Sam Laskowitz Wins NAPT Las Vegas High Roller At Resorts World

Sam Laskowitz came into the 2022 World Series of Poker with zero live poker tournament cashes to his name. His first was nearly a bracelet victory, as he finished second from a field of 13,565 in the $400 Colossus for $256,170. Since then, Laskowitz has recorded 31 more in-the-money finishes, winning two titles and cashing for another $1.1 million along the way.

The New York resident’s latest deep run saw him outlast a field of 150 entries that turned out for the 2023 PokerStars North American Poker Tour Las Vegas $5,300 buy-in no-limit hold’em high roller at Resorts World, earning $180,850 for the win.

“It makes me feel like I belong and that I can play at this level and succeed,” Laskowitz told PokerNews live reporters after coming out on top.

This was Laskowitz’s tenth final-table finish of 2023, with both of his career titles coming so far this year. His first saw him best a field of 1,361 entries in a $2,200 mystery bounty event in The Return Poker Championship at Borgata just a few days into the year. His win at the NAPT saw him take home 576 Card Player Player of the Year points, bringing his total to 3,477. As a result, he now sits in 56th place in the 2023 POY standings presented by Global Poker.

The top 20 finishers made the money in this event, with a min-cash being good for $9,320. The tournament played out over the course of three days at Resorts World Las Vegas. By the end of day 2, just six contenders remained, with two-time bracelet winner and recent NAPT Las Vegas $10,300 high roller champion Jesse Lonis in the lead and Laskowitz hot on his heels.

Lonis scored the first knockout of the day, picking up pocket jacks against the pocket sevens of Alex Condon (6th – $36,745) and holding. Two-time bracelet winner Shannon Shorr fared better with pocket sevens, winning an all-in against short-stack John Andress (5th – $47,770) to narrow the field to four.

Two-time bracelet winner and 2022 Card Player Poker Tour Venetian main event champion John Riordan was the next to hit the rail, with his top pair of nines on the flop failing to come from behind against the overpair of Lonis, who had again been dealt pocket jacks. Riordan pocketed $62,105 for his fourth-place finish.

Lonis fell out of the lead during three-handed play, eventually sliding to the bottom of the leaderboard. He eventually called off his stack with A6 from the small blind facing a button shove for Laskowitz, who had A2. Laskowitz flopped adeuce and rivered a third for trips, which were good for the pot. Lonis earned $80,740 and 384 POY points for his 12th final-table finish of the year. He now sits in 19th place on the POY leaderboard as a result, with four titles won and 4,831 total points earned.

Heads-up play began with Laskowitz holding roughly a 4:1 chip lead over Shorr. It didn’t take long for him to convert that advantage into the title.

In the final hand, Shorr open-shoved from the button for 1,120,000 (just over nine big blinds) with Q10 and Laskowitz called with K10. The board ran out A8568 and Shorr was eliminated in second place. He earned $113,030 as the runner-up, increasing his career earnings to $12.7 million in the process. With one POY-qualified win and eight such final tables in 2023, Shorr is now the 51st-ranked POY contender.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:

Photo credits: Joe Giron / Rational Intellectual Holdings Ltd.

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