Nick Schulman opened to 160,000 from under the gun with 7?7?, Sandeep Pallampati flatted the cutoff with A?Q?, and Sergio Aido came along on the button with J?9?.
The dealer fanned out the 10?8?8? flop and action checked to Aido who bet 225,000, causing both opponents to fold.
Sandeep Pallampati opened to 180,000 in middle position, Sami Bechahed flatted the cutoff, and Anthony Dianaty three-bet to 1,500,000 in the small blind.
Action folded back to Pallampati who folded, while Bechahed jammed with the covering stack. Dianaty called all in for 3,645,000.
Anthony Dianaty: J?J?
Sami Bechahed: A?A?
The board ran out 4?8?3?10?9? and the aces held to eliminate Dianaty in eighth place for $32,355.
Sami Bechahed raised to 160,000 from middle position with A?7? and was called by Sergio Aido in the big blind with A?K? to see the flop come K?2?Q?.
Aido checked before Bechahed chose a bet of 115,000. Aido made the call and headed to a 10? turn card.
Aido checked again and Bechahed bet once more, this time for 350,000. Aido paused briefly before making the call to take the pair to a K? river.
Aido checked a third time. Bechahed took a moment and reached for his chips, coming back out with a bet of 765,000. Aido entered the tank and thought for a few moments, ultimately making the call only to see that he was shipping a big pot in Bechahed's direction.
Connor then chats with Jesse Lonis, who won the NAPT Super High Roller, while Chad catches up with Poker Hall of Famer Scotty Nguyen, who made his way to Vegas for the NAPT. Finally, Matt interviewed PokerStars Ambassador Parker "Tonkaaaa" Talbot, who bagged up a big stack in the $1,650 Main Event.
Additionally, the crew recap winners from the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe, which is currently taking place at King's Casino in Rozvadov, as well as their decision to have a leprechaun emcee their mystery bounty event. Toss in a discussion on Shawn Sheikhan receiving a four-year prison sentence, and it's a show not to be missed.
Sergio Aido looked down at Q?Q? and raised to 175,000. Ping Liu made the call from the big blind with 10?8? to see the flop come 4?9?A?.
Liu checked to Aido who continued with a bet of 100,000. Liu made the call to watch as the J? hit the turn.
Action checked through to see the 7? fall on the river.
Liu paused for a moment before leading out with a bet of 500,000. Aido entered a short tank, using on of his time bank cards as he thought through his decision before ultimately making the fold and sending the pot to Liu.
The penultimate day of the PokerStars North American Poker Tour Las Vegas $1,650 Main Event has concluded with just seven players remaining in the fight for $268,945 and the title of first NAPT Main Event champion in 12 years. Leading the way is California's Sami Bechahed as he looks to add to his $941,234 in tournament earnings.
Bechahed got most of those chips after winning a big pot as the night closed out against poker commentator and four-time bracelet winner Nick Schulman, the most accomplished player at the final table with nearly $17 million in earnings.
Nick Schulman
The next most accomplished player remaining is Spain's Sergio Aido, who will have to fend off East Coast grinder David Coleman and Ping Liu, who is fresh off a victory down the street in the PokerGO Studio where he bested Aido during heads-up play (Schulman finished fourth in that event).
Rounding out the remaining seven are California's Sandeep Pallampati and New Jersey's Jonathan Borenstein, who earlier this year finished fourth in the Borgata Return for a career-best $368,324.
NAPT Main Event Remaining Players
SEAT
PLAYER
COUNTRY
CHIP COUNT
BIG BLINDS
1
Sami Bechahed
United States
10,570,000
106
2
Nick Schulman
United States
4,390,000
44
3
Ping Liu
United States
3,095,000
31
4
David Coleman
United States
1,610,000
16
5
Sandeep Pallampati
United States
4,300,000
43
6
Sergio Aido
Spain
6,670,000
67
7
Jonathan Borenstein
United States
2,200,000
22
Day 3 Action
There were 34 players who returned for Day 3 and battled across five tables inside Resorts World Las Vegas. The number of players and tables both dwindled steadily as the likes of Seunghwan Lee and Girish Reknar hit the rail, the latter of whom was propelled by a double knockout yesterday before falling early in Day 3 in 23rd place.
Jeremy Pekarekgot a bit out of line with five-three offsuit by three-betting and barreling twice before folding the river against Liu. After the elimination of David Jackson, Pekarek fell in 21st place when his ace-jack didn't hold against Coleman's king-ten.
Ryan Yu fell to Liu to bring in the two-table redraw before last woman standing Mikela Shkurta fell to Schulman as her ace-ten was pipped by the poker commentator's Big Slick.
Popular Japanese poker vlogger Masato Yokosawa came up short of the final table as he ran ace-ten into Aaron Massey's cowboys to fall in 13th place. Matthew Wantman was next out after losing half his stack to Aido before getting it in against the same opponent and losing out with king-eight against queen-jack.
Masato Yokosawa
Next out was Liran Betito, whose elimination was set up by a six-bet pot that saw him doubling up Coleman before falling to Aido.
Massey lost a flip with jacks to the ace-king of Bechahed to set up the unofficial nine-handed final table. The 2021 Poker Players Championship runner-up Ryan Leng bowed out on the official final table bubble as his ace-jack failed to improve against Schulman's pocket eights.
Ryan Leng
Day 2 chip leader Anthony Dianaty was the last player to fall on Day 3 as he ran jacks straight into the aces of Sami Bechahed.
Day 4 will kick off at 12:30 Vegas time on Level 30 with blinds of 50,000/100,000 with a 100,000 big blind ante. PokerNews will continue reporting on a 30-minute delay to avoid spoilers of the PokerStars stream.
Remaining Payouts
Place
Prize
1
$268,945
2
$168,175
3
$120,130
4
$92,410
5
$71,080
6
$54,680
7
$42,060
Stay tuned as the PokerNews live reporting team will be back on-site at Resorts World tomorrow for continued coverage of the NAPT Main Event. Be sure to check out the NAPT Las Vegas portal in the meantime.
