The PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) is returning after a 12-year hiatus, and where better to get the show on the road than fabulous Las Vegas? November 4-12 are the dates to highlight in your diaries because that is when NAPT Las Vegas heads to Resorts World in "Sin City."
The 2023 NAPT Las Vegas takes place just one week before the most anticipated Formula 1 Grand Prix in history, which takes place through the streets of Las Vegas. PokerStars will be there, Oracle Red Bull Racing will be there, will you?
Although primarily aimed at the North American market, the NAPT is open to all, and PokerNews expects players to travel from far and wide to get involved in this historic rebirth. A $1,650 buy-in NAPT Las Vegas Main Event runs from November 6-11, and a $550 PokerStars Cup is scheduled for November 9-12, with a $5,300 High Roller attracting the biggest names between November 10-12. The full 2023 NAPT Las Vegas schedule will be released in due course.
Steve Preiss, Vice President for PokerStars North America, cannot wait for the first NAPT in 12 years to shuffle up and deal at Resorts World.
"We are delighted to announce the return of this iconic series and once again hold the NAPT for poker players in North America. We're working hard to ensure this is a spectacular series and can't wait to head to Las Vegas to get the show on the road."
Kyle Lorenz opened to 12,000 from early position before a player in middle position moved all in for about 160,000. Lorenz thought for about a minute before putting in the chips this close to the bubble.
The cards hit their backs.
Middle Position: A♦K♣
Kyle Lorenz: Q♣Q♠
The full board ran out Q♥2♥5♦J♣9♦ and with top set Lorenz would earn a knockout and a pile of chips.
Action was joined on a board of 2♦J♠9♥ when Neal Gay checked it over to Kenny Huynh who put out a bet of 15,000. Gay called.
The 2♠ turn landed and Gay checked again. Huynh put out a bet of 28,000 and Gay went into the tank for a moment before jokingly saying...
"Quads no good?"
He put in the chips and the river rolled off the 7♦ and Gay checked one last time. Huynh put out another bet of 75,000 and without much thought Gay check-raised all in.
Huynh was in the blender. This was the stone bubble so a crowd began to form. After a few minutes Huynh put in the chips and Gay gave him the bad news.
Neal Gay: 2♣2♥
Kenny Huynh: A♦J♦
The cooler was real and Gay was pushed a pile of chips at a very important moment on the bubble.
It folded to a player on the button who was on a short stack and moved all in. Matt Matros was in the big blind and didn't think for long before putting in a call.
The cards hit their backs.
Button: A♠10♦
Matt Matros: A♥J♦
The full board ran out 5♦10♣J♣Q♦6♣ and Matros would burst the bubble and send the players into the money.
The second flight of Event #3: $2,200 No Limit Hold’Em at the PokerStars Summer Series at Live! Casino and Hotel Philadelphia was another huge success. Day 1a brought in 95 entrants and was bested by the 131 entrants that took their shot at the $500,000 guarantee tonight. 17 total players found a bag and will be advancing to Day 2.
After the dust settled it was Joseph Liberta who bagged the chip lead with a very healthy 728,000. He was quiet for much of the day but a few hands late in the day on the soft bubble helped propel him to just 5,000 more chips than Sameer Batra (723,000) who finished in second place.
Live Philadelphia
There were plenty of other players who made their presence known and were involved early and often. Neal Gay (622,000) won a massive hand on the bubble to get him a top three stack, Norman Roger (601,000) stayed patient and picked his spots well on his way to a top spot, and WSOP Bracelet winner Boris Kravets (446,000) was among the big stacks for most of the day.
Final 17 Players From Day 1b
Place
Name
Country
Chip Count
1
Joseph Liberta
United States
728,000
2
Sameer Batra
United States
723,000
3
Neal Gay
United States
622,000
4
Norman Roger
United States
601,000
5
Kyle Lorenz
United States
546,000
6
Justin Lett
United States
520,000
7
Boris Kravets
United States
446,000
8
Soukha Kachittavong
United States
370,000
9
Jamie Gold
United States
344,000
10
Birjyot Bindra
United States
330,000
11
Kenny Huynh
United States
311,000
12
Matt Matros
United States
296,000
13
Evan Cutler
United States
213,000
14
Simon Levy
United States
177,000
15
Joseph Palma
United States
140,000
16
Joseph Drory
United States
104,000
17
Ron Adams
United States
67,000
2006 WSOP Main Event Champion Jamie Gold (344,000) found a bag and will return on Day 2 to see if he can regain some of that main event magic here in Philadelphia.
Jamie Gold
The most intriguing story coming out of Day 1b certainly must be Soukha Kachittavong (370,000). Kachittavong finished seventh in Event #1 and shipped Event #2 by way of a heads up chop. One thing is for sure, Kachittavong has been crushing this series. He will return on Day 2 of Event #3 to take his shot at the trifecta of final tables and possibly even a second title. He is not shy about putting his chips to work and will absolutely to be in the mix.
Soukha Kachittavong
In total 17 players moved on from Day 1b in the money and are ready for their shot at glory. They will all fight for their shot at the $500,000 guaranteed prize pool. However they will have to wait till Sunday and players that didn’t find a bag will still have one last shot when Day 1c kicks off at 11:15 a.m. Saturday morning.
Stay tuned into PokerNews for all the action in the last event of the PokerStars Summer Series.