Nick Marchington made history by winning the record-breaking North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Main Event in Las Vegas with over $4.3 million guaranteed – and he did it with a one-hand heads-up elimination.
Hosted by PokerStars, the NAPT Main Event 2024 had a $3 million GTD prize pool, but that was blown out of the water by the 895 hungry entrants who’d made the pilgrimage to Resorts World Las Vegas, topping the previous record of just over $4 million.
This year’s champion had already came close to glory in 2019 when he finished 7th in the WSOP Main Event for just over $1.5 million. That proved to be the catalyst for his move into poker as a profession.
“I think when I made that run in the Main Event in 2019 I was a spring chicken,” said Marchington after his recent win. “I was very inexperienced in poker. Now, in life and in poker, I feel a lot more experienced. I’ve been doing this for a living now for six years. I felt a lot more ready for the whole experience of the final table. PokerStars Main Events are the most prestigious Main Events win, so it feels great to win one.”
Here’s how the final table of the NAPT Main Event 2024 ended up.
| Place | Player | Prize | Nationality |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nick Marchington | $765,200 | UK |
| 2 | Joel Micka | $478,450 | U.S. |
| 3 | Jeff Madsen | $341,750 | U.S. |
| 4 | Marco Johnson | $262,900 | U.S. |
| 5 | Curt Kohlberg | $202,250 | U.S. |
| 6 | Masato Yokosawa | $155,550 | Japan |
Marching to Victory
Marchington had a firm handle on the tournament for the entirety of the final table, holding a nearly 2:1 chip lead over second-placed Madsen – who’d just eliminated Brock Wilson in 7th – as play commenced between the last six players.
With a pay jump of over $45k on the line, nobody wanted to be the first to bust. This suited Marchington, who was able to maintain pressure on all of his opponents and gradually keep chipping up.
Eventually, Yokosawa had had enough and made a stand with pocket 10s, cruelly running into Marchington’s jacks. Shortly after, it was a straight race between Kohlberg’s Big Slick and the pocket 9s of Micka. The 9s held, and Micka then went on to eliminate Johnson when his pocket 10s improved to trips.
With three remaining, Marchington was well ahead on 19.8m chips to Micka’s 4.2m and Madsen’s 2.8m. An all in between the short stacks was inevitable, and it would be Micka’s A♥10♣ getting lucky against Madsen’s Q♥Q♣ on a 2♦5♥8♥J♠A♣ board which took things to heads up.
But it wouldn’t last long.
Over in One Hand
With a 20-minute break, Marchington began his usual routine: a lone walk, listening to music, to get himself in the zone for an intense heads-up battle which could last hours.
The reality was less than two minutes of action, as the 26-year-old secured the title on his first hand back at the table.
Holding a 4:1 chip lead, Marchington limped in with 7♥4♠ and Micka checked behind with 5♦4♦. The flop came 5♣J♠6♦. Micka check-called the 400k min bet, before the 3♠ landed on the turn. This gave Marchington the nut straight while improving Micka’s bottom pair to an up-and-down straight draw. Again, it went check, bet, call.
The 2♥ landed on the river – the worst possible card for Micka. He’d upgraded to a straight and was only being beaten by 7-4 specifically, so he naturally snap called when Marchington went all in, ending heads-up play after a single hand.
The final result was Marchington’s second biggest live tournament cash and, in his own words, “a memory for life”.