The PokerStars North American Poker (NAPT) Las Vegas Main Event was reintroduced in 2023 after a more-than-decade-long absence, and in those first two years, the champion has been a European. For the third year in a row, the Golden Shard trophy is an overwhelming favorite to head back across the Atlantic after Thomas Boivin seized control on Day 5.
Boivin picked up two aces on the last hand of the night to bust Abdullah Akbarpoor as the Belgian high roller took a massive chip lead over the rest of the final table. Boivin comes back tomorrow with 12,545,000 and more than half the chips in play with six players remaining, nearly 10,000,000 ahead of his closest challenger.
NAPT Final Six Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thomas Boivin | Belgium | 12,545,000 | 125 |
| 2 | Jen Shahade | United States | 3,015,000 | 30 |
| 3 | Ekrem Bozkurt | United States | 2,570,000 | 26 |
| 4 | Gal Yifrach | United States | 2,280,000 | 23 |
| 5 | Michael Berk | United States | 985,000 | 10 |
| 6 | Peter Mugar | United States | 715,000 | 7 |
Boivin began the day as chip leader, but his path back to the top wasn’t smooth over the course of the day. Boivin had fallen to a short stack at the final table when he was all in for 1,885,000 with the nut flush draw against Gal Yifrach’s set of fives. Boivin ended up making his flush on the river to double up, then won a massive pot off Michael Berk with trip queens against two jacks. Boivin has already enjoyed a good week here at Resorts World, finishing runner-up in the $50,000 Super High Roller a few days ago to add to his more than $13 million in live earnings.
PokerStars Team Pro Jen Shahade had an equally tumultuous day. Shahade was down to less than 200,000 when she hit a runner-runner flush to double up against Akbarpoor. She then beat Berk’s fours with two tens to double up yet again to over 1,000,000, before finally picking up two kings to bust Matthew Beinner in ninth place. Shahade ended up in second place with 3,015,000 and is already guaranteed to eclipse the largest score of her long career.
Ekrem Bozkurt is in third place with 2,570,000, while Yifrach sits in fourth place heading into the final day with 2,280,000. Berk (985,000) and Peter Mugar (715,000), meanwhile, find themselves with less than 10 big blinds to work with once action picks up tomorrow at 12:30 p.m.
Day 5 began with 16 players remaining out of 738 entries. Katherine Porrello was the first elimination after running her ace-king into Bozkurt’s aces. Michael Walsh (15th) and Jeremy Halaska (14th) soon followed, while Bozkurt picked up aces again to bust Carl Shaw in 13th.
After Mathew Perez fell in 12th place, Berk flopped quad tens to eliminate Jesse Yaginuma in 11th. Baurzhan Akimov then flopped trip sevens and got his last 1,340,000 in against Mugar’s kings, but Mugar spiked another king on the river to make a full house and eliminate Akimov on the final table bubble.
Mugar led at the start of the nine-handed final table with 4,900,000, while Richard Green was in second place with 3,500,000. But nothing seemed to go right for Green once action resumed, and he was eliminated in eighth place after losing a flip with tens against Berk’s tens.
Final Table Payouts
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | $650,050 | ||
| 2nd | $408,550 | ||
| 3rd | $291,800 | ||
| 4th | $224,450 | ||
| 5th | $172,650 | ||
| 6th | $132,850 | ||
| 7th | Abdullah Akbarpoor | Turkey | $102,200 |
| 8th | Richard Green | United States | $78,600 |
The sudden elimination of Akbarpoor brought the night to an end with 14 hands remaining in Level 29 with blinds of 50,000/100,000 and a 100,000 big blind ante. The final six have already locked up $132,850, while the champion earns $653,050 and the prestigious PokerStars Golden Shard trophy. Tomorrow also marks the start of the PokerStars live stream beginning on a 30-minute delay at 1 p.m.
Boivin already has one hand on the trophy, but he still has five competitors who will try to snatch it away from him tomorrow. PokerNews will be following all the action at the final table and providing live updates until a new NAPT champion is crowned.
