Pires plays poker for fun, with his work life split between business and politics. This year's PCA is not his first appearance at EPTs; he has also competed in European Poker Tour events on European soil, playing in both Malta and Monaco. Outside of poker and work, his other passions are football, surfing and the traditional volleyball-style Brazilian sport of Peteca.
Although some distance behind, Pires's nearest rival at present is English player Philip "Grindation" McAllister who goes in to Day 4 with 1,329,000. The 22-year-old's online nickname "Grindation" will ring a bell with online players thanks to his achievements in the 2014 PokerStars SCOOP. McAllister banked his two biggest cashes during the series, finishing second in Event #1-H for $232,960 and besting that a few days later with a fifth place finish in Event #44-H for $350,838. He also had a runner-up finish in the Sunday Million back in August 2012 and was fourth in last year's WCOOP Super Tuesday. In live poker, McAllister has amassed $180k in winnings including third place in the EPT11 Prague €2k event for €56,710.
Among 73 players returning for Day 4 will be Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier and Friend of PokerStars Felipe "Mojave" Ramos. The former has 704,000 while the latter bagged 135,000.
Along with Mercier, another two EPT champions remain in contention for the PCA 2016 Main Event title - EPT Berlin winner Davidi Kitai (389,000) and EPT Vilamoura champ Toby Lewis (134,000).
The bubble burst today with the elimination of LAPT Bahamas third place finisher Knut Karnapp, who was ousted in 104th place. Among those who cashed (but bust later in the day) were PCA 2016 $100k Super High Roller champ Steve O'Dwyer (89th), JC Alvarado (91st), Kevin MacPhee (99th), Allen Kessler (107th), Chris Oliver (125th) and Georgios Zisimopoulos (135th).
The flagship PCA Main Event attracted 928 entries overall (including five no-shows) creating a $4,500,800 prize pool. The top 135 players will get paid and the last man standing is set to take $833,260, along with the title and coveted trophy.
PCA 2016 Main Event Day 3 top five chip counts:
1st - Leonardo Pires, Brazil, 2,095,000
2nd - Phillip McAllister, UK, PokerStars player, 1,329,000
3rd - Matthew Waxman, USA, 949,000
4th - David Eldridge, USA, 859,000
5th - Paul-Francois Tedeschi, France, 834,000
Source: EPT press
