Hand #37: Pavel Veksler raised to 120,000 in the hijack with and Daniel Strelitz defended the big blind with . The flop brought a check by Strelitz and Veksler continued for 100,000, Strelitz called and checked once more on the turn.
Veksler checked behind and they headed to the river. Strelitz bet 450,000 and Veksler folded.
Hand #38: Strelitz limped with and Marc-Andre Ladouceur checked with . The flop came and Strelitz bet 75,000, Ladouceur called. Strelitz then checked the turn and folded to a bet of 125,000.
Hand #39: Ladouceur limped in with and Rheem raised to 260,000 with in the big blind. He forced a fold, as Ladouceur admitted to "fold a big one" and was shown the jack deuce.
After the hand was over, the players were sent into a 20-minute break. They will play one further level before bagging and tagging.
Hand #40: In the first hand after the break, Scott Wellenbach picked up and raised to 200,000 in middle position. Marc-Andre Ladouceur found on the button and shoved all in for 1,985,000. The quick call from Wellenbech followed.
The flop all but decided it, reducing Ladouceurs chances to a runner-runner miracle. The on the turn left Ladouceur drawing dead, making the river a mere formality. Ladouceur walked away with a payday of $146,840 for finishing in eighth place.
Hand #41: Vicent Bosca limped first to act with the and Chino Rheem did so from the button with , as did Brian Altman in the small blind with . Pavel Veksler checked the big blind with and the four-way flop brought and it was Rheem that bet 225,000. Veksler check-shoved for 1,070,000 and two quick folds followed.
Hand #42: Altman raised it up with the and Veksler jammed the small blind with to claim the pot without any further resistance.
Hand #43: Rheem opened to 175,000 in the hijack with and Bosca three-bet shoved the big blind with , once again the initial raiser quickly sent his cards into the muck.
Hand #44: Vicent Bosca limped the button with and Mihai Manole in the big blind checked his option with . The flop came and Manole checked his gutshot and flush draw. Bosca bet 90,000 and Manole check-raised to 240,000. Bosca gave it some thought and called to see the on the turn.
Manole only had 475,000 behind and moved all in, Bosca called. After grinding a short stack for quite some time, Manole was at risk with plenty of outs, but the river ended his run in 7th place.
The remaining six players have bagged and tagged for the night and will return at 1 p.m. local time the following day in order to play down to a champion. A recap of today's action is to follow.
The $10,300 Main Event of the 2019 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure is one step closer to crowning a champion at the Atlantis Resort & Casino, as just six players out of a 865-entry strong field remain in contention at the end of Day 4.
The penultimate tournament day was all about the David "Chino" Rheem show, who soared to the top of the leaderboard and remained there until all six finalists bagged their chips. Rheem will enter the final day with 7,550,000, followed by Canadian online qualifier Scott Wellenbach (6,015,000) and accomplished poker pro Brian Altman (4,995,000).
Vicent Bosca may become the second Spaniard to win a major event at the festival in the Imperial Ballroom after the triumph of Ramon Colillas in the $25,000 PokerStars NL Hold'em Players Championship. Daniel Strelitz (2,355,000) and Pavel Veksler (2,035,000) also have plenty of room to maneuver with 29 and 25 big blinds respectively.
All remaining finalists have $297,020 locked up, but all eyes are set on the trophy, payday of $1,567,100 and the bragging rights that come along with it.
2019 PCA Main Event Final Table
Seat
Name
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Scott Wellenbach
Canada
6,015,000
75
2
Daniel Strelitz
United States
2,355,000
29
3
Chino Rheem
United States
7,550,000
94
4
Brian Altman
United States
4,995,000
62
5
Pavel Veksler
Ukraine
2,035,000
25
6
Vicent Bosca
Spain
2,875,000
36
Action of the day
The day started with 20 hopefuls remaining and early play was rather cautious with several short stacks doubling up. Rajesh Vohra and former November Niner Bob Bounahra were the first to fall, followed by Danny Tang and Enrico Camosci. This set up the final two tables and Wellenbach, who had qualified for this event in a $500 satellite, was second in chips behind Matthias Eibinger after doubling through start-of-day chip leader Tommy Nguyen.
Joao Simao was eliminated by Christoph Vogelsang and Matt Berkey bowed out next. They were joined on the rail by Eibinger, who suddenly went from hero to zero and out in 14th place. Within three big hands, Rheem had taken all chips off Eibinger and established a commanding lead. First, he rivered the nut straight and got paid off, then scored a massive double when turning a full house against the flopped trips of the Austrian. Eventually, Rheem finished the job with seven-six suited versus pocket queens, as his flopped middle pair and flush draw went runner-runner straight to oust Eibinger.
Nguyen and Ami Barer became the next two casualties and Rheem then sent Christoph Vogelsang to the rail in 12th place. Over on the outer tables, the jovial Rheem had said he wanted to "win just one hand against the best" and sure did so on the feature table soon after. Down to 12 big blinds, Vogelsang three-bet shoved with king-jack and Rheem called with ace-five to hold up on a ten-high board.
Jeff Hakim missed out on the unofficial final table after failing to improve with king-trey suited against the ace-queen of Pavel Veksler and the remaining nine players combined to one table with Rheem at the top of the counts. It didn't take long for him to further cement the lead, but Scott Wellenbach closed the gap only for Rheem to pull further away when his ace-nine suited rivered a straight against the pocket tens of Simon Deadman to reduce the field to eight.
As many players headed into the dinner break and the penultimate level of the day brought no elimination either. In the final level of the night, Marc-Andre Ladouceur ran with pocket tens into pocket kings and a few minutes later the final six were set when Mihai Manole ended up second-best with king-ten suited against the queen-jack of Vicent Bosca.
Not only did Rheem bag the lead for the final day, but he also ensured a very jovial table chat from everyone with lots of banter and a very friendly atmosphere. Whether or not that will still be the case with a seven-figure payday is on the line remains to be seen.
All remaining six players will return to the feature table on Wednesday, January 16, 2019, as of 1 p.m. local time and there are just under 74 minutes left at blinds of 40,000/80,000 with an 80,000 big blind ante. The PokerNews team will provide hand-for-hand coverage until a winner is crowned.