Sergi Rexiach Takes Chip Lead Into Day 4 of the 2023 PCA Main Event

Only 54 players remain in contention to become the 2023 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) Main Event champion, and it is Spain’s Sergi Reixach who is the man to catch going into Day 4 of the $10,300 buy-in tournament. It took five levels at the luxury Baha Mar Resort to whittle the 151 returning players to a more manageable 54. Plenty of big names survived the Day 3 action, with just as many falling by the wayside.

End of Day 3 Top Ten Chip Stacks

With 127 of the 151 returning Day 3 players cashing, the money bubble was expected to burst quickly. However, it took 90 minutes of tense action for it to pop and open the path to the cashier’s desk. Juan Membreno was the unfortunate 128th place finisher. Membrano got the last of his chips in with middle pair and a flush draw against the top pair top kickers of Andre Marques and didn’t improve.

Andy Wilson was the first player to crash out in the money places. The likes of Xuan Liu, Seth Davies, Elio Fox, Pascal Hartmann, Thomas Muehloecker, Maria Ho, Martin Zamani, Robert Cowen, Ben Lamb, defending champion Chino Rheem, John Juanda, and Andre Akkari cashed but will not become the 2023 PCA Main Event champion.

Four players enter Day 4 with seven-figure stack. Reixach leads from the front with 1,719,000 chips, with Christoph Csik (1,409,000), Michael Rocco (1,260,000), and Ian Matakis (1,083,000) finding themselves ahead of the chasing pack.

Anton Wigg (903,000) and Artur Martirosian (816,000) have top ten stacks, while Nick Petrangelo (550,000), Day 2 leader Alex Kulev (546,000), Ramon Colillas (437,000), Justin Bonomo (370,000), Steve O’Dwyer (257,000), and PokerStars’ Sam Grafton (194,000) are still in the mix.

Play resumes at 12:00 p.m. local time on January 27, with the Main Event on Level 19, meaning blinds and antes are 5,000/10,000/10,000a, and PokerNews will be on the ground throughout.

Watch ‘Poker Bunny’s’ Erratic Exit from the PCA Main Event

Jonathan Jaffe Tops $50,000 8-Handed Chip Counts

The $50,000 8-Handed event drew in six players, with two needing to fire a second bullet before the end of the tenth and final level of Day 1.

Jonathan Jaffe finished Day 1 with bagging up a tournament-leading 353,000 stack, putting him narrowly ahead of Daniel Dvoress (317,000) in second place. Turkey’s Orpen Kisacikoglu (248,000), fresh from his runner-up finish in the $50,000 Single Day High Roller 6-Handed, is third.

Both Seth Davies (167,000) and Mikita Badziakouski (70,000) progressed after firing two bullets, while Stephen Chidwick (45,000) brings up the rear.

$50,000 8-Handed Day 1 Counts

Late registration remains open for two more levels, with play resuming at 2:00 p.m. local time. Of course, PokerNews‘ live reporting team will be there bringing you live and exclusive coverage.

Martingale Strategy Pays Off For Conor Beresford in PCA $50,000 7-Handed

Stamm Out in Front in the $3,000 Mystery Bounty

The eagerly anticipated $3,000 PCA Mystery Bounty shuffled up and dealt on January 26, and saw the 626 starters reduced to 229 over the course of 12 levels. David Stamm was the star that shone the brightest, bagging and tagging 340,500 chips, more than 11 times the starting stack!

The list of players that navigated their way to Day 2 reads like a who’s who of the poker world. Rayan Chamas (188,500) and Shaun Deeb (187,500) are in the top ten, while Dario Sammartino (174,500), Yuliyan Kolev (166,000), and Paulina “Poker Bunny” Loeliger (157,500) occupying slots in the top 20.

Further down the chip counts you find such luminaries as Ami Barer (126,000), Team PokerStars’ Lex Veldhuis (116,500), nine-time WSOP champion Erik Seidel (112,000), David Peters (107,000), Adrian Mateos (101,000), and Roberto Romanello (98,500). You can check out the full list of the remaining players here, and follow all of the updates right here when play resumes at 12:30 p.m. local time on January 27.

$3,000 PCA Mystery Bounty End of Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts