokerNews "That was a good one."
Houssein was left with less than 20 big blinds and was eliminated the following hand.
Up on the feature table, Platinum Pass holders Marc Radgen and Clement Eloy got it all in preflop, with Eloy at risk of elimination.
Clement Eloy:
Marc Radgen:
The flop came out to give Eloy trip aces to put him way in the lead and the turn left Radgen drawing dead. The on the river gave Eloy quads just as an added bonus as he secured the double up. Radgen was then left with a single big blind and ended up busting soon after.
Krasimir Yankov opened to 10,000 from early position and Cary Katz flat-called from the next seat before Rodger Johnson called from the cutoff and Francisco Benitez came along from the big blind.
Action checked to Katz on the flop of and he moved all in for 11,000, bringing quick folds from Johnson and Benitez before Yankov called.
"No! You're supposed to fold!" cried Katz.
Cary Katz:
Krasimir Yankov:
Katz had a pair of nines put was behind the kings of Yankov and couldn't improve as the board ran out to mark the PokerGO founder's elimination.