Nick Marchington Wins North American Poker Tour At Resorts World

Nick Marchington was a wide-eyed, 21-year-old rookie on the poker scene when he made his first major final table, taking seventh place in the 2019 WSOP main event for $1,525,000. He may not have been quite ready for the big stage back then, but in November under the bright lights of the North American Poker Tour main event final table, the British poker pro proved to be more than capable.

“I was a spring chicken, especially in tournaments,” Marchington admitted. “I was very inexperienced in poker, and now in life and in poker, I feel a lot more experienced. I’ve been doing this for a living now for six years, and I felt a lot more ready for the whole experience of a final table.”

Marchington steamrolled the competition on the final day, ultimately becoming the last man standing from an initial field of 895 in the $5,000 buy-in tournament at Resorts World Las Vegas.

“It really was a dream,” Marchington told reporters. “It’s one of the most fun experiences I’ve had playing poker. Obviously, everyone loves to come in being the chip leader, and I was very lucky to be able to maintain the chip lead and not even come close to losing it for pretty much the whole final table.”

He banked $765,200 for his second shot at glory, topping a field of 895 in the $5,000 buy-in event at Resorts World Las Vegas. The British poker pro now has $3.35 million in career tournament earnings.

The tournament, which was the NAPT’s second at Resorts World in as many years, featured three starting flights and five days of action. The final 127 players finished in the money, earning a minimum payout of $8,900.

Sami Bechahed, a former poker dealer who won last year’s NAPT main event for $268,945, made another run in 2024, this time taking home $17,100 for 37th place.

Other notables who went deep included Upeshka De Silva (45th), Kitty Kuo (43rd), David Peters (42nd), Darren Rabinowitz (40th), Jeffrey Farnes (36th), Eric Blair (31st), Justin Lapka (29th), Justin Liberto (24th), Jonathan Tamayo (23rd), Brian Yoon (21st), Maria Konnikova (14th), David Baker (13th), Jared Jaffee (12th), Matthew Wantman (10th), Matt Affleck (8th), and Brock Wilson (7th).

The final day began with six players remaining before Marchington showed short-stacked Masato Yokosawa the door. The Japanese player earned $155,550, which gives him $1.6 million for his career.

Joel Micka then added to his stack significantly, taking out an anonymous player in fifth with pocket nines and then busting Marco Johnson in fourth with pocket tens. Johnson, a two-time bracelet winner, earned $262,900 for his final table appearance.

The final three players traded chips for a bit, but Marchington remained firmly ahead, and he stayed ahead thanks to a fortunate runout against four-time bracelet winner Jeff Madsen.

Marchington jammed from the small blind with A-10 and Madsen woke up with pocket queens behind him. The board looked great for a double up, but the A hit the river to instead send Madsen to the rail with a $341,750 consolation prize. Madsen now has $7.1 million in career live tournament earnings.

Although three-handed play lasted nearly two hours, heads-up play only took one deal of the cards. Sitting on a 4:1 lead, Marchington completed from the button and Micka checked his option before a flop of J 6 5.

Marchington bet, and Micka called. The turn was the 3 and Marchington bet again. Micka called and the river was the 2. This time Marchington shoved, and Micka quickly called with 5 4 for a straight. Unfortunately for him, Marchington had turned the nuts with 7 4 to drag the final pot.

Micka pocketed $478,450 for his runner-up finish, his third major second-place showing in a live PokerStars event. The American pro also has runner-up showings in the 2008 LAPT Costa Rica main event and the 2013 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. He now has $2.1 million in career earnings.

This was Marchington’s second victory of the year, having won the GUKPT Coventry event for $189,062. He now sits in 53rd place in the Card Player Player of the Year race.

The Rest Of The Series

The PokerStars North American Poker Tour stop featured 29 events from Nov. 1-10. This sophomore stop at the property attracted over 5,600 entries in total, with close to $10.5 million in prize money paid out along the way.

The biggest buy-in on the schedule was the $25,000 high roller, which drew a field of 60 entries to create a prize pool of $1,440,600. The final eight players made the money, including Brock Wilson (7th), Elias Gutierrez (5th), and Jim Collopy (4th).

In the end, the title came down to Stephen Song and Sean Winter. Song started with a better than 2:1 advantage but Winter fought back as the two talented players traded blows during a back-and-forth battle.

The biggest hand between them transpired when Winter completed, and Song checked the big blind to see a flop of J 10 6. Song then check-raised after Winter bet, and Winter called before the turn fell 9. Both players checked to the K on the river, and Song check-called a bet from Winter after going into the tank for a bit.

The call worked out for Song when his K-8 topped the J-5 of Winter, putting him firmly in control down the home stretch.

“Sean’s super tough and that heads-up was grueling. It really all came down to that king-eight ballsy call I made. It’s a tournament so anything can happen, just grateful that it worked out perfectly.”

Winter added $288,100 to his career earnings that are up to an astounding $32.7 million.

Song took his career earnings all the way up to $8.7 million thanks to the $439,400 payout. The Connecticut native now holds 14 tournament titles, and this win comes on the heels of his big victory at the EPT Barcelona main event in September for $1.4 million.

The next biggest buy-in was the $10,000 high roller, which saw 170 entries for a prize pool of $1,649,000. The top 23 players made the money, including final table finishes for Brian Altman (8th), Danny Wong (7th), and David Coleman (4th).

Coleman has had a breakout year on the circuit with five wins and 22 final tables. As a result, he currently sits in second place in the POY race behind Spain’s Adrian Mateos.

The final pot of the tournament was scooped by high-stakes regular Sam Soverel, who took out recent bracelet winner Nick Seward to add $385,750 to his earnings.

The Florida native’s career totals now stand at $24.4 million, including an astounding 33 victories.

Another highlight of the series was the $550 buy-in mystery bounty kickoff event, which drew a whopping 1,201 entries. The title ultimately went to Serbian player Gregor Sverko, who pocketed a total of $66,300 including his $19,500 in bounties.

The $1,100 no-limit event easily surpassed the $400,000 guarantee with 480 entries. A deal ultimately determined the winner, with Richard Bai and Camilo Bencosme chopping it up for $68,530 and $65,757 apiece.

The $300,000 guaranteed $550 event drew 1,009 entries, with Erez Klein, Michael Paraskevin, and Zachary Vankeuren chopping up the top prizes for $57,270, $58,890, and $53,780, respectively.

Incredibly, the same player won both the $1,050 super hyper turbo and the $1,050 hyper turbo bounty events, with Landon Brown cashing for $23,400 over his three series cashes and two wins.

Other big no-limit winners included Alexandro Tricarico for $86,800, David Stamm for $43,820, and Guan Huang for $27,580. Sheila Stimson took down the ladies event.

Ryan Hughes took down the $1,100 PLO, while Wagner Wysotchanski won the $5,300 PLO. There were also a few mixed game tournaments offered, with David Prociak besting the $550 H.E.R.O.S. event, Maxx Coleman winning the $5,300 8-Game Mix, and last year’s main event champ Sami Bechahed getting the trophy in the $550 8-Game. ♠