The inaugural PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Main Event on U.S. soil kicked off on Saturday at the Venetian, drawing a field of 872 players, according to PokerStars officials. The tournament had a cap of 890 entrants.
A total of 89 tables were set up at the Venetian in Las Vegas and a bevy of PokerStars-sponsored pros and celebrities were in the mix. “Seinfeld” actor Jason Alexander, who finished 17th in the Ante Up for Africa event during the 2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP), was among the most visible players in the room. Joining Alexander were the likes of baseball great Orel Hershiser, Darus Suharto, Bill Chen, reigning WSOP Main Event champ Joe Cada, Daniel Negreanu, Joe Hachem, Chris Moneymaker, 2009 Bluff Player of the Year Jason Mercier, Dennis Phillips, Steve Paul-Ambrose, Tom McEvoy, and Vanessa Rousso. Also in the house was Scotty Nguyen, a five-time bracelet winner.
One of the hot topics of debate leading into the $5,000 Main Event of the NAPT Venetian was whether Full Tilt Poker pros would turn out to the PokerStars-sponsored tournament. Sure, enough, several were spotted in the field, including Gavin Smith. Also to be found was Full Tilt Poker’s Justin “Boosted J” Smith, whose pocket kings held up against another player’s pocket jacks to scoop a sizable pot and get the day started off on the right foot. However, no Team Full Tilt members appeared to be in attendance.
Eliminated on Day 1 was Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul, who ran pocket kings into another players’ pocket aces. Also sent packing was Billy “Patrolman35” Kopp, a UB.com pro. Kopp flopped a boat with pocket threes on a 6-6-3 board and his opponent held 6-4 for trips. However, a four peeled off on the turn to give Kopp’s opponent a better full house and a three failed to hit the river. Kopp finished 12th in the 2009 WSOP Main Event, ultimately exiting in a dramatic flush over flush situation against eventual runner-up Darvin Moon.
On a board of A-K-7-8-Q, Hevad “RainKhaN” Khan called all-in with A-K for top two pair. However, Danny Wong showed pocket sevens for a set to send Khan to the rails. Khan, a PokerStars-sponsored pro, finished sixth in the 2007 WSOP Main Event and cashed for $956,000. In the process, a rule regulating excessive player celebrations was established in his name.
Also making waves on Saturday was online poker star Andy “BKiCe” Seth, who had a pile of 120,000 chips by 5:15pm PT. Seth final tabled the Full Tilt Poker Sunday Brawl in November for $19,000. His big claim to fame in the live world is finishing second in a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em tournament during the 2009 WSOP for $372,000.
A total of 128 players will finish in the money and the prize pool amounted to just over $4 million. First place is scheduled to take home $827,000 and the minimum payout is $7,200. According to PokerNews, those who are well on their way to earning the top prize include Wong, Nam Le, and Full Tilt’s “Miami” John Cernuto, who hold 89,00, 81,000, and 75,000 chips, respectively. Also among those sitting pretty at the time of writing is Cada, who amassed a stack of 67,000, more than double the starting total of 30,000.
There were 650 players remaining during Level 7, with select chip counts given below. All numbers are according to the official website of PokerStars:
Andy “BKiCe” Seth – 120,000
Erica Schoenberg – 90,000
Andreas Hoivold – 70,000
Christian “charder30” Harder – 61,000
Joe Cada – 50,000
John “The Razor” Phan – 48,000
Adam “Roothlus” Levy – 45,000
Darus Suharto – 45,000
Jimmy “gobboboy” Fricke – 42,000
Eric Levesque – 42,000
Steve Paul-Ambrose – 41,500
Kevin Schaffel – 41,000
Eight one-hour levels will be played on Saturday. Starting on Sunday, each blind level will run for 75 minutes. We’ll have NAPT coverage for you right here on Poker News Daily.
