Before the prize money bubble burst, only one former WSOP PPC champion remained in the game.

On Day 3 of the $50,000 WSOP Poker Players Championship, only one former champion remained in the field: Brian Rast. He bounced back from 107,000 chips to nearly 1.2 million, aiming to win his fourth PPC title.

This year’s $50,000 WSOP Poker Players Championship will be won by a first-time winner—unless Brian Rast wins the tournament.

This wasn't a prediction, it was a fact. Rast, a three-time champion, was just one bet away from elimination on Tuesday's third day of the tournament. If he were eliminated, no former champion would remain in the game. None of the other former champions made it into the money.

Day 3 began at 1 p.m. Pacific Time, with only 39 players remaining out of the original 108. Rast, a winner of this event in 2011, 2016, and 2023, started the day with a minimum chip stack of 107,000. In contrast, Kristopher Tong led with 2,428,000 chips. Therefore, winning his fourth Poker Players Championship bracelet will be no easy feat for the Poker Hall of Famer.

Rast doubled up immediately on Day 3 against Phil Hellmuth, but he remained one of the shortest stacks in the early levels. A few hours later, the situation changed.

The Difficult Situation of Poker Players Tournament Champions

The Poker Players Championship began in 2006 as the $50,000 HORSE, with the late, legendary player Chip Reese winning the inaugural title. It was renamed the World Championship HORSE the following year, and since 2010 has been the PPC.

A total of 13 different players have won this event, with defending champion Michael Mizrachi holding the record with four titles. "The Grinder," along with Elior Sion (2017) and Dan "Jungleman" Cates (2022 and 2023), are three former champions who were eliminated in the first day's freeze format.

Daniel Negreanu (2024) lost 80% within ten minutes of the start of Day 1, and although he bounced back, he was eliminated on Day 2. Phil Hui (2019) was also eliminated on Day 2. This made Rast the only former PPC champion still in the game going into Day 3.

As mentioned earlier, Rast started the tournament with almost no chips. But a few hours into the tournament, he began to ramp up his stack, and as of press time, he had increased his chips to nearly 1.2 million, more than ten times what he started with.

This seven-time Poker Hall of Famer, inducted in 2023, is still not guaranteed a prize. But he's in the middle of the remaining 31 players, 17 of whom will win—this tournament is widely considered the world's most important and prestigious mixed-game tournament.

Kristopher Tong, Maxx Coleman, and Benny Glaser consistently ranked high on the chip leaderboard throughout Day 3. Stay tuned for PokerNews' exclusive live coverage until the Poker Players Championship concludes on Thursday.

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