At the start of action featuring the final six players from the North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Las Vegas Main Event, it looked to be Thomas Boivin’s tournament to lose. Boivin held a massive lead over Jennifer Shahade and, if there was a sentimental favorite among the railbirds, it was the chess Grandmaster looking for her first major title. Alas, perfect stories don’t come true most of the time, as a player down the leaderboard, Gal Yifrach, stunned the crowd by outlasting the two chip leaders and winning the 2025 NAPT Las Vegas Main Event.
Long Way to the Top…
Essentially, five of the six players remaining at the final table were facing an uphill climb. Even Shahade, with her 3.015 million in chips, was dwarfed by the four times larger stack of Boivin (12.545 million). For Ekrem Bozkurt (2.57 million), Yifrach (2.28 million), Michael Berk (985K), and Peter Mugar (715K), it seemed to be an exercise in futility even to try to top the chip leader.
But this is why they play the game…
Yifrach surprisingly drew first blood in the final table action, eliminating the short stack of Mugar after flopping an eight for his A-8 and seeing Mugar’s K-3 fail to connect. After Mugar headed to the cage to collect his $132,850 for his sixth-place finish, it would take about an hour for another significant clash, and it would once again feature Yifrach taking on the titan in Boivin.
After checking his cards, Boivin moved all-in – as had been his pattern on this day – trying to bully the table as he had several times previously. This time around, however, Yifrach woke up in the small blind with pocket Jacks and figured it was time to make a stand. After Boivin could only turn up pocket sevens, a Jack on the flop virtually sealed the hand for Yifrach. Once a blank came on the turn, Boivin was drawing dead, and Yifrach vaulted into the challenger’s seat with over four million chips.
An undaunted Boivin continued his aggressive ways, taking out Berk (K-Q) in fifth place after a Jack-high flop kept his A-9 in the lead. Boivin had over fourteen million chips at this point and would only get richer when he took down Bozkurt in fourth place to have 15.53 million in chips, almost three times the combined stacks of Yifrach (4.73 million) and Shahade (1.615 million).
But the battle wasn’t over yet…
Deal or No Deal?
The scheduled break in the action was extended, but the three remaining players took a little longer to discuss a deal. With more than $1.3 million left on the table for the competitors, there was plenty to discuss, but in the end, they could not reach terms that everyone could agree on. Thus, the tournament resumed, and that trio would soon become a duo.
The fates just never ran her way through the six-handed action, but Shahade was battling valiantly for every chip in her stack. She would finally find a worthy hand to commit with, an A♥ Q♥, only to run into Boivin’s pocket Kings and run dry on the Jack-high board. For her efforts, Shahade earned her career-best cash of $291,800 and was roundly applauded for her exploits during the NAPT Las Vegas tournament.
Down nearly 6:1, the thoughts around the NAPT Las Vegas final table rail were that Boivin was only moments away from capturing his first major title. Yifrach, however, had other ideas, as the WSOP bracelet holder found a double with a straight flush that clipped Boivin’s regular flush. Only twenty minutes later, Yifrach was in the lead after looking up Boivin on a board of 6-3-3-10-5 with just a 9-6; Boivin had bluffed him with a 9-4 and sent a massive stack of chips across the felt.
Boivin would not just roll over, however, fighting back to the lead over another twenty minutes of action. After another break and with the stacks almost even again, the twosome agreed to split the remaining prize pool, with each player receiving $518,575 for their efforts. They did leave $24,450 and the PokerStars Golden Spade for the NAPT Las Vegas on the side, however, so there was a bonus for both men to play for.
It would only take approximately thirty minutes to complete the tournament after the deal settled the financials. On the first hand post-deal, Yifrach caught on a nine-high flop with his Q-9 to clip Boivin’s Q-J, and Boivin would never get close again. On the final hand, Boivin opened the betting and Yifrach moved all in to put him to the test. Boivin quickly called, and it was the right move:
Boivin (small blind/button): pocket tens
Yifrach (big blind): A♦ 9♦
The tension only heightened as the flop came 9x 4♦ 3♦, giving Yifrach top pair and a draw to the nut flush, but technically Boivin’s pair of tens was still in the lead. That changed completely when the 5♦ came on the turn, leaving Boivin drawing dead. After the unnecessary formality of a Queen on the river, Gal Yifrach had completed an unlikely comeback to become the champion of the NAPT Las Vegas Main Event.
1. Gal Yifrach, $543,025*
2. Thomas Boivin, $518,575*
3. Jennifer Shahade, $291,800
4. Ekrem Bozkurt, $224,450
5. Michael Berk, $172,650
6. Peter Mugar, $132,850
7. Abdullah Akbarpoor, $102,200**
8. Richard Green, $78,600**
(* – result of two-handed deal)
(** – eliminated on Tuesday night, part of official final table)
Don’t feel too bad for Boivin. Although he came up short with his second-place finish, Boivin will be leaving Las Vegas with over $850K in tournament winnings for his week of work. Boivin also finished in second place to Stephen Chidwick in the $50,000 Super High Roller tournament for $334,700, a run that deserves to be noted.
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