In a heads-up pot on a board of Q♥8♠Q♠, Daniel Samson checked from the big blind and Alexandro Tricarico bet 450,000 from the cutoff. Samson check-raised to around 1,000,000 and Tricarico called.
Samson then moved all in for around 6,500,000 on the 4♦ river and Tricarico went into the tank. "I'm not nit-rolling, I don't think I'm going to fold," he said before calling with slightly less.
Alexandro Tricarico: Q♣J♣
Daniel Samson: A♦Q♦
Tricarico was out-kicked with his trips and hit the rail in fifth place as the 10♣ bricked off on the river.
Shyamsundar Challa raised to 600,000 under the gun and Gregor Sverko moved all in for 2,575,000 on the button. Daniel Samson reshoved in the small blind and Challa got out of the way.
Gregor Sverko: K♣10♣
Daniel Samson: A♣Q♣
Samson hit top pair on the Q♥J♣6♦ flop, while Sverko picked up a straight draw. The Q♠ turn took away some of Sverko's outs, but he caught the 9♠ on the river to make his straight and double up.
"Unbelievable. He couldn't even catch the ace," Samson said as he handed over the pot.
Gregor Sverko raised to 600,000 on the button and Chanelle Morimatsu called in the big blind.
The flop came J♥8♦7♠ and Sverko bet 425,000. Morimatsu called and the 8♣ turn was checked through.
Morimatsu led out for 1,300,000 on the 6♠ river and Sverko moved all in. Morimatsu called with K♣8♠ for trip eights, but Sverko showed J♣J♠ for a full house.
The stacks were counted down and Sverko had 5,625,000 remaining. Morimatsu was covered by just 100,000 and was sent to the rail in fourth place.
Shyamsundar Challa limped in from the small blind and Gregor Sverko raised to 1,200,000. Challa then moved all in for 8,500,000 and Sverko called.
Shyamsundar Challa: A♣6♥
Gregor Sverko: A♠10♠
Challa was dominated heading to the flop, which came A♦10♦4♦ to give Sverko top two pair. Challa was already drawing dead after the K♠ turn, while the 7♣ fell on the river to seal his elimination in third place.
Daniel Samson limped in on the button and Gregor Sverko raised to 1,600,000. Samson limp-jammed a stack of around 16,000,000 and Sverko called after getting a count.
Daniel Samson: A♠7♥
Gregor Sverko: A♦J♣
"Watch a seven come," Samson said. They were famous last words as the flop landed A♣J♦J♥ to have him drawing dead as Samson flopped a full house.
The board then finished out 3♣K♦ and the dealer confirmed that Sverko had him covered.
Two key moments at the final table of the PokerStars North American Poker Tour Las Vegas $550 Mystery Bounty were all it took for Gregor Sverko to start off his festival with a bang.
Sverko was all in for 2,575,000 against Daniel Samson and a card away from elimination as Samson turned trips, but Sverko caught a miracle straight on the river to double up. Then, in what proved to be his shining moment, Sverko flopped a full house to put an end to Samson and earn the trophy and $46,800 first prize.
NAPT $550 Mystery Bounty final table results
Place
Player
Country
Prize
Bounties
Total Earnings
1
Gregor Sverko
Croatia
$46,800
$19,500
$66,300
2
Daniel Samson
United Kingdom
$28,800
$8,500
$37,300
3
Shyamsundar Challa
United States
$20,530
$5,000
$25,530
4
Chanelle Morimatsu
United States
$15,800
$2,000
$17,800
5
Alexandro Tricarico
Belgium
$12,180
$3,000
$15,180
6
Chris Johnston
United States
$9,420
$2,000
$11,420
7
Victor Paredes
United States
$7,280
$4,000
$11,280
8
Eric Siegel
United States
$5,640
$500
$6,140
9
Chinchia Hsu
Taiwan
$4,330
$500
$4,830
“It feels good. This year hasn’t been very good for me, online or live. And it’s my first trophy, my first live trophy, so I’m pretty happy about it,” the Croatian pro said after securing the title that pushed him past $400,000 in career earnings.
Sverko, who also earned $19,500 in bounties, was humble in victory and recognized the role that some good fortune played in his win. “I just ran good. Played pretty good, I think. Just won flips. That’s it,” he said. “I think I mostly had it. When the pot was big I just had it, so that’s the secret.”
Day 2 Action
The five starting flights of this event were all played in the Resorts World Las Vegas poker room. Day 2 saw the opening up of the main tournament area as 179 players returned to action out of a massive field of 1,201 entries.
David Jackson (173rd), Rep Porter (164th), Adam Walton (155th), PokerNews Podcast co-host Michael Holtz (152th), Michael Wang (144th), and Irish Open champion David Docherty (131st) were among the first to fall in a flurry of eliminations to start the day as players tried to get their hands on the mystery bounty tokens.
Rhett van Leeuwen began the day as chip leader but could only manage to make it to 59th place, while Nicholas Seward (57th), Justin Young (48th), Shawn Buchanan (47th), and Joshua Remitio (45th) were also sent off to collect their payday.
PokerStars Team Pro Barny Boatman lost most of his chips in a pre-flop race against Chris Johnston and fell in 34th place shortly after, while Maria Konnikova was eliminated in 33rd by Sverko.
David Dongwoo Ko was coasting along with 2,600,000 and in contention for the chip lead when he seemed poised to grow his stack even more. Ko picked up queens and had Chanelle Morimatsu all in for her last 950,000 with king-jack. Ko flopped a set to take a big lead in the pot, but Morimatsu turned a straight to double up. Just a few hands later, Ko was all in with ace-king against Morimatsu’s ace-queen and was about to get his chips back when a cruel queen fell on the river to send him crashing out in 28th place.
David Dongwoo Ko
Terrance Reid picked up two kings and had Victor Paredes all in for 935,000 with ace-nine, but Paredes turned an ace to double up. Reid then ran into Jim Paulus’ aces to finish in 17th. Quang Vu was eliminated in 13th when he ran his tens into the jacks of Alexandro Tricarico, while Paulus fell in 12th in a three-way all in that saw Johnston scoop the pot with a pair of eights.
Terrance Reid
Colton Blomberg busted in 10th place when he couldn’t overcome Tricarico’s pocket sixes, setting the nine-handed final table. Tricarico led with 8,500,000, followed by Samson (6,700,000), and Sverko (5,900,000).
Chinchia Hsu, who began the final table with just four big blinds, was the first casualty as Shyamsundar Challa claimed his bounty. Eric Siegel then got his last 1,800,000 in with ace-jack as Johnston called with ace-nine, but Johnston flopped trips to take the lead and bust Siegel in eighth place.
Eric Siegel
Sverko picked up aces to eliminate Paredes in seventh, while Morimatsu climbed into the chip lead when she doubled up off Johnston for 3,675,000 with two pair. Johnston finally fell in sixth when he shoved for 2,000,000 with nine-eight and Challa called with an ace.
Samson picked off a big bluff from Morimatsu as he moved into the chip lead before tangling with Tricarico in what proved to be a massive cooler. Heads-up on the turn, Samson moved all in for 6,500,000 and Tricarico called with trip queens. Samson had ace-queen and took the pot with his ace-kicker to send the former chip leader to the rail in fifth place.
Alexandro Tricarico
After Sverko’s miracle double up against Samson, he showed a full house holding two jacks to beat Morimatsu’s trip eights and eliminate her in fourth place. Sverko also sent out Challa in third place with ace-ten against ace-six as he took a 22,000,000 to 14,100,000 chip lead into heads-up.
Chanelle Morimatsu
Samson took the chip lead with a big turn shove for 9,000,000, but Sverko moved back in front after betting 5,000,000 on the river with two pair as Samson paid him off. Samson then moved all in for 16,000,000 with ace-seven and Sverko called with ace-jack. A final table filled with bad beats and lucky rivers ended with little suspense, however, as Sverko flopped a full house to leave Samson drawing dead.
Daniel Samson
The mystery bounty component of the tournament played a big part in Sverko’s strategy at the start of the day, but by the final table, his focus was firmly on grabbing hold of the trophy.
“At the beginning, I was gambling a little bit more. And then, as the final table approached, I kind of, not tightened up, but the bounties aren’t worth as much. Similar to Progressive KOs online,” he said.
Sverko was the first to admit that he needed a little luck to be the last man standing in this massive field, but in the fast-paced action brought on by the ever-looming presence of the mystery bounties, it was just what he needed.
That concludes PokerNews' coverage of the $550 Mystery Bounty. Stay tuned for more coverage throughout the 2024 NAPT.
