There are only 38 players left to pursue the $5.1 million first-place prize of the $25,000 PokerStars NL Hold’em Championship.

Day 3 of the record-setting tournament started with 207 players of which only 181 would make the money. By the end of the day, New York tournament pro Scott Baumstein flew into the chip lead with 4.24 million in chips, followed closely by Yiannis Liperis (4.21 million).

However, before the stacks could reach such heights, there was a money bubble that needed popping. As one might expect in a tournament where there were over 300 players who gifted their $25K entry, plenty of players were hanging tough to pick up the $25,450 min-cash. With four players left to the actual bubble, the remaining 185 players went hand for hand.

It took roughly an hour, plus a 20-minute break in the middle, but eventually, Team Ireland’s Paul Leckey ran pocket kings into Tianle Wang’s pocket aces. Leckey didn’t go home empty-handed though, as the official bubble boy received an EPT package worth over $11,000.

After that, the bustouts were fast and furious, with the next pay ladder happening faster than tournament officials could break and rebalance tables.

At the conclusion of Day 3, only Baumstein and Liperis have eclipsed the 4 million chip mark, but there’s plenty of top-flight competition left in the field. France’s Julien Martini (3,250,000), Canada’s Louis Boutin (3,040,000) and Platinum Pass winner Ramon Colillas (2,895,000) from Spain complete the top 5 chip leaders.

Other notables still left in the field include Mikita Badziakouski (1,910,000), Dan O’Brien (1,765,000), Griffin Benger (1,560,000), Day 1 chip leader Talal Shakerchi (1,330,000), Brazil’s Pedro Padilha (1,315,000), Kristen Bicknell (1,115,000), Tony Gregg (905,000), Platinum Pass winner Jackie Burkhart (660,000) and Day 2 chipleader Farid Jattin (640,000).

By the end of the day, 143 players found their way to the cashier to pick up their earnings. Including Felix Schneiders ($69,100), Max and Sam Greenwood ($69,100), Mustapha Kanit ($56,800), Christoph Vogelsang ($56,800), Ryan Reiss ($56,800), former PocketFives #1-ranked Bryan Piccioli ($56,800), Blair Hinkle ($56,800), Athanasios Polychronopoulos ($45,700), Victor Ramdin ($45,700), Benjamin Pollak ($45,700), Dan Shak ($45,700), Brandon Adams ($39,500), Darren Elias ($39,500), Christian Harder ($39,500), Dylan Linde ($39,500) and Matt Affleck ($35,000).

Three of the winners of the $86 Moneymaker PSPC Tour made the money, however, all three failed to bag at the end of the day. Clifford Ellefson ($39,500), Anthony Maio ($35,000) and Ori Kossonogi ($35,000) all found a way to turn their Platinum Passes into five-figure scores.

Additionally, there were plenty of big name pros who made the money but were unable to ladder up. Parker Talbot, Sam Grafton, JC Alvarado, Frank Kassel, and Sean Winter were just a few of the roughly 30 players to settle for the min-cash of $25,450.

Play in the PSPC resumes when 38 players will play down to the final table at noon ET.