2023 PokerStars Players No-Limit Hold'em Championship

2023 PokerStars Players No-Limit Hold'em Championship
Day: 5
Event Info

2023 PokerStars Players No-Limit Hold'em Championship

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
105
Prize
$3,121,838
Event Info
Buy-in
$25,000
Prize Pool
$24,843,000
Entries
1,014
Level Info
Level
36
Blinds
400,000 / 800,000
Ante
800,000
Players Info - Day 5
Entries
6
Players Left
1

Final Table Player Profile Seat 2: Niclas Thumm

Niclas Thumm
Niclas Thumm

For his whole PSPC run so far, 29-year-old Niclas Thumm has had the entire Twitch poker community–particularly those in Germany–rooting for him. That’s because they’re responsible for him being here in the first place.

Thumm, who works in accounting but goes by “Flushiisback” on PokerStars and Twitch, is a streamer who entered the PokerStars Dare2Stream competition at the end of 2021. He didn’t win it, but he did receive the community award after a community vote, the prize of which was a Platinum Pass.

According to Felix “xflixx” Schneiders–the man who handed Thumm his Pass at a Road to PSPC event in Liechtenstein–Thumm has done nothing but study for the past month, and it’s showing. He may only play an average buy-in of $12 online, but he’s certainly known what to do throughout this $25K.

Of his time at the PSPC, Thumm told us: “It’s overwhelming. It’s been an out-of-this-world experience. I don’t think it can get any better.”

But it can. He’s still in. And now he’s on the final table battling for more than $4 million.

Tags: Niclas Thumm

Final Table Player Profile Seat 1: Philipe Pizzari

Philipe Pizzari
Philipe Pizzari

Philipe Pizzari's poker career took off when his “other” career, in finance, took him from his native Sao Paolo, Brazil, to Miami, Florida. That was when he left the online game behind (“I wasn’t very good”) and focused more on live poker.

He now plays regularly at the Seminole Hard Rock and when the WPT stops in Florida. He has lived in Miami for seven years, still working in investment funds, and hanging out with his wife and 2-year-old son. In his spare time, he plays some sports and works out, but is focused on work and family.

He still travels back to Brazil, and plays on the BSOP if dates work out. He also enjoys playing in Las Vegas, particularly the WSOP Main Event.

“Being at this final table is such a dream,” he says of the PSPC. “I already had a very nice deep run at the WSOP Main Event and I thought that, as a recreational player, it would be almost impossible to get a great deep run again. For me this is one of the most important events of the year. It’s a big dream and I’ll try to have fun.”

Tags: Philippe Pizzari

Only Six Players Remain in the Fight for the PokerStars Players Championship

PSPC Trophy
PSPC Trophy

A field of 1,014 players has been whittled down to just six in the fight for the 2023 PokerStars Players No-Limit Hold'em Championship in The Bahamas. All six of the remaining players have locked up at least $1,000,000 and have guaranteed to record their largest career live-poker result in doing so. Leading the way into the fifth and final day of the tournament is Nacho Barbero, who has the most experience of any of those remaining.

Barbero will be returning to the felt with a comfortable lead on his hands after bagging up 19,325,000 chips, good enough for one-third of the chips in play. He will be followed by three average stacks in Aliaksandr Shylko (12,200,000), Philipe Pizzari (11,975,000), and Pedro Marques (10,475,000). Rounding out the rest of the field is Max Menzel (5,025,000) and the short stack of Niclas Thumm (1,800,000).

Menzel and Thumm will have a lot of work to do to rise to the top when all is said and done but they are in line to benefit the most by receiving a Platinum Pass to enter the field. Turning a complete freeroll into a seven-figure payout is only something that most people can dream of and these two players have turned it into reality.

Day 5 Seating Assignments & Chip Counts

SeatNameCountryChipsBig Blinds
1Philipe PizzariBrazil11,975,00048
2Niclas ThummGermany1,800,0007
3Nacho BarberoArgentina19,325,00077
4Max MenzelGermany5,025,00020
5Aliaksandr ShylkoBelarus12,200,00049
6Pedro MarquesPortugal10,475,00042

Although each player has already locked up a seven-figure payday, there is still plenty of money and prestige up for grabs over the next few hours. The pay jumps will become more significant than ever and the first-place prize of $4,053,200 will be life-changing for whoever comes out on top.

The final table was reached last night but in quick succession, Andrei Boghean and Petar Kalev were eliminated in a matter of minutes. With just seven players remaining, only one other player would miss out on the hype of Day 5 at the PSPC. That unfortunate fate would fall on the lap of Thomas Eychenne who was eliminated just as the players were set to head on their final break. Here is a look at the final table results and payouts for the 2023 PSPC:

Final Table Results and Prizes

PlacePlayerCountryPrize (USD)
1st  $4,053,200
2nd  $2,542,300
3rd  $1,911,200
4th  $1,551,300
5th  $1,251,500
6th  $1,001,200
7thThomas EychenneFrance$801,000
8thPetar KalevBulgaria$621,300
9thAndrei BogheanRomania$449,700

The action will get underway at 12:30 p.m. local time with the blinds resuming on Level 31 at 125,000/250,000 and a 250,000 big blind ante. The levels will be 60 minutes in length until just three players are left at which time they will be cut down to just 30 minutes. The PokerNews live updates will continue to be in sync with the PokerStars live stream on a 30-minute delay to protect the integrity of the game.

Keep it tuned in here for all of the latest updates and to find out who will rise to the occasion and take home the 2023 PSPC trophy and over $4 million.

Tags: Aliaksandr ShylkoAndrei BogheanMax MenzelNacho BarberoNiclas ThummPedro MarquesPetar KalevPhilipe PizzariPokerStarsPSPCThomas Eychenne

2023 PokerStars Players No-Limit Hold'em Championship

Day 5 Started