Petar Kalev Leads 52 Surviving Players Into Day 4 of the PokerStars Players Championship
Day 3 of the PokerStars Players No-Limit Hold’em Championship has come to an end and Petar Kalev leads 52 players into Thursday’s Day 4. The surviving runners will return on Thursday at 12 p.m. local time for the penultimate day of this prestigious event.
The Bulgarian bagged the top stack of 3,360,000 and he is followed by Blake Bohn in second on the leaderboard with 2,800,000. Dylan Destefano ended the night in third with 2,665,000, while Platinum Pass winners Dominik Nitsche and Tom Parsons rounded out the top five with 2,360,000 and 2,265,000, respectfully.
Kalev has the chip lead after a late clash with a charging Fedor Holz, who looked as though he may emerge as the chip leader in the late levels. However, an ill-timed shove proved beneficial when Kalev made an unlikely flush to cut Holz’s stack in half. After a late charge to end the night, Kalev stood tall with the biggest bag.
2023 PokerStars Players Championship Top 10 Day 3 Chip Counts
| Rank | Name | Country | Chip Count | Day 4 Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Petar Kalev | Bulgaria | 3,360,000 | 84 |
| 2 | Blake Bohn | United States | 2,800,000 | 70 |
| 3 | Dylan Destefano | United States | 2,665,000 | 67 |
| 4 | Dominik Nitsche | Germany | 2,360,000 | 59 |
| 5 | Tom Parsons | United Kingdom | 2,265,000 | 57 |
| 6 | Marcello Del Grosso | Canada | 2,200,000 | 55 |
| 7 | Matthew Hunt | United Kingdom | 2,075,000 | 52 |
| 8 | Thomas Eychenne | France | 1,955,000 | 49 |
| 9 | Daniel Dvoress | Canada | 1,775,000 | 44 |
| 10 | Tommy Nguyen | Canada | 1,670,000 | 42 |
Day 3 Action
The third of five days saw 255 players return for a shot at making it through a money bubble that paid the top 175 players a min-cash of $35,100. It took a little over three hours to reach the bubble, and then over two hours in hand-for-hand play, but it was Mauricio Ferreira Pais that busted out to earn the rest of the room their payday.
Among the big stories was Glen Craigen, a Canadian road construction worker that won his Platinum Pass in a freeroll. Craigen ran all the way to 111th to take home $46,500 and the story of a lifetime.
Another player on the ride of his life was Tom Parsons, who waited patiently for his opportunity after winning a Platinum Pass at Lex Live 2 in March of 2019. Parsons was down to his last few big blinds on the bubble, but he spun it up and and went on a late run to finish with 2,265,000. According to Hendon Mob, Parsons had just $1,406 in lifetime earnings before this event.
Parsons is joined by Jerome Moreau on a list of dreamers that earned their way to The Bahamas by securing a Platinum Pass. Moreau is a dealer on the European Poker Tour, and he’s put his opportunity to good use. His big moment of the day was when he correctly called a bluff from Nicolas Betbese to take a big pot with a pair of eights. He went on to add more chips at the end of the night with the elimination of Kenny Hallaert. Moreau will return with 1,205,000 and a chance to live his dream from a different seat at the table.
Remaining PSPC Platinum Pass Winners
| Rank | Player | Chip Count | Day 4 Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Dominik Nitsche | 2,360,000 | 59 |
| 5 | Tom Parsons | 2,265,000 | 57 |
| 12 | Sam Grafton | 1,590,000 | 40 |
| 17 | Renato Minicuci | 1,345,000 | 34 |
| 19 | Jerome Moreau | 1,205,000 | 30 |
| 22 | Omar Del Pino | 1,180,000 | 30 |
| 24 | Hugo Rodilla | 1,130,000 | 28 |
| 25 | Jonathan Jaffe | 1,110,000 | 28 |
| 26 | Fabio Bonatto | 1,050,000 | 26 |
| 28 | Max Menzel | 1,015,000 | 25 |
| 34 | Luis Garcia Moreno | 830,000 | 21 |
| 36 | Esteban Maquillon | 730,000 | 18 |
| 40 | Niclas Thumm | 645,000 | 16 |
| 49 | Sergio Carro Marin | 380,000 | 10 |
| 50 | Mehdi Violleau | 320,000 | 8 |
| 51 | Dimitrios Barmpathanasis | 260,000 | 7 |
Included in the many Platinum Pass winners to hit the payout window on Day 3 were Soraya Estrada, Miguel Posadas, Dan Taieb, Mason Pye, Dinesh Alt, Bastian Hess, Porfirio Navarro, and Alejandro Lococo. Lococo ran to 89th for $53,400, and he was knocked out by Bohn’s Big Slick—a hand that put Bohn above 1.5 million chips on his way to a bag of 2,800,000.
Bohn, a Minnesota-native, is a regular at the WSOP and on mid-major tours throughout the United States. According to Hendon Mob, he has just over $3.5 million in lifetime earnings, including a recent win at Winter Poker Classic on the Mid-States Poker Tour. Bohn’s best live cash is just under $290,000, and he can beat that with an 11th place finish.
Sam Grafton also survived to see Day 4, thanks in part to a double knockout of Sammy Lafleur and Niklas Warlich. This is Grafton’s second cash of the series after a run to 52nd in the PCA Main Event, and the PokerStars Ambassador will return with 1,590,000 for the opportunity to add to his near $13 million in lifetime earnings. Grafton will be joined on Day 4 by other notable players Nadya Magnus, Chris Moorman, Fedor Holz, Sean Winter, Daniel Dvoress, and Chance Kornuth.
Players will return on Thursday in Level 23 with blinds at 20,000/40,000 with a 40,000 ante. Each of the 52 returning players is guaranteed at least $70,000, while the winner is slated to take home the top prize of $4,053,200.
2023 PSPC Payouts
| Place | Payout (USD) | Place | Payout (USD) | Place | Payout (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $4,053,200 | 10-11 | $300,100 | 40-52 | $70,700 |
| 2 | $2,542,300 | 12-13 | $238,700 | ||
| 3 | $1,911,200 | 14-15 | $198,800 | ||
| 4 | $1,551,300 | 16-17 | $165,600 | ||
| 5 | $1,251,500 | 18-20 | $142,100 | ||
| 6 | $1,001,200 | 21-23 | $123,600 | ||
| 7 | $801,000 | 24-27 | $107,500 | ||
| 8 | $621,300 | 28-31 | $93,500 | ||
| 9 | $449,700 | 32-39 | $81,400 |
Be sure to keep it with the PokerNews team throughout the rest of the week for live updates from the floor of the PokerStars Players Championship at Baha Mar Resort in The Bahamas.
flop and 
turn. However, Holz made two pair on the 
river to send Shallow to the rail. 
flop. Kalev then leapfrogged Holz as he made two pair on the 
turn. The 
completed the board and Kalev doubled up in dramatic fashion.
turn left Hallaert taking time to consider his next move, which was an all-in for 297,000. Moreau called immediately and the hands were revealed.
river was no help, ending Hallaert’s run while boosting Moreau’s stack before the break.
flop and Zamani raised all in for around 500,000. Chamas folded and Minicuci snap-called with a bigger stack.
and Zamani hit the rail.
flop only strengthened Del Grosso’s advantage. The 
turn gave Del Grosso quads, while the 
river completed the runout.
flop.
