2017 PokerStars Championship Bahamas

$5,000 Main Event
Day: 3
Event Info

2017 PokerStars Championship Bahamas

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
aj
Prize
$429,664
Event Info
Buy-in
$5,000
Prize Pool
$3,376,712
Entries
738
Level Info
Level
31
Blinds
80,000 / 160,000
Ante
20,000

Benjamin Philipps Eliminated by John Dibella

Level 18 : 4,000/8,000, 1,000 ante

A massive pot was brewing over at one of the tables and we went over to see John Dibella had moved all in, putting Benjamin Philipps to the test for his tournament life.

There was about 500,000 in the pot on a board reading {7-Spades}{2-Spades}{2-Hearts}{7-Hearts}. After a moment, Philipps called.

Dibella tabled {3-Diamonds}{2-Diamonds} for a full house, leaving Philipps drawing dead to just a chop as he showed {a-Spades}{10-Spades}.

The river was the {k-Diamonds} and Philipps was sent to the rail.

Dibella has now climbed towards the top of the counts, sitting second in chips with 1,100,000.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of John Dibella us
John Dibella
1,100,000
300,000
300,000
EPT 1X Winner
Profile photo of Benjamin Philipps gb
Benjamin Philipps
Busted

Ryan Riess is Rising

Level 17 : 3,000/6,000, 1,000 ante

Patrick Stacey moved his remaining 250,000 chips in the middle and was quickly called by Ryan Riess.

Riess: {a-Hearts}{k-Spades}
Stacey: {a-Spades}{a-Diamonds}

Riess was well behind with ace-king and it looked like Stacey was a lock to double through him.

The flop was {k-Clubs}{k-Diamonds}{10-Diamonds}, giving Riess trip kings and leaving Stacey with one out to save his tournament life. Stacey was clearly devastated with his head in his hands as he awaited the turn, which was the {10-Clubs}.

The river was the {9-Diamonds} and Stacey was headed home, sending the pot Riess' way.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Ryan Riess us
Ryan Riess
750,000
405,000
405,000
WSOP Main Event Champion
WSOP 1X Winner
WPT 1X Winner
Profile photo of Patrick Stacey ca
Patrick Stacey
Busted

Tags: Patrick StaceyRyan Riess

Ephremsen at the Double

Level 17 : 3,000/6,000, 1,000 ante

Kliment Tarmakov and Paul Ephremsen were off to the races, with the latter holding {J-Clubs}{J-Spades} and Kliment Tarmakov held the {A-Spades}{K-Diamonds}.

The board of {8-Hearts}{4-Hearts}{7-Diamonds}{3-Clubs}{3-Spades} saw Ephremsen double up to 264,000 and Tarmakov dropped to 225,000 with the end of this third level of the day almost in the bag.

Tags: Kliment TarmakovPaul Ephremsen

Cliff Josephy Puts the Pressure on Nadezhda Magnus

Level 17 : 3,000/6,000, 1,000 ante
Cliff Josephy
Cliff Josephy

Action folded around to Cliff Josephy on the button who made it 15,000 to go. Nadezhda Magnus was in the big blind and decided to defend.

The flop came {8-Spades}{6-Clubs}{5-Diamonds} and Magnus checked. Josephy wasted no time and bet 30,000. Magnus called.

The turn was the {10-Hearts}. Magnus checked again. Josephy bet 30,000 again. Magnus went into the tank and thought about it for a minute before releasing her hand. Josphy tossed his hand over to her and she picked one card to look at before sending it into the muck.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Cliff Josephy us
Cliff Josephy
590,000
24,000
24,000
WSOP 2X Winner
Profile photo of Nadya Magnus us
Nadya Magnus
340,000
25,000
25,000

Tags: Cliff JosephyNadezhda Magnus

Valentin Messina Flushes to Stay Alive

Level 17 : 3,000/6,000, 1,000 ante

Up at the feature table, Smit Trivedi raised to 13,000 and Barry Greenstein called from the cutoff. Valentin Messina then three-bet all in for 65,000 from the button, both blinds folded, and Trivedi moved all in over the top, which inspired Greenstein to get out of the way.

Trivedi: {9-Hearts}{9-Diamonds}
Messina: {a-Hearts}{k-Diamonds}

It was a flip, and Messina picked up more outs on the {q-Hearts}{8-Hearts}{10-Hearts} flop. The {5-Hearts} turn gave Messina the ace-high flush, and that meant Trivedi needed the {J-Hearts} on the river to stay alive. It didn't happen though as the {4-Clubs} appeared instead.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Smit Trivedi gb
Smit Trivedi
323,000
-103,000
-103,000
Profile photo of Valentin Messina fr
Valentin Messina
160,000
47,000
47,000

Tags: Valentin MessinaSmit Trivedi

Buddiga Doubles Tran, Doubles Through Baumann

Level 17 : 3,000/6,000, 1,000 ante

On a board of {9-Spades}{8-Diamonds}{A-Spades}{6-Hearts} we saw Pratyush Buddiga with a bet of 30,000 in front of him from the big blind. Tony Tran, in the hijack, shoved for 100,000 total. Buddiga wasn't thrilled but did call with his {Q-Spades}{10-Spades}. Tran tabled {A-Hearts}{5-Spades} and doubled after the {4-Clubs} hit the river.

The next hand, Gaelle Baumann raised to 14,000 from the button. Buddiga shoved for 25,000 from the small blind and Baumann called after the big blind folded. Baumann called with {A-Diamonds}{J-Diamonds} and was ahead of Buddiga's {Q-Diamonds}{J-Hearts}. The board, however, would favor Buddiga as it came {Q-Spades}{K-Spades}{7-Clubs}{K-Diamonds}{6-Hearts}.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Gaelle Baumann fr
Gaelle Baumann
283,000
-27,000
-27,000
Winamax
Profile photo of Pratyush Buddiga us
Pratyush Buddiga
64,000
-11,000
-11,000

Tags: Tony TranGaelle BaumannPratyush Buddiga

Rex Clinkscales Over Half a Million

Level 17 : 3,000/6,000, 1,000 ante
Rex Clinkscales
Rex Clinkscales

With about 20,000 in the pot, on a board reading {9-Spades}{6-Diamonds}{2-Clubs}, Rex Clinkscales checked from the small blind.

Aleksei Opalikhin was in the big blind and bet 6,000. Clinkscales thought for a moment and check-raised to 18,000. Opalikhin called.

The turn was the {k-Spades}. Clinkscales led out for 35,000 and Opalikhin tossed his cards into the muck.

Clinkscales bagged his chips at the end of Day 2 last night and quickly hopped into a side event. By the end of the night he was the eventual winner, securing himself a PokerStars spade trophy.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Rex Clinkscales us
Rex Clinkscales
560,000
230,000
230,000
Profile photo of Aleksei Opalikhin ru
Aleksei Opalikhin
75,000
-43,000
-43,000

Tags: Rex Clinkscales

Mossa Doubles Through Gorey

Level 17 : 3,000/6,000, 1,000 ante

Nick Mossa has doubled his short-stack back up through Ronan Gorey, after getting it in extremely good. Mossa was committed for 50,000 with pocket queens and was up against Gorey's {5-Clubs}{5-Spades}.

The board of {2-Spades}{7-Clubs}{A-Clubs}{K-Clubs}{J-Hearts} saw Mossa get back into the game.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Ronan Gorey ie
Ronan Gorey
215,000
35,000
35,000
Profile photo of Nick Mossa ca
Nick Mossa
108,000
-67,000
-67,000

The Chainsaw Runs Out of Gas

Level 17 : 3,000/6,000, 1,000 ante
Allen Kessler
Allen Kessler

2012 PCA champ John Dibella raised to 17,000 and Allen Kessler, who had been nursing a short stack, three-bet all in for 43,000 from the hijack. Action folded back to Dibella and he made a quick call.

Kessler: {a-Hearts}{q-Diamonds}
Dibella: {5-Spades}{5-Hearts}

"This is like the best hand I've had all day," claimed Kessler, who needed to improve to stay alive.

Unfortunately for him, and the many Chainsaw fans around the world, that didn't happen as the board ran out {3-Spades}{10-Diamonds}{8-Clubs}{6-Hearts}{7-Hearts}.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of John Dibella us
John Dibella
800,000
100,000
100,000
EPT 1X Winner
Profile photo of Allen Kessler us
Allen Kessler
Busted

Tags: John DibellaAllen Kessler