As the 2017 PokerStars Championship Bahamas $5,000 Main Event makes steady progress to conclusion, the initial 738-person field has been whittled down to just 16 hopefuls; 16 players who are set to return today at noon Bahamas time to set the official final table.
Day 4 of the event was played on Thursday at Atlantis Paradise Island Casino. Play started with 32 remaining players and Nick Maimone holding the chip lead for a second consecutive day. However, Maimone’s terrific two-day run came to an end on Day 4. The player was eliminated in 19th place by Michael Vela shortly before the end of the day, thus missing the chance to become the first-ever PokerStars Championship Main Event champion.
The chip lead switched several hands during Day 4 play, but it was eventually Canada’s Michael Gentili to grab it and head the chip counts table. The player started the day with 700,000 in his stack. At a certain point, he had only 177,000 left. However, Gentili proved that poker is an unpredictable game and that the impossible can happen at any point.
And the impossible indeed happened to Gentili. He beat his chip disadvantage to eventually get hold of the chip lead. The player is set to start Day 5 with 3,780,000 and as the only one to have passed the 3-million chip mark. Russia’s Aleksei Opalikhin bagged and tagged the second largest stack for Thursday evening. However, the player is nowhere close to Gentili with his 2,084,000.
As already mentioned, the 16 survivors will have one main task – to survive through Day 5 and be part of the official final table, which is to be played tomorrow. Competition will certainly be fierce. Some of poker’s big names are still in contention and will be looking to further establish themselves. On the other hand, those less popular but probably just as skillful will be looking for the opportunity to present themselves to the poker community.
PokerStars Team Pro member Jason Mercier, former WSOP Main Event champion Ryan Riess, and former PCA Main Event winner John Dibella are among those set to return for Day 5 play. Action is scheduled to kick off at noon local time.
