The PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Las Vegas was a stop for the ages, bringing the poker world back to town for an 11-day festival with more than a handful of headlines.
The tournament room at Resorts World Las Vegas was the center of attention spanning two weekends, culminating with UK pro Nick Marchington claiming the NAPT $5,300 Main Event title and the $765,200 top prize.
So much more took place across the 36-tournament schedule, though, including three official Cardplayer Lifestyle-branded Mixed Game events and several other noteworthy tournaments.
Nick Marchington Wins NAPT Main Event, Sam Soverel Snags High Roller Title
NAPT Las Vegas 2024 had an 895-entry field for its $5,300 Main Event, creating a prize pool exceeding $4.3 million. The field combined after three starting flights, and the bubble burst at the end of Day 2 with 77 players remaining.
Marchington was in the top 20 in chips through Day 2, which ended with Japanese poker star and YouTuber Masato Yokosawa leading the pack. Both players remained in contention among the 18 to bag after Day 3, but neither were among the top chip stacks.
Day 4 brought casualties of a star-studded player list that included Day 3 chip leader Victor Paredes, PokerStars Ambassador Maria Konnikova, David “ODB” Baker, Jared Jaffee, Mike Vaneer, Yang Li, Matt Affleck and Brock Wilson.
Ultimately, Marchington claimed the chip lead among the final six – which had even more stars (listed below) to survive Day 4 and never relinquished it on Day 5 to win the title.
NAPT Main Event Final Day Results:
- Nick Marchington – $765,200
- Joel Micka – $478,450
- Jeff Madsen – $341,750
- Marco Johnson – $260,900
- Curt Kohlberg – $202,250
- Masato Yokosawa – $155,550
A few hours earlier on Sunday, Sam Soverel topped another field of superstars in the $10,300 NAPT High Roller. The three-day event drew 170 entries and had more than $1.3 million up for grabs, spread across the top 23 finishers.
Like Marchington, Soverel entered the final day with a commanding chip lead. Soverel had more obstacles to overcome, both in terms of adversity and the number of opponents to get through. Ultimately, he came out on top of a world-class final table and earned more than $385K for his performance.
NAPT High Roller Final Table Results:
- Sam Soverel – $385,750
- Nicholas Seward – $241,100
- Barry Woods – $172,200
- David Coleman – $132,450
- Valentyn Shabelnyk – $101,900
- Adem Adler – $78,400
- Danny Wong – $63,700
- Brian Altman – $53,100
- Ryan Hohner – $44,250
Official Cardplayer Lifestyle Events Were A Triumph
The fusion of PokerStars and Cardplayer Lifestyle took shape in the form of three official events on the NAPT schedule. These events included a $550 H.E.R.O.S. event on Thursday, a $5,300 8-Game event on Friday and a $550 8-Game event on Saturday.
Congratulations to @DavidProciakPok, winner of the @PokerLifeMedia $550 NAPT HEROS event!
David takes home $10,102 and the @PokerStarsUSA Spadie after a three-way ICM chop. 💰 pic.twitter.com/Rp8Xf7X6IQ
— Robbie Strazynski (@cardplayerlife) November 8, 2024
All three events were huge successes. Three-time mixed game WSOP bracelet winner David Prociak topped the 108-entry field in the H.E.R.O.S. event and collected a five-figure payday of $10,100 via a three-way chop with Steven Girouard ($9,550) and Michael Lang ($8,880). The top 15 players made the money and included other notables like Allyn Shulman (10th – $1,260), Ari Engel (9th – $1,510) and Allen Kessler (8th – $1,820).
Friday’s $5,300 8-Game drew an impressive 39 entries, creating almost $200K in the prize pool. Maxx Coleman came out on top and earned $53,300, defeating Chino Rheem ($46,600) heads up for the title. Minh Ly (3rd – $37,250), Michael Martinelli (4th – $21,750), Richard Bai (5th – $17,000), and Alan Richardson (6th – $13,250) also finished in the money.
The lower-stakes version of 8-Game came on Saturday and got a round 100 entries. France’s Sami Bechahad was the last man standing and earned $12,800 for his victory.
Congratulations to @SoWIZZSami on winning the @PokerLifeMedia $550 8-game mix at @PokerStarsUSA NAPT Las Vegas! 🎉
Sami takes home $12,800 for his efforts, emerging victorious atop a 100-player field. 💰 pic.twitter.com/w2Npg27QWn
— Robbie Strazynski (@cardplayerlife) November 10, 2024
Three Pros Snag Early Titles In The Festival
The 2024 NAPT Las Vegas festival kicked off with a $550 Mystery Bounty event that drew 1,201 entries over five starting flights between Friday afternoon and Sunday morning. The prize pool exceeded $576,000, nearly doubling the $300K guarantee.
Croatian pro Gregor Sverko outlasted the field, which had 179 players return for the event’s final day. After a grueling heads-up battle against the UK’s Daniel Samson, Sverko claimed $66,300 for his victory – the $46,800 first-place prize and another $19,500 in bounties.
After the weekend’s activities closed, Monday’s action began with another pair of noteworthy events. The RunGood Open ($1,100 buy-in) had two starting flights in the morning and the evening, bookending the afternoon’s $25K NAPT Super High Roller. Both events had players bag chips and return on Tuesday.
The RunGood Open drew 306 entries in the morning and added 174 to that tally in the evening turbo flight, with a combined 72 players advancing to Day 2. Illinois pro Richard Bai and another American, Camilo Bencosme, chopped heads up for $68,530 and $65,757, respectively, outlasting a final table that included other notables like Fabian Gumz (4th – $31,260) and Ben Ludlow (5th – $23,960).
Meanwhile, registration remained open in the Super High Roller until the start of play on Day 2. Sixty entries were recorded by the time cards began to fly, due to pay the top eight players.
Ultimately, four Americans remained in contention for the title after a full day of play. Stephen Song led the pack with over half the chips in play and continued to dominate the field on Wednesday’s Day 3 to earn $439,400 and the NAPT trophy. Song eliminated all three of his final opponents on Day 3 – Sean Winter (2nd – $288,100), Edward Sebesta (3rd – $208,900) and James Collopy (4th – $158,500).
Other Noteworthy Event Results
- Sheila Stimson defeated Christina Gollins heads up in the 182-entry $330 Women’s Event, outlasting a 182-entry field to take home $11,380. One of PokerStars’s two newest ambassadors, Caitlin Comeskey, finished in fifth place ($3,000).
- Loyal Sprague took down Event #27: $550 Seniors, besting a field of 167 to earn $18,760.
- Ryan Hughes defeated Justin Lapka in the two-day Event #4: $1,100 PLO to earn $26,120. The tournament drew 102 entries.
- Will Failla won the single-day Event #6: $360 NLH for $7,130, outlasting a field of 89 entries.
- Event #14 ($5,300 PLO) drew 16 players and paid the top three. Wagner Wysotchanski bested the field to earn $38,800, good for half the prize pool, while Jordan Glazer (2nd – $23,300) and British star Talal Shakerchi (3rd – $15,500) split the other half.
- Alexandro Francosic Tricario outlasted 214 entries in Event #22: $2,200 Deep Stack to earn $86,800.
- Guan Huang topped a 112-entry field in Event #30: $1,100 NLH to win $27,580.
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