After five days of battle on the green baize at Resorts World Las Vegas, the final table has been determined in the PokerStars North American Poker Tour Las Vegas Main Event. It may appear that it is Thomas Boivin’s tournament to lose, as he has built a massive stack of 12.545 million chips for battle on Wednesday at the NAPT Las Vegas. But lurking in the second-place slot is a skilled tactician in poker, PokerStars Team Pro Jennifer Shahade, who may only have 3.015 million in chips, but has plentiful skills to even the score.
Boivin on a Run
To say that Boivin has been on a bit of a heater would be a colossal understatement. He was the runner-up to Stephen Chidwick in the $50,000 Super High Roller tournament held before the start of the NAPT Las Vegas Main Event, and that run-good has carried over into this week. Boivin would come into Day Five with the chip lead and wouldn’t face a serious challenge from anyone – until the final table – during Tuesday’s action.
Late in the evening, Boivin had watched his stack dwindle to only 1.66 million, putting him in danger of elimination on the short stack. He was able to recover from that, however, by catching a flush against Gal Yifrach to restore the health of his stack. A bit later in the final table, Boivin would flop trip Queens to top Michael Berk and return to the top of the standings.
The best was yet to come for Boivin, however. On what would prove to be the final hand of the night, Boivin would see a raise out of Abdullah Akbarpoor and three-bet the action. Akbarpoor was not backing off his hand, though, as he put in his 3.2 million in remaining chips for action. Akbarpoor had to know what was coming when Boivin nearly beat him to the pot with the call, and the cards went to their backs:
Akbarpoor (hijack): A-K
Boivin (button): pocket Aces
Needing a massive miracle, Akbarpoor instead saw the board run out Jack-high and his tournament end in seventh place. Boivin would bag up Akbarpoor’s stack as part of his 12.545 million and be assured of his chip lead going to action on Wednesday.
Not Nearly as Easy for Shahade
The story was not as easy for Shahade to climb to the final table.
As one of two women to make the final sixteen players (Katie Porrello was the other) at the NAPT Las Vegas, Shahade had her work cut out for her as one of the short stacks with only 545K in chips. While Porrello would unfortunately bust after clashing with Ekrem Bozkurt in an Aces versus Ace-King situation, Shahade grinded her limited stack upward. She consistently garnered the opposition’s respect, who would fold to her actions at the table.
You must win more than the blinds and antes to stay alive in a tournament, and at one point, Shahade was on life support with only 205K in chips. The chess Grandmaster was able to knuckle down and fight back, doubling up through Akbarpoor with a runner-runner flush, and did the feat again against Michael Berk to break the million-chip mark. With a somewhat healthy stack, Shahade continued to battle her way down to the final table, although she was in eighth place and still facing long odds.
Shahade patiently waited for a good moment, and that would come against Matthew Beinner. After a pre-flop raise from Beinner and a call from Shahade, a tasty 9-8-7 flop hit the felt. Beinner checked his option before Shahade pushed all in to put him to the test. Beinner quickly called, but he couldn’t have been satisfied with the results:
Beinner (middle position): K♥ J♥
Shahade (cutoff): K♣ K♠
Shahade was in a decent position, but she had to fade the four tens in the deck or some runner-runner savior for Beinner. A deuce on the turn brought no help for Beinner, and a second deuce on the river ended his hopes at an NAPT title in ninth place as Shahade surged up the leaderboard.
Using a combo of sound cards and great aggression, Shahade continued to climb the leaderboard in picking up smallish pots against her opponents. Those smallish pots would combine into a massive mountain and, by the end of the night, Shahade was sitting with 3.015 million chips and the closest competitor to Boivin for the final day of the tournament on Wednesday.
1. Thomas Boivin, 12.545 million
2. Jennifer Shahade, 3.015 million
3. Ekrem Bozkurt, 2.57 million
4. Gal Yifrach, 2.28 million
5. Michael Berk, 985,000
6. Peter Mugar, 715,000
Will Boivin steamroll the final table on the way to a major championship? Will Shahade continue with her skillful play and timely attacks to upend Boivin? Or will one of the other players emerge as the champion? Wednesday’s final table action in the NAPT Las Vegas Main Event will answer those questions, with the PokerStars Live Stream offering coverage beginning at 1 PM (PST) on YouTube and Twitch.
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