The inaugural North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Venetian Main Event has crowned a champion. Tom Marchese, a 22 year-old from New Jersey, took down the first NAPT event on U.S. soil and earned $827,000.
Marchese defeated Sam Stein heads-up. In the $5,000 buy-in tournament’s final hand, Marchese pushed all-in, having Stein covered, on a board of 4-5-9-3-10. Stein made the call with just 4-2 for a pair of fours, but Marchese flipped up pocket tens for a set. The win was worth $827,000. Marchese told PokerStars officials following the grueling five-day tournament, “It’s a bit overwhelming. The event is definitely one of my new favorites. The turnout was great, the structure was really good, and the tournament staff did a really good job all week. I’ll definitely be back next year.”
Despite 35 countries being represented at the Venetian, the final table was wholly American poker players. Eric Blair was the first casualty of the group. Soon after the first break of the day, Blair pushed over the top of a raise by Marchese with pocket sevens and Stein re-shoved with A-K. The flop came king-high, sending Stein out in front in the hand for good. Blair earned $60,000 for his NAPT Venetian final table appearance.
Poker veteran “Miami” John Cernuto was ousted in seventh place, earning $104,000. Stein shoved over the top of a pre-flop raise by Cernuto with J-10 and Cernuto made the call with his tournament life on the line holding A-5 of clubs. The flop of A-9-4 hit Cernuto hard, giving him top pair and a commanding lead. The turn was a 10, giving Stein a pair of his own. Needing to catch a five-outer on the river to send Cernuto home, Stein was elated to see a jack fall.
Cernuto was the lone Full Tilt Poker pro at the final table in the PokerStars sponsored event. He’s also a three-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, having taken down his first piece of hardware 14 years ago in a Limit Seven Card Stud High-Low event for $147,000. Cernuto has also made two World Poker Tour (WPT) final tables, including a runner-up showing in the Season 5 Celebrity Invitational.
Thomas Fuller was eliminated shortly thereafter in sixth place. Daniel Clemente put in a raise pre-flop and Fuller announced that he was all-in with pocket jacks. Clemente, however, showed pocket queens and was a 5:1 favorite heading to the flop. The board ran out 3-A-7-6-6 and Fuller collected $144,000.
Stein stamped his ticket to heads-up play after taking out David Paredes in fifth place. Moments after Paredes found pocket aces to move past four million in chips, he picked up pocket rockets again and committed his chips. Stein showed pocket jacks and hit a set on the flop, cracking Paredes’ aces. Stein stacked a colossal 70% of the chips in play by the time the hand was over.
Yunus Jamal was eliminated in fourth place, boosting his bankroll by $241,000. Jamal’s tournament life came down to a race, as he held pocket tens against Marchese’s A-Q. The flop was A-J-6, propelling Marchese into the lead with top pair, but a king on the turn left Jamal calling for a queen on the river to make a straight. Instead, a harmless deuce fell and Jamal was denied an NAPT title.
Clemente departed in third place after calling all-in with A-8 against Marchese, who showed pocket queens. The board ran out J-2-9-7-9 and Clemente earned $309,000. Stein held a 3:2 chip lead entering heads-up play against Marchese. From there, the two would need less than 45 minutes to determine a winner. Stein raked in $522,000 for second place. Here’s how the leaderboard shook out in the NAPT Venetian Main Event:
1. Tom Marchese – $827,648
2. Sam Stein – $522,306
3. Daniel Clemente – $309,366
4. Yunus Jamal – $241,064
5. David Paredes – $184,816
6. Thomas Fuller – $144,639
7. “Miami” John Cernuto – $104,461
8. Eric Blair – $60,266
Today is the final day of play in the NAPT tournament series. The $25,000 High-Roller Bounty Shootout will play down to a winner starting at Noon PT with a final table featuring DoylesRoom pro Hoyt Corkins, Scott Seiver, Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka, Joe Cassidy, Peter Eastgate, Ashton Griffin, and Brett Richey.