Michael Vela was talking to Rasmus Glæsel just next to the table when a new hand was getting underway. He rushed back and was informed by the dealer that he was the big blind. He was still talking to Glaesel and folded his hand. He took it back when the dealer told him he needed to put the big blind in and said: "That might be a tell!"
Despite Vela clearly not loving his hand, action folded around to Nadya Magnus in the small blind and she just limped in. Vela checked and they both checked the flop and turn as well. The on the river made Magnus bet 28,000. Vela called just about instantly.
Magnus showed and Velas said "Chop it up!" while showing .
The dealer paused, checked the board one more time, and looked a bit puzzled. Magnus said "Chop it" but the dealer wasn't having of it.
"Sixes, an ace, and a king" Vela said, and Magnus concurred.
Cliff Josephy and the dealer pointed out there was a fifth card needed to make a poker hand, and Vela and Magnus quickly realized the flaw in their logic.
"Somebody check my blood sugar!" Vela said with a big smile, leaving the pot to Magnus.
John Dibella raised to 54,000 under the gun and Christian Harder defended from the big blind. Harder check-called a bet of 64,000 on the flop, and then wound up check-folding to one of 128,000 on the turn.
Alan Schein was eliminated after an aggressive hand against Aleksei Opalikhin ended up finishing the American's tournament. Pre-flop, Schein made it 53,000 and Aleksei Opalikhin raised to 147,000. Schein called to a flop of and Opalikhin moved all-in. Schein called off his remaining stack and he needed help.
Aleksei Opalikhin:
Alan Schein:
The turn of and river couldn't help Schein and he was out in an unlucky 13th place. We have a dozen players left, one of whom will be the first ever PokerStars Championship Main Event winner.
A short-stacked Jason Mercier moved all in for 178,000 from the cutoff and action folded to Michael Bartholomew in the big blind.
"I have to call," he said before doing just that.
Bartholomew:
Mercier:
Mercier had a kicker problem, and it didn't get resolved on the flop. The turn paired the board and gave Mercier a bunch of chop outs, but the river was not one of them.
With that, the last Team PokerStars Pro remaining in the field hit the rail.
The former WSOP Main Event winner Ryan Riess is out in 15th place after being in the dominating position preflop. Reiss was all-in for 303,000 over the top of a Nadezhda Magnus opening bet to 52,000 pre-flop which Michael Vela had called. Once Riess was committed, Vela was the only caller.
Michael Vela:
Ryan Riess:
The flop of flipped the odds on their head and Riess was two cards from elimination. The turn gave Riess additional outs, but the , left Riess in pieces and Vela stacking up over two million chips.
Rasmus Glæsel opened to 53,000, this time from the hijack after having done the same the hand before but getting no resistance. This time, he would meet someone willing to dance. It was Pedro Cabeca in the cutoff that shoved all in for what appeared to be 505,000.
The button and both blinds folded before Glæsel quickly called.
Rasmus Glæsel:
Pedro Cabeca:
The flop came and Cabeca was already getting up from the table to say his goodbyes. The on the turn and on the river were blanks and Cabeca was headed for the exit.
Down to 15 players now, all guaranteed $32,200 from here on out.
The PokerStars Championship Bahamas Main Event began with 738 players, but today just 16 will return to action. They're all guaranteed $24,640 in prize money, but each have their eyes set on making the final table to stay in contention for the $480,012 first-place prize.
The man best positioned to make a run at it is Canada's Michael Gentili holds the chip lead with 3,708,000, which is over 150 big blinds. Gentili has $666,302 in live tournament earning, of which $494,797 came when he finished runner-up this past summer in the 2016 World Series of Poker Event 59: $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em.
Gentili holds a healthy lead as his next closest competitor is Russia’s Aleksei Opalikhin, who sits with 2.084 million. Others returning to action are former PokerStars Big Game “Loose Cannon” Nadya Magnus (1.87 million), 2016 WSOP Main Event third-place finisher Cliff Josephy (1.331 million), poker pro Christian Harder (1.305 million), 2012 PCA champ John Dibella (1.294 million), 2013 WSOP Main Event champ Ryan Riess (371,000), and the short-stacked PokerStars Team Pro Jason Mercier (340,000).
Day 5 kicks off at Noon local time with action picking up in Level 23. Here's how things stack up: