$30,000 Platinum Pass Awarded to Thai Ha in Blind Hand
Five PokerStars Players No Limit Hold'em Championship (PSPC) Platinum Passes will be awarded throughout the 2018 PCA, including ones given to the eventual Main Event champion as well as Maria Konnikova, who was the PCA National champ.
In addition, all Main Event Day 2 participants had the chance today to win their own $30,000 Platinum Pass, which includes a $25,000 buy-in to the inaugural 2019 PSPC along with accommodation and expenses. Just before the start of Day 2, a single Main Event table was chosen at random. That table then played out a single hand of poker with the winner being awarded a Platinum Pass.
Table 34 was the table selected, and both players and media surrounded the table to observe the action. With Joe Stapleton on the mic, he instructed the dealer to deal cards facedown to all seven players. Actually, there were only six seat as Thai Ha had yet to take his seat. He was given a live hand nonetheless.
The dealer then put out the 
flop and then each player flipped one cards.
| Seat 1 | Jahangir Nazemian | United States |   |
| Seat 2 | Mike Leah | Canada |  |
| Seat 3 | Jonathan West | United States |  |
| Seat 4 | Thai Ha | United States |  |
| Seat 5 | Mei Siu | United States |  |
| Seat 6 | Pavel Ignatov | Russia |  |
| Seat 7 | Joseph Drory | United States |  |
Poker pro Mike Leah was ahead with his pair of tens, but there were a lot of "ooohs and aaahs" when Ignatov revealed the for a straight flush draw.
The dealer then burned and turned the 
.
Nazemian was the only player that was willing to show his other card, which was the 
.
The dealer then completed the board with the 
on the river, which meant Nazemian was officially out of the running. Leah was next to reveal and tabled the 
, which failed to improve on his pair of tens. West was out after showing the 
, and the it was on the still missing Ha.
He needed an eight and an eight only to take the lead, and the dealer tabled his other card — the 
!
The spectators erupted in disbelief as the remaining players tabled their hands.
| Seat 1 | Jahangir Nazemian | United States | |
| Seat 2 | Mike Leah | Canada | |
| Seat 3 | Jonathan West | United States | |
| Seat 4 | Thai Ha | United States | |
| Seat 5 | Mei Siu | United States |  |
| Seat 6 | Pavel Ignatov | Russia |  |
| Seat 7 | Joseph Drory | United States |  |
No one managed to overcome the trips of Ha, who at that very moment arrived at the table to discover he had just won a coveted $30,000 Platinum Pass.
Main Event players will have another opportunity to win a Platinum Pass when the tournament reaches the money. At that point, all remaining players will be dealt a single hand of poker. The winner from each table will be entered into a Phase II draw at the end of the event, which will award one pass.
I won a Platinum Pass ###### wow unreal https://t.co/UjXvnRWOun
— Thai Ha (@hathaipoker)
Was awesome until it was torturous # https://t.co/c8qxm4NkOt
— Mike Leah (@GoLeafsGoEh)
