Welcome to Day 3 coverage of the $50,000 Poker Players Championship.
The starting field of 100 players is down to just 44, with each looking to capture the first-place prize of $1,395,767, the World Series of Poker bracelet, and the prestige of winning one of the premier events in the poker world.
Aaron Katz is in pole position to begin the day, leading the field with 1,642,000. Katz was second in chips entering Day 2 and rode a rush in the middle of the day to cross the million-chip mark. He continued to add to his stack in the final level on Monday, en route to his bagging the chip lead. Rounding out the five chip counts are Talal Shakerchi (1,480,500), two-time PPC champion Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi (1,087,000), Elior Sion (1,033,500), and Andrey Zaichenko (962,000).
A plethora of big names remain, and it would do a disservice to only list a few of them. Below find the complete Day 3 table and seat draw — scroll down and see the many notables still in the hunt:
Room
Table
Seat
Player
Country
Chip Count
Amazon
17
1
Joseph Couden
United States
515,000
Amazon
17
2
Aaron Katz
United States
1,642,000
Amazon
17
3
David Oppenheim
United States
232,500
Amazon
17
4
Mike Sexton
United States
287,000
Amazon
17
5
Johannes Becker
Germany
293,000
Amazon
17
6
David Bach
United States
735,000
Amazon
18
1
Scott Seiver
United States
369,500
Amazon
18
2
Alex Kostritsyn
Russia
284,000
Amazon
18
3
Robert Mizrachi
United States
397,500
Amazon
18
4
Tommy Hang
United States
580,000
Amazon
18
5
David Steicke
Hong Kong
656,500
Amazon
18
6
Ivo Donev
Austria
460,000
Amazon
19
1
Brett Richey
United States
683,500
Amazon
19
2
Phil Hui
United States
537,000
Amazon
19
3
Mike Matusow
United States
673,500
Amazon
19
4
Phil Galfond
United States
719,500
Amazon
19
5
Marco Johnson
United States
281,000
Amazon
19
6
Isaac Haxton
United States
730,000
Amazon
20
1
Jason Mercier
United States
592,000
Amazon
20
2
Michael Mizrachi
United States
1,087,000
Amazon
20
3
Josh Arieh
United States
592,000
Amazon
20
4
Matthew Ashton
United Kingdom
910,500
Amazon
20
5
Daniel Alaei
United States
373,500
Amazon
20
6
Mark Gregorich
United States
382,500
Amazon
21
1
Ian Johns
United States
339,000
Amazon
21
2
Felipe Ramos
Brazil
263,500
Amazon
21
3
Mike Wattel
United States
473,000
Amazon
21
4
Stephen Chidwick
United Kingdom
232,000
Amazon
21
6
Ralph Perry
United States
560,000
Amazon
22
1
Justin Bonomo
United States
127,000
Amazon
22
2
Jake Abdalla
United States
731,500
Amazon
22
3
James Obst
Australia
649,500
Amazon
22
4
Elior Sion
United Kingdom
1,033,500
Amazon
22
5
Anthony Zinno
United States
863,500
Amazon
23
2
Bryn Kenney
United States
171,000
Amazon
23
3
Eugene Katchalov
Ukraine
94,500
Amazon
23
4
Cary Katz
United States
446,000
Amazon
23
5
Shaun Deeb
United States
541,000
Amazon
23
6
David "ODB" Baker
United States
121,500
Amazon
24
1
Talal Shakerchi
United Kingdom
1,480,500
Amazon
24
3
Daniel Negreanu
Canada
678,000
Amazon
24
4
Andrey Zaichenko
Russia
962,000
Amazon
24
5
Gary Benson
Australia
882,000
Amazon
24
6
Paul Volpe
United States
292,000
Only 15 players will cash, and Day 3 should end right around that 15-player mark. Six 100-level minutes will be played and the action will resume with limits of 12,000/24,000 in limit games and blinds of 3,000/6,000 in big-bet games.
Keep it here at PokerNews for live updates on all of the action as the Poker Players Championship approaches the money bubble!
"You've got plenty of chips behind right?" David Bach asked Felipe Ramos as they closed in on fourth street. Ramos moved his hands revealing about 400,000. Bach nodded.
On fourth, Ramos bet and Bach called. Bach called another bet on fifth street. On sixth, Bach picked up the betting lead. He bet and Ramos called.
Bach slowed down with a check on seventh, then Ramos bet. Bach called.
"Seven-six," Ramos said, showed .
"Seven-five," Bach said in response showing for just a slightly better low. He took down the pot and closed in on the one-million chip mark.
We caught up to the hand after the first draw. Alexander Kostritsyn had bet. Tommy Hang moved all in over the top. Scott Seiver called. Kostritsyn raised over the top of Hang's shove to 55,500. Seiver called.
On the second draw, Hang stood pat while Seiver took two and Kostritsyn took one. Seiver checked over to Kostritsyn who bet. Seiver check-raised and Kostritsyn called.
Hang and Seiver stood pat on the last draw and Kostritsyn took one. Seiver then checked again and Kostritsyn bet. Seiver raised and Kostritsyn called once more.
Seiver looked at Tommy Hang and shook his head, delivering bad news. He showed for the wheel. Hang was holding . Kostritsyn was forced to turn up his hand as well and he showed for the second nuts and that would earn the big pot for Seiver.
"You would've got three bets if you led out on the river," Robert Mizrachi said to Seiver after the hand.
Shaun Deeb completed and was two-bet by Isaac Haxton. Action folded back to Deeb and he called.
Deeb checked then called bets from Haxton on fourth, fifth, and sixth streets. On seventh, Deeb opted to lead out and, after thinking about it for a while, Haxton called.
"Trip sevens," Deeb said showing .
Haxton looked at his cards for a few seconds. "That's good," he said, then mucked. Deeb raked in the pot and moved over the one-million chip mark.
Matthew Ashton raised from the hijack, Mark Gregorich called from the button, Jason Mercier three-bet from the small blind, Ashton called, and Gregorich called.
Each player drew two, and Mercier bet his remaining 1,000. Ashton called, Gregorich completed the bet to 20,000, and Ashton called.
Mercier drew one, Ashton drew two, and Gregorich drew one. Ashton check-called a bet from Gregorich.
Mercier drew one again, while Ashton and Gregorich stood pat. Ashton checked, Gregorich bet, and Ashton tanked for about 90 seconds before he called.
Gregoirch showed , Ashton mucked, and Mercier showed with a on the last draw for a defeated eight-perfect.
After being put on a short stack just before dinner, Michael Mizrachi has started on the road to recovery. In a recent pot, a preflop raising war had Mizrachi, Ian Johns, and Josh Arieh putting in 100,000 apiece before the flop.
The flop came , and all three players checked to see the on the turn. Mizrachi led out from the big blind and was called by Arieh from under the gun and Johns on the button. The river was the , and Mizrachi led out again. Arieh called, but Johns threw his hand away.
Mizrachi showed for a rivered full house, and that was good for him to take down the pot.
"Lets go, baby! Grind it out," came cheers from Mizrachi's family on the rail as he scooped the pot and removed himself from the danger zone.
Elior Sion raised from the cutoff, making it 32,000 to play. Mike Wattel called on the button, and Jake Abdalla called from the big blind.
The flop came down , and Abdalla checked over to Sion. Sion bet 68,000. Wattel potted it, making it 306,000 to play. Abdalla thought for about a minute, then folded his hand.
"How much do you have behind?" Sion asked Wattel, who moved his hand to show. It was a little bit over 700,000. Sion finally decided to move all in, and Wattel called instantly.
"Set of queens, right?" Sion asked. He was right. Wattel showed . Sion was holding for flush and straight draws.
Sion didn't catch up on the turn or the river. Wattel earned the massive double-up with that huge pot, while Sion was left with crumbs.
![[user139916]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
/ 
/ 
for a pair of kings, Sexton mucked, and Couden won the pot.
for trip tens. Sexton had outs to a flush and better trips with 
on seventh and was eliminated.
/ 
/ 
. 
for just a slightly better low. He took down the pot and closed in on the one-million chip mark.
— Folded
, no help to Ramos, ending his tournament.
/ 
. 
, and Mizrachi led out again. Arieh called, but Johns threw his hand away.
for a rivered full house, and that was good for him to take down the pot. 
. Sion was holding 
for flush and straight draws. 
