With 19 players left within the 2016 PCA Main Event, finding the chip leader was made all of the easier by the truth that it's the exact same man it's been for the past three days. Leonardo Pires has not backed off the gas once in 72 hours, and his efforts have ended in a chip stack worth greater than 4.5 million. Thats 187 big blinds.

Leonardo Pires

In Brazil, finding a Pires is like finding a McDonalds. They're everywhere. Between the Portuguese Pireses and Brazilian Pireses, there are nearly 50 of them famous enough to have their very own Wikipedia page. Leonardo Pires aims to extend that number by one.

The wild and crazy Brazilian finished Day 2 with the chip lead. Then he finished Day 3 with the chip lead. On Day 4, he did it again along with his friend poker ally Marcelo railing him for many of the day. Marcelo told us just a little concerning the man of the moment.

Pires hails from town of Belo Horizonte - the sixth largest in Brazil - and is a typical Omaha cash game player. However, after winning a casino tournament in Uruguay for $50,000 last month, he has decided to present poker tournaments a shot.

It has clearly been a fair decision. The person who goes by the nickname 'Leo Burguês' (meaning a person of high class and wealth), is storming his way through this Main Event.

It's tempting to maintain our focus keenly on Brazilian, however it could be a mistake not to keep tabs at the smiling face of Phillip McAllister. After a gentle rise throughout the field during the last couple of days, McAllister stuck his talons within the top of the leaderboard on Monday afternoon.

His runner-runner royal flush at the feature table (examine at it 6:45pm here) will go down as some of the PCA's legendary hands, and it helped McAllister land within the top five.

Phillip McAllister, all smiles

These two men spent the tip of the day seated next to one another. In the event that they were the one show, it would've been enough. But just take a look at this remaining field. Take a look at it and picture what may well be. Fabian Ortiz made the overall table a few years ago and has two LAPT titles to his name. Tony Gregg already has two PCA Main Event final tables and a really perfect High High Roller final on his resume. That does not even start to consider the likes of powerhouses Stephen Chidwick, Toby Lewis, Mike Watson, and...oh just see for yourself. This might be a very good one.

Leonardo Pires (Brazil) 4560000Randy Kritzer (USA) 2385000Fabian Ortiz (Argentina) 2309000Timothy Ulmer (USA) 2200000Phillip McAllister (UK) 2152000David Eldridge (USA) 2100000Stephen Chidwick (UK) 1728000Toby Lewis (UK) 1396000Vasken Demlakian (Australia) 1394000Matthew Waxman (USA) 1228000Tony Gregg (USA) 1089000Martin McCormick (UK) 1007000Mike Watson (Canada) 952000Paul Gooley (Australia) 705000Ami Barer (Canada) 679000Vladimir Troyanovskiy (Russia) 612000Fabian Chauriye (Chile) 513000Fedor Holz (Germany) 453000Taylor Paur (USA) 404000

Fabian Ortiz

Stretch it out, Stevie

Toby Lewis

The day was not without its casualties.

There are lots of people you might want to call Mr. PCA--Tony Gregg involves mind--but Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier is operating his way into the running. When he busted in 20th place tonight, he recorded his third consecutive (and highest) in-the-money finish within the PCA Main Event.

He might need made all of it the right way to the general table but for running kings into aces midway through Day 4. He picked up $32,360 for the finish (which, if he wanted, can be good enough to shop for in to the continuing $25,000 High Roller happening now).

Mercier was among several well-known pros to move bust on Day 4. When the day began, there have been 73 people still within the running. Among folks that made tracks for the cage were Jason Koon, John Racener, Jonathan Jaffe, Felipe Ramos, Ilkin Amirov, Shawn Buchanan, and Davidi Kitai. To look the entire list of money-winners from the day, see our 2016 PCA Main Event winners page.

Felipe Ramos

Jason Koon

If you are still in search of more action tonight, we'll have live updates of the $25,000 High Roller going for an additional several hours.

Or, in case you are able to log out and get some sleep, join us back here tomorrow because the Main Event plays all the way down to its final table.

See you then!

Ready to enroll in PokerStars? Click here to get an account. Brad Willis is the PokerStars Head of Blogging.

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