Maimone Leads Final 32 Players 2017 PokerStars Championship Bahamas, Mercier Sits in Second
Day 3 of the PokerStars Championship Bahamas saw the final 125 players from a field of 738 return to action. It was an action-packed day with dozens of eliminations. After five 90-minute levels of play, just 32 players remain with Nick Maimone (photo), who turns 30 tomorrow, and his stack of 1.75 million leading the way.
One year ago, Maimone took down the 2016 PCA $25,000 High Roller for $996,480, and now he’s looking to add the PokerStars Championship Bahamas Main Event title to his résumé, which currently boasts $1,880,865 in live earnings. Maimone’s only other six-figure scores include $633,022 for placing 15th in the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event, and $112,972 for finishing runner-up to Jonathan Duhamel in the 2015 PCA Event #31: $5,300 No-Limit Hold’em.
Others still in contention for the $480,012 first-place prize, who’re guaranteed to take home at least $14,760, are Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier, who sits in second with 1.333 million, as well as 2012 PCA champ John Dibella, 2016 World Series of Poker Main Event third-place finisher Cliff Josephy and 2013 WSOP Main Event champ Ryan Riess.
Those are some big names, but they don’t stop there. Others surviving the night were EPT11 Grand Final champ and 2013 WSOP Europe Main Event winner Adrian Mateos, PokerStars Team Pro Online and Twitch star Jaime Staples and 2015 Global Poker Index Player of the Year Byron Kaverman.
Among those whose dreams were dashed on Day 3 were Will “The Thrill” Failla (118th – $7,260), 2010 PCA champ Harrison Gimbel (108th - $7,260), 2016 WSOP Main Event 12th-place finisher Mike Shin (93rd - $9,120) and former NFL player Richard Seymour (89th - $9,120).
Colman’s demise came when he called off with pocket nines only to see Scott Stewart hold with pocket kings.
Also falling was Daniel Colman, who earlier in the week finished third in the $100,000 Super High Roller for $759,660 and fourth in the $50,000 High Roller for $341,240. Colman’s demise came when he called off with pocket nines only to see Scott Stewart hold with pocket kings. Colman added another $11,560 to his bankroll for his 59th-place finish.
Others who bowed out before the end of the night were former EPT champs Arnaud Mattern (85th - $9,120), Mike “Timex” McDonald (52nd - $11,560), Davidi Kitai (45th - $14,760), 2013 WSOP Main Event fourth-place finisher Sylvain Loosli (48th - $11,560), Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein (37th - $14,760) and WSOP bracelet winner Pascal Lefrancois (39th - $14,760), who lost the biggest pot of the tournament thus far when his ace-king failed to get there against Maimone’s pocket queens late in the evening.
Players will return to action at noon local time on Thursday with the plan of playing four 90-minute levels. Once again, PokerNews will be at the Atlantis Resort to bring you all the live updates straight from the tournament floor, so be sure to join us then. While you wait, check out this video of PokerStars Team Pro Online’s Kevin Martin opening up about poker, streaming and more.
Day 4 Seat Draw 2017 PokerStars Championship Bahamas
| Table | Seat | Name | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Daniel Weinman | United States | 175,000 |
| 1 | 2 | Cliff Josephy | United States | 579,000 |
| 1 | 3 | Massimo De Mario | Italy | 960,000 |
| 1 | 4 | Alan Schein | United States | 780,000 |
| 1 | 5 | Michael Bartholomew | Canada | 419,000 |
| 1 | 6 | Francisco Benitez | Uruguay | 426,000 |
| 1 | 7 | Jorge De Oliveira Lopez | Portugal | 235,000 |
| 1 | 8 | Allon Allison | Canada | 764,000 |
| 2 | 1 | John Dibella | United States | 1,119,000 |
| 2 | 2 | Hendrik Latz | Germany | 453,000 |
| 2 | 3 | Scott Stewart | United States | 952,000 |
| 2 | 4 | Rasmus Glæsel | Norway | 1,029,000 |
| 2 | 5 | Jaime Staples | Canada | 310,000 |
| 2 | 6 | Michael Gentili | Canada | 688,000 |
| 2 | 7 | Rex Clinkscales | United States | 587,000 |
| 2 | 8 | Michael Vela | United States | 767,000 |
| 3 | 1 | Jason Mercier | United States | 1,333,000 |
| 3 | 2 | Ryan Riess | United States | 742,000 |
| 3 | 3 | Adrian Mateos | Spain | 423,000 |
| 3 | 4 | Pratyush Buddiga | United States | 140,000 |
| 3 | 5 | Marcin Kapkowski | Poland | 775,000 |
| 3 | 6 | Kevin Andriamahefa | Canada | 320,000 |
| 3 | 7 | Damien Steel | Canada | 810,000 |
| 3 | 8 | Christian Harder | United States | 856,000 |
| 4 | 1 | Pedro Cabeca | Portugal | 864,000 |
| 4 | 2 | Nadya Magnus | United States | 727,000 |
| 4 | 3 | Byron Kaverman | United States | 297,000 |
| 4 | 4 | John Engledow | United Kingdom | 768,000 |
| 4 | 5 | Aleksei Opalikhin | Russia | 478,000 |
| 4 | 6 | Gaelle Baumann | France | 108,000 |
| 4 | 7 | Rodrigo Cordoba | Argentina | 697,000 |
| 4 | 8 | Nick Maimone | United States | 1,750,000 |
Photos Neil Stoddart/PokerStars.
