Michel Dattani Leads the 2023 PCA Main Event With 16 Remaining

Only 15 players stand between Michel Dattani and the 2023 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) Main Event title after Day 4 of the $10,300 buy-in saw the returning 54 hopefuls whittled to a more manageable 16.

Everyone who returns for Day 5 does so having locked in at least $68,000 for their efforts, but none of them will want to collect that sum because $1,500,000 awaits the eventual champion.

2023 PCA Main Event Top 10 Chip Counts

Place Player Country Chips Big Blinds
1 Michel Dattani Portugal 2,900,000 116
2 Jamil Wakil Canada 2,840,000 114
3 Christoph Csik United States 2,785,000 111
4 Mitchell Halverson United States 2,650,000 106
5 Artur Martirosian Russia 2,285,000 91
6 Clint Tolbert United States 1,950,000 78
7 Sergi Reixach Spain 1,610,000 64
8 Alexandre Raymond Canada 1,475,000 59
9 Ian Matakis United States 1,200,000 48
10 Taylor Paur United States 1,195,000 48

Dattani has more than $1 million in live poker tournament earnings, the largest weighing in at €108,350 ($123,966), which was his reward for a seventh place finish in the 2018 European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona €25,000 High Roller. Should Dattani build on his Day 4 success and navigate his way to the final table, the Portuguese grinder will enjoy another career high. He sits down on the penultimate day armed with 2,900,000 chips (116 big blinds).

As you would expect from the PCA Main Event, there are some legitimate poker superstars among the final 16 players. Russia’s Artur Martirosian (2,285,000) finds himself in the top five in chips, while Sergi Reixach (1,610,000), who was the chip leader on both Day 1b and Day 3, has a top 10 stack.

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Others to look out for in the PokerNews live updates include Taylor Paur (1,195,000), PokerNews strategy contributor Jonathan Little (1,195,000), and the 2019 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event champion Alexandros Theologis.

Cards are back in the air from 12:00 p.m. local time on January 29 and continues until only six players have chips in front of them.

David Peters Leads the Way in the $3,000 Mystery Bounty

David PetersDavid Peters

An action-packed Day2 in the $3,000 PCA Mystery Bounty saw 372 players, including 140 late entrants, reduced to only 22. When the dust settled at the end of play, David Peters topped the chip counts with his 2,190,000 stack (55 big blinds).

British grinder Andy Wilson, known as “BowieEffect” in online poker circles, is second in chips with 1,930,000, while such luminaries as WSOP bracelet winners Yuliyan Kolev (1,585,000) and Sebastien Aube (1,440,000), Kitty Kuo (1,100,000), and Team PokerStars’ Rafael Moraes (240,000) remain in contention.

$3,000 PCA Mystery Bounty Top 10 Chip Counts

Place Player Country Chips Big Blinds
1 David Peters United States 2,190,000 55
2 Andy Wilson United Kingdom 1,960,000 49
3 Michael Uguccioni Italy 1,675,000 42
4 Petar Kalev Bulgaria 1,675,000 42
5 Yuliyan Kolev Bulgaria 1,585,000 40
6 Sebastien Aube Canada 1,440,000 36
7 Luc Lafontaine Canada 1,250,000 31
8 Mauricio Sanchez Colombia 1,195,000 30
9 Kitty Kuo Taiwan 1,100,000 28
10 Samuel Cobian United States 1,010,000 25

Two large mystery bounties remain among the final 22 players; one worth $40,000 and a $100,000. On Day 2, Joey Weissman picked out a $40,000 bounty, Michael Jozoff pulled an envelope containing a PSPC Platinum Pass, while the aforementioned Aube banked a cool $100,000.

Join the PokerNews Live Reporting team on January 29 as the $3,000 PCA Mystery Bounty plays down to a winner.

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“Big Huni” Chris Hunichen Has a Big Stack in the $25,000 8-Handed

Chris HunichenChris Hunichen

Chris Hunichen, affectionately known as “Big Huni,” bagged a big stack after Day 1 of the $25,000 8-Handed event. Day 1 saw a field of 78 congregate at the Baha Mar Resort in The Bahamas, and 52 of those punched their Day 2 tickets at the first attempt.

Hunichen built a stack of 565,000 chips to finish second in chips when the curtain came down on the day’s proceedings. Only Brian Kim (631,000) is ahead of Hunichen.

$25,000 high-roller events always draw in stellar names, and this event is no different. Timothy Adams (479,000), Joao Vieira (462,000), Orpen Kisacikoglu (316,000), and Matas Cimbolas (314,000) are in the top ten. Others safely through include Stephen Chidwick (265,000), PokerStars’ Sam Grafton (249,000), Yuri Dzivielevski (205,000), Daniel Dvoress (185,000), Aussie superstar Michael Addamo (166,000), and Adrian Mateos (105,000) among many others.

$25,000 8-Handed Top 10 Chip Counts

Place Player Country Chips Big Blinds
  1 Brian Kim United States 631,000
  2 Chris Hunichen United States 565,000
  3 Timothy Adams Canada 479,000
  4 Joao Vieira Portugal 462,000
  5 Tauan Naves Brazil 418,000
  6 Jean-Noel Thorel France 400,000
  7 Eric Worre United States 391,000
  8 Dylan Destefano United States 379,000
  9 Orpen Kisacikoglu[ Turkey 316,000
  10 Matas Cimbolas Lithuania 314,000

Day 2 commences at 2:00 p.m. local time, and PokerNews is the only place you will find live and exclusive updates, so check them out.

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