Gary Benson raised from the cutoff and Daniel Negreanu called from the big blind.
The flop came down and Negreanu check-called 15,000 from Benson to see the turn. Negreanu check-called another 37,000 from Benson, landing the river to the board.
Negreanu checked for a third time and Benson bet 91,000.
"It's a tough one," said Negreanu, leaning back in his chair. "I don't think I can throw it away."
Negreanu called after a few moments, but mucked when Benson tabled for quads.
After a raise and a call preflop, Ralph Perry faced off against Stephen Chidwick on a board of . Chidwick checked over to Perry who bet 20,000 and Chidwick called.
The turn was the and Chidwick decided to lead for 25,000. Perry called.
On the river, Chidwick checked. Perry put out a bet of 40,000 and after thinking for about a minute, Chidwick called. Perry turned up and Chidwick mucked his hand, allowing Perry to take in the pot.
Welcome to Day 3 coverage of the $50,000 Poker Players Championship.
The starting field of 100 players is down to just 44, with each looking to capture the first-place prize of $1,395,767, the World Series of Poker bracelet, and the prestige of winning one of the premier events in the poker world.
Aaron Katz is in pole position to begin the day, leading the field with 1,642,000. Katz was second in chips entering Day 2 and rode a rush in the middle of the day to cross the million-chip mark. He continued to add to his stack in the final level on Monday, en route to his bagging the chip lead. Rounding out the five chip counts are Talal Shakerchi (1,480,500), two-time PPC champion Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi (1,087,000), Elior Sion (1,033,500), and Andrey Zaichenko (962,000).
A plethora of big names remain, and it would do a disservice to only list a few of them. Below find the complete Day 3 table and seat draw — scroll down and see the many notables still in the hunt:
Room
Table
Seat
Player
Country
Chip Count
Amazon
17
1
Joseph Couden
United States
515,000
Amazon
17
2
Aaron Katz
United States
1,642,000
Amazon
17
3
David Oppenheim
United States
232,500
Amazon
17
4
Mike Sexton
United States
287,000
Amazon
17
5
Johannes Becker
Germany
293,000
Amazon
17
6
David Bach
United States
735,000
Amazon
18
1
Scott Seiver
United States
369,500
Amazon
18
2
Alex Kostritsyn
Russia
284,000
Amazon
18
3
Robert Mizrachi
United States
397,500
Amazon
18
4
Tommy Hang
United States
580,000
Amazon
18
5
David Steicke
Hong Kong
656,500
Amazon
18
6
Ivo Donev
Austria
460,000
Amazon
19
1
Brett Richey
United States
683,500
Amazon
19
2
Phil Hui
United States
537,000
Amazon
19
3
Mike Matusow
United States
673,500
Amazon
19
4
Phil Galfond
United States
719,500
Amazon
19
5
Marco Johnson
United States
281,000
Amazon
19
6
Isaac Haxton
United States
730,000
Amazon
20
1
Jason Mercier
United States
592,000
Amazon
20
2
Michael Mizrachi
United States
1,087,000
Amazon
20
3
Josh Arieh
United States
592,000
Amazon
20
4
Matthew Ashton
United Kingdom
910,500
Amazon
20
5
Daniel Alaei
United States
373,500
Amazon
20
6
Mark Gregorich
United States
382,500
Amazon
21
1
Ian Johns
United States
339,000
Amazon
21
2
Felipe Ramos
Brazil
263,500
Amazon
21
3
Mike Wattel
United States
473,000
Amazon
21
4
Stephen Chidwick
United Kingdom
232,000
Amazon
21
6
Ralph Perry
United States
560,000
Amazon
22
1
Justin Bonomo
United States
127,000
Amazon
22
2
Jake Abdalla
United States
731,500
Amazon
22
3
James Obst
Australia
649,500
Amazon
22
4
Elior Sion
United Kingdom
1,033,500
Amazon
22
5
Anthony Zinno
United States
863,500
Amazon
23
2
Bryn Kenney
United States
171,000
Amazon
23
3
Eugene Katchalov
Ukraine
94,500
Amazon
23
4
Cary Katz
United States
446,000
Amazon
23
5
Shaun Deeb
United States
541,000
Amazon
23
6
David "ODB" Baker
United States
121,500
Amazon
24
1
Talal Shakerchi
United Kingdom
1,480,500
Amazon
24
3
Daniel Negreanu
Canada
678,000
Amazon
24
4
Andrey Zaichenko
Russia
962,000
Amazon
24
5
Gary Benson
Australia
882,000
Amazon
24
6
Paul Volpe
United States
292,000
Only 15 players will cash, and Day 3 should end right around that 15-player mark. Six 100-level minutes will be played and the action will resume with limits of 12,000/24,000 in limit games and blinds of 3,000/6,000 in big-bet games.
Keep it here at PokerNews for live updates on all of the action as the Poker Players Championship approaches the money bubble!