Ben Lamb raised second to act and Jon Kyte defended his big blind out of his short stack.
On the J♥9♠5♠ flop, Kyte check-raised Lamb's bet, and then called for his tournament life after Lamb's reraise.
Jon Kyte: 9♣8♦
Ben Lamb: A♠7♣
Kyte was ahead with a pair although Lamb picked up plenty of equity on the 6♠ turn. Luckily for Kyte, the 9♦ river gave him trips to secure the double up.
Action was heads-up to the 7♦6♥K♥ flop, where Christian Roberts checked in the small blind. Ali Eslami followed with a check on the button, and the J♦ turn was revealed.
Roberts led out with a bet, calling after Eslami raised. Roberts then checked the 2♦ river, making another call after Eslami fired again.
Eslami tabled A♠A♥, taking down the pot as Roberts mucked.
After an arduous four-hour bubble that lasted late into the night at Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas, the final 17 contenders in Event #66: $50,000 Poker Players Championship emerged to bag up in the money.
As play resumes at 3 p.m. local time at the 2025 World Series of Poker, players will aim for a spot on the final table while chasing the prestigious Chip Reese Memorial Trophy. Leading the way is Andrew Yeh (7,935,000), coming off a runner-up finish earlier in the series. Yeh holds a sizeable chip advantage over Albert Daher (5,150,000), who sits second entering Day 4 action.
Sitting comfortably in third spot is three-time event champion Michael Mizrachi, who carries 3,565,000 chips into play. Mizrachi is in a promising position, searching for an unprecedented fourth PPC title.
Day 4 Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
Big Bets
1
Andrew Yeh
United States
7,935,000
317
79
2
Albert Daher
Lebanon
5,150,000
206
52
3
Michael Mizrachi
United States
3,565,000
143
36
4
Ben Lamb
United States
2,325,000
93
23
5
Esther Taylor
United States
2,010,000
80
20
6
Christian Roberts
Venezuela
1,745,000
70
17
7
Marco Johnson
United States
1,605,000
64
16
8
Mike Matusow
United States
1,545,000
62
15
9
Erick Lindgren
United States
1,500,000
60
15
10
Justin Liberto
United States
895,000
36
9
Ben Lamb
Rounding out the top five on the leaderboard are Ben Lamb (2,325,000) and Esther Taylor (2,010,000), who are the only other players sitting with at least 20 big bets. Taylor is also the lone woman to enter the event, and has now stated her goal of earning a place at the final table.
Other notable names still in contention are Christian Roberts (1,745,000), Marco Johnson (1,605,000), Mike Matusow (1,545,000), and Erick Lindgren (1,500,000).
WSOP bracelet winners Bryn Kenney (890,000), Joao Vieira (775,000), and Christopher Vitch (750,000) will also return to the felt with a shot at PPC glory.
Bryn Kenney
Payouts
Place
Prize
Place
Prize
1
$1,331,322
7
$175,096
2
$887,542
8-9
$142,720
3
$595,136
10-11
$121,573
4
$413,740
12-14
$108,445
5
$298,614
15-16
$101,526
6
$224,077
17
$100,000
The remaining 17 players have all locked up at least $100,000, with Saturday's eventual champion earning $1,331,322. Action resumes with 42 minutes remaining in Level 18. No-limit and pot-limit blinds will be 10,000/25,000, with limits at 50,000/100,000. Play will be streamed on PokerGO at 4 p.m. local time, with coverage continuing late into the night.
Once the final table is reached, there will be a pause in live updates here. They will continue on delay, in sync with the PokerGO stream, in order to avoid spoilers.
Don't miss any of this exciting event, as the PokerNews live reporting team will be back inside the ropes to provide complete coverage from the Horseshoe Event Center in Las Vegas.
