Level: 29
Blinds: 50,000/100,000
Ante: 100,000
2024 NAPT Las Vegas
$5,300 NAPT Main Event
Day: 5
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 5
2024 NAPT Las Vegas
Buy-in
$5,300
Prize Pool
$4,340,750
Entries
895
Level
32
Blinds
100,000 / 200,000
Ante
200,000
Entries
6
Players Left
1
Nick Marchington may be the youngest NAPT Las Vegas Main Event finalist, but that won't intimidate him. He's already been through a big poker story framed that way – five years ago when he reached the WSOP Main Event final table.
Then 21-year-old Marchington had a chance to eclipse Joe Cada as the youngest champion in history. Marchington, a novice to live tournaments at the time, finished in seveth place for $1,525,000.
Back then he'd played poker professionally for only a year. Now, much more experienced, Marchington can capitalize on both online and live tournament and cash game grind.
2024 has already seen Marchington lift a trophy, for his victory at Grosevenor UK Poker Open in Coventry. Marchington said he really wanted to win his first live event title, an achievement he'd chased for a few years. With that ticked off, the Brit can now focus on the next milestone – earning the elusive PokerStars shard prepared for the NAPT champ.
Career Record:
Career earnings: $2,524,865
Best cash: $1,525,000, 7th, 2019 WSOP Main Event
Tournament Progression:
Day 1: None
Day 2: 494,000 (18/77)
Day 3: 975,000 (13/18)
Day 4: 9,990,000 (1/6)
Event Highlights:
Marchington doubled up twice on Day 3, first with jacks against Nguyen Le's sixes and then with nines against Maria Konnikova's fives.
Marchington took out reigning world champion Jonathan Tamayo later in the day when he flopped a set of fives to crack Tamayo's aces. On Day 4, Marchington began his rapid ascension to the top when he defended his big blind with eight-three and flopped trips. Martin Carnero moved all in for 900,000 with pocket sixes and Marchington called to bust Carnero in 16th place.
PokerStars was Joel "JMPRODIGY" Micka's gateway to stardom. When he was 18, Micka played an online satellite and qualified for the LAPT in San Jose. At the time, he thought he was going to travel to California but only later realized that he would need to travel to Costa Rica's capital.
The trip, on which he brought his dad, propelled Micka into a professional poker career. He'd succeeded in the game before, but the $148,993 score for a runner-up finish in the LAPT Main Event allowed him to expand the horizon and start taking poker seriously.
Just over four years later, Micka would once again finish second, a somewhat unpopular finish in a poker tournament but typically very rewarding. Especially in a PCA Main Event, in which only two lost coin flips against Dimitar Danchev stopped Micka from winning the title. He would still walk away with a whopping $1,190,000.
That massive result came already after poker's Black Friday. Micka had been traveling around the world, oftentimes playing but never committing his full year-round focus entirely to the game. That lifestyle has characterized his journey, with golfing and hooping among his top activities. He claims he's never had a real job in his life.
Career Record:
Career earnings: $1,670,437
Best cash: $1,190,000, 2nd, 2013 PCA
Tournament Progression:
Day 1: 43,000 (132/163, 1b)
Day 2: 250,000 (45/77)
Day 3: 890,000 (14/18)
Day 4: 4,475,000 (3/6)
Event Highlights:
On Day 3, Micka rivered the nut straight as Luther Tran called off his last 350,000 with just bottom pair.
Micka began Day 4 among the short stacks but won a race early with eights against Mike Vanier's ace-ten to double up. He then eliminated Maria Konnikova in 14th place when he picked up queens against jack-ten. At the final table, Micka won a classic flip with queens against Matt Affleck's ace-king to bust Affleck in eighth.
Jeff Madsen has been one of the most recognizable faces in poker. Originally from Santa Monica, California, Madsen could play at the Chumash Casino after he turned 18 while he studied film at UCSB.
He would drop out in his final year following tremendous success in the game. He had a rocket start to his WSOP career, celebrating two triumphs at age 21 and earning the Player of the Year honors.
While the first two major wins – both in no-limit hold'em – remain his best scores to date, Madsen has been widely regarded for his mixed-games expertise, especially PLO and PLO8, games which he's dominated at the World Series.
Here at NAPT Las Vegas 2024, the 39-year-old four-time bracelet winner has showcased his perseverance and longevity, qualities highly rated in poker with the games' getting ever tougher. After 18 years, he would finally improve his top result ($660,948) with a victory in the NAPT Main Event.
Career Record:
Career earnings: $6,498,939
Best cash: $660,948, 1st, 2006 WSOP $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em
Tournament Progression:
Day 1: 95,000 (60/163, 1b)
Day 2: 297,000 (39/77)
Day 3: 1,895,000 (5/18)
Day 4: 5,585,000 (2/6)
Event Highlights:
A big moment in Madsen's run occurred back on Day 1, when he made a big call on the river for most of his stack with two pair to bust Adam Hendrix.
Fast forward to the end of Day 4, and Madsen knocked out Brock Wilson with eights against ace-seven as he climbed up to second place on the leaderboard going into the final table.
Masato Yokosawa has over $1.6 million on his live tournament resume, which puts him in ninth place on the Japanese all-time money list. That’s an impressive pedigree, but Yokosawa’s mark on poker has been far bigger than that.
With more than 930,000 subscribers to his “World Wide” channel, the 31-year-old is the most followed poker streamer in the world. He won the People’s Choice Award for Poker Personality in 2021, voted by fans.
Yokosawa’s audience follows his stories from the best venues and events around the world, including the European Poker Tour and cash game rooms in Las Vegas. Yokosawa hopes to pioneer the legalization of live poker tournaments in his home country.
A crowned WPT champion (winning $100,000 in South Korea back in 2013), Yokosawa is now on the brink of eclipsing his best result. That came last year when he finished 45th in the WSOP Main Event for $188,400. If he fades the first elimination of the final day, he will be celebrating a new career high.
Career Record:
Career earnings: $1,652,454
Best cash: $188,400, 45th, 2023 WSOP Main Event
Tournament Progression:
Day 1: 142,000 (2/50, 1c)
Day 2: 845,000 (1/77)
Day 3: 1,225,000 (9/18)
Day 4: 1,085,000 (6/6)
Event Highlights:
Yokosawa ended Day 1c second in chips and was the chip leader after Day 2, but he had fallen to a short stack by Day 4. He then turned a set of sixes and jammed the river for 905,000 as Matthew Wantman called him down with just ace-high as Yokosawa doubled up.
Yokosawa fell all the way down to 240,000 on the final table bubble and was all in against Nick Marchington. Yokosawa flopped a pair of aces, but Marchington picked up a flush draw on the turn. Yokosawa dodged the river and doubled up yet again to secure his spot at the final table.
When Marco Johnson grew up, his neighbor was Chip Reese. Inspired by the poker legend and Hall of Famer, Johnson, at 15 years of age, decided to pursue a career in the same industry. That path has proved very rewarding.
Similarly to Jeff Madsen, four years younger, Johnson also notched his first reported live tournament results in 2006. He would have to wait seven more years for his first career bracelet.
Johnson is a well-versed player, which he proved when he paired his WSOP silverware in 2016, topping the $3k H.O.R.S.E. event for $259,730. That is currently Johnson's third-best score.
The parallel with Madsen stretches further. Johnson has also successfully navigated through both no-limit and mixed-game waters for nearly two decades, and just as Madsen will have a chance to improve his long-time career-high – $491,273 from June 2008 – should he go all the way.
Career Record:
Career earnings: $4,307,364
Best cash: $491,273, 2nd, 2008 WSOP $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em
Tourmanet Progression:
Day 1: 129,500 (23/163, 1b)
Day 2: 128,000 (68/77)
Day 3: 760,000 (17/18)
Day 4: 2,475,000 (5/6)
Event Highlights
On Day 3, Johnson was all in for 321,000 with two tens against Nicholas Manganaro's ace-king. An ace on the flop left Johnson at risk of elimination, but he spiked a set on the turn to double up.
Johnson was the second-shortest stack entering Day 4 but doubled up early with queens against Brent Hart's ace-king. Mike Vanier then moved all in for 2,300,000 with two kings, but Johnson woke up with two aces in the small blind to win the massive pot and bust Vanier in 11th place.
When Curt Kohlberg first picked up poker, none of his remaining opponents had been born yet. It was in the late 1970s when Kohlberg was a freshman at UMass. Back then, no-limit hold'em wasn't the phenomenon it would become in the 21st century, so Kohlberg mostly played draw and stud games.
Poker would never turn into Kohlberg's primary income source. He majored in business at MIT and has thrived in that field ever since. In 1991, he founded Kohlberg & Associates, a consulting company that helps institutional funds optimize their operations.
Only in the late 1990s would Kohlberg dive into poker again. He had always been competitive – mainly in racket sports, in which he excelled in his teenage years.
Kohlberg has done pretty well in cards too, especially on the World Poker Tour circuit, where he notched six top-10 finishes in major events, including second place for $586,109 at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel in Florida.
Career Record:
Career earnings: $3,735,808
Best cash: $586,109, 2nd, 2011 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown
Tournament Progression:
Day 1: 124,000 (20/73, 1a)
Day 2: 177,000 (59/77)
Day 3: 1,150,000 (10/18)
Day 4: 3,290,000 (4/6)
Event Highlights:
Kohlberg had less than 10 big blinds approaching the final table before moving all in for 650,000 with two queens. Jeff Madsen called with ace-queen, but Nick Marchington reshoved with jacks to force out Madsen. Kohlberg held on to trip up back over 2,000,000.
On the first hand of the nine-handed final table, Kohlberg picked up two kings against Brock Wilson's queens to double up yet again.
The PokerStars North American Poker Tour Las Vegas Main Event will crown a winner today as six players return at 12:30 p.m. local time to fight for the trophy and $765,200 first-place prize.
Britain's Nick Marchington leads the way as the only player with 100 big blinds as the 2019 WSOP Main Event final tablist looks for another career score. Next in chips is 2006 WSOP Player of the Year Jeff Madsen, followed by Joel Micka and Curt Kohlberg.
Rounding out the counts are California pro Marco Johnson and Japanese poker vlogger Masato Yokosawa, the most-followed poker vlogger in the world.
Final Table chip counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nick Marchington | United Kingdom | 9,990,000 | 100 |
| 2 | Jeff Madsen | United States | 5,585,000 | 56 |
| 3 | Joel Micka | United States | 4,475,000 | 45 |
| 4 | Curt Kohlberg | United States | 3,290,000 | 33 |
| 5 | Marco Johnson | United States | 2,475,000 | 25 |
| 6 | Masato Yokosawa | Japan | 1,085,000 | 11 |
Yesterday's action at Resorts World Las Vegas saw Matt Affleck as the first final table elimination as he fell in ninth place when his ace-king couldn't hit against the queens of Micka.
Next out was fellow PokerCoaching.com coach Brock Wilson, who ran ace-seven into the eights of Madsen and couldn't improve despite turning a gutshot.
Final Table Payouts
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $765,200 | ||
| 2 | $478,450 | ||
| 3 | $341,750 | ||
| 4 | $262,900 | ||
| 5 | $202,250 | ||
| 6 | $155,550 | ||
| 7 | Brock Wilson | United States | $119,650 |
| 8 | Matt Affleck | United States | $92,000 |
Each returning player has locked up at least $155,550 as the action picks up with 70:41 remaining in Level 29 with blinds of 50,000/100,000/100,000. PokerNews will report on a 30-minute delay in line with the PokerStars YouTube and Twitch streams.
Stick around as PokerNews is ready to provide updates on the final day of the NAPT Las Vegas Main Event.
$5,300 NAPT Main Event
Day 5 Started