Nikolai Mamut Ends a Long Day and Even Longer Wait With the NAPT Las Vegas PS Open Trophy
It took until around 2:30 a.m., after more than 14 hours of play, to crown a champion of the PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Las Vegas PS Open, but for Nikolai Mamut, the wait was much longer.
Mamut had spent years grinding PokerStars events around the world trying to get his hands on the prestigious shard trophy. His wait finally ended today inside Resorts World Las Vegas, when the Russian-born, UK-based pro emerged from a field of 947 entries to defeat Terrance Reid heads-up and earn the $158,700 top prize.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Nikolai Mamut | Russian Federation | $158,700 |
| 2nd | Terrance Reid | United States | $99,090 |
| 3rd | Jim Collopy | United States | $70,780 |
| 4th | Toby Lewis | United Kingdom | $54,450 |
| 5th | Jon Kyte | Norway | $41,880 |
| 6th | Andrew Kang | United States | $32,220 |
| 7th | Marc Foggin | United Kingdom | $24,780 |
| 8th | Yifan Tang | China | $19,060 |
“It feels like a dream, to be honest. We’ve been playing since noon today, so it’s been like a 14-hour day. Surreal,” Mamut said. “I’ve been playing PokerStars events and poker in general since 2016-17, so eight years of playing, trying a lot. Obviously, the shard, the Golden Shard, there’s no cooler trophy. It’s been a dream to get it. It’s not settled in yet. Very lucky. Very grateful. You have to have a lot of luck to win.”
Mamut has results from all across Europe and the United States dating back to 2017, with live earnings exceeding $1.2 million. But he had never won an event quite like this one. His only prior live tournament victory came in a $1,100 event here in Las Vegas this summer. His earnings today are only eclipsed on his career resume by a run to the semi-finals of the $25,000 Heads-Up Championship at the 2024 WSOP. The closest he had come to a PokerStars trophy was a third-place finish in a $1,200 Mystery Bounty event at EPT Cyprus in 2024.
It wasn’t for lack of trying, however. Mamut first fell in love with the game when he turned 18 and has turned that passion into a career, grinding the tournament circuit for years dreaming of a day like this one. As soon as he discovered he could make a living playing this game, it became an obsession.
“Just when I came across poker first, when I turned 18, just the fact that it was a game—I was always into video games—that combined a money element much more than pro esports and stuff like that. I just got hooked on strategy. The fact that you can make a living playing this game is crazy. I was just obsessed ever since I found it,” he said.
“A lot of people, when you look into how they got into it, everyone becomes obsessed. That was me, as well. Now we’re here.”
Day 3 Action
Day 3 began at noon local time as 43 players returned to Resorts World to play down to a champion. Andrew Moreno (40th), Tristan Wade (37th), Paulina Loeliger (30th), Jack Hardcastle (27th), and Aaron Massey (21st) were among those who fell short of making a final-table run.
EPT Barcelona champion Stephen Song was eliminated in 17th place when Mamut hit a queen on the turn to pull ahead of Song’s ace-jack. Mamut then won a classic flip with queens against Ryan Franklin’s ace-king before he also took out fellow Russian Anatoly Nikitin with two queens against eights.
Reid began the day atop the leaderboard and took a massive chip lead after he doubled up for 2,200,000 with two aces against Yusei Iyama’s queens. He eliminated Iyama in 12th place shortly after, then won a flip with nines against king-queen to bust Loic Dobrigna on the final table bubble.
Reid led with 5,700,000 at the start of the nine-handed final table, with WPT world champion Dan Sepiol (3,750,000) and PS Open Monte Carlo champion Jon Kyte (3,660,000) following behind in a star-studded lineup. Mamut began in fourth place with 3,580,000.
Mamut fell down to below 2,000,000 early at the final table before doubling up with a straight against Kyte. Sepiol then three-bet to 360,000 and Reid called to see a ten-high flop. Sepiol continued firing on each street before moving all in for 1,435,000 on the river. Reid called with two pair, while Sepiol could only show ace-high and was eliminated in ninth place as Reid approached 10,000,000.
Mamut moved up to 5,000,000 when he rivered the nut straight against Marc Foggin. Toby Lewis then found a king on the turn to beat Yifan Tang’s jacks and double up. Tang was all in shortly after with a straight draw against Kyle’s ace-high, but he couldn’t connect and fell in eighth place.
Foggin doubled up twice before he was all in again for 2,000,000 with ace-king against Lewis’ ace-jack. The flop came jack-high to give Lewis the lead, and this summer’s EPT Barcelona finalist couldn’t catch up and was eliminated in seventh place.
Reid picked up two queens to bust Andrew Kang in sixth place. Jim Collopy was then all in for 1,550,000 with ace-six but dominated by Kyte’s ace-king. Collopy found a six on the flop to double up, leaving Kyte with just 600,000 before he busted shortly after against Mamut.
Collopy doubled up again to nearly 10,000,000 when he made a full house against Lewis. Lewis then called off his last 2,050,000 against Reid with an ace against Reid’s jack-six. Lewis remained in the lead on the flop, but the turn gave Reid a pair of sixes to send Lewis to the rail in fourth place.
Mamut then four-bet jammed for 5,375,000 and Collopy snap-called. It was a race, Mamut’s jacks against the ace-queen of Collopy, and Mamut ended up turning a set to secure the pot and double up, leaving Collopy on a short stack. Collopy managed to double up once and was then all in again for 3,400,000. His queen-jack was dominated by Reid’s ace-jack, and while he picked up a straight draw on the flop, it was Reid who ended up turning a straight to win the pot and bust Collopy in third place.
Reid led 19,700,000 to 8,700,000 at the start of heads-up. Mamut closed the gap when Reid fired 1,700,000 on the turn with a flush draw and Mamut called with a pair of eights. Reid didn’t hit the river and checked back, surrendering the pot to Mamut.
Mamut then flopped the nut flush and got called with a river bet of 3,000,000 to open a big lead. Reid tried a triple-barrel bluff, betting 4,500,000 on the river with just ace-high as Mamut snapped him off with trip kings.
Reid was left with less than 3,000,000 and doubled up once before he got in his last 5,200,000 with ace-nine against Mamut’s tens. The board offered no help, and Mamut secured the pot and the trophy.
It was a heads-up battle that lasted well into the early hours of the morning, long after the rest of the room had already cleared out for the night. Reid, the poker journalist being rooted on by Jeff Platt and several of his colleagues, had to settle for second place and $99,090, while it was Mamut who survived the grind to emerge as champion.
“For one, I haven’t eaten. I like to fast, not overwhelm the digestive system,” Mamut said about the long day. “The thing is about deepstage tournament poker like this, this is when it’s most exciting. It’s very easy to stay focused. It’s hard to stay focused in the beginning of tournaments, when you’re playing Level 1, Level 2. Here, every hand is so exciting. There’s so much information to look at. It’s just very natural that you’re so focused and zoned in.”
Mamut’s focus next turns to the Main Event, where he plans to enter on Day 1b tomorrow. With momentum and a trophy on his side, he’s hoping to write quite a story this week.
“I think I’ll have some winner’s tilt. I’ll just think I’m invincible and just win every hand, just like I’ve been doing in this tournament,” he said. “I’m just excited. I don’t have words to describe what I’m feeling. I’ll be here tomorrow, playing the Main for sure. Imagine if I win this and the Main Event. I’ll be like a story for sure. I’ll definitely give it my best.”
Mamut will have a secret weapon lying in wait in case he makes another deep run. When he won his first live tournament this summer, he was wearing a light blue shirt. He happened to be wearing the same shirt today, one that isn’t likely to leave his side anytime soon.
“I think I won’t wear this one tomorrow. I’ll wash it. And then, if I do make the FT, then I will wear this one again because it’s now 2-2.”
That concludes PokerNews' coverage of the NAPT PS Open. Stay tuned for live coverage of the Main Event starting with Day 1b tomorrow.