Sandeep Pallampati comes from New Jersey but plans to move to Las Vegas. Making a final table in the NAPT Main Event may speed up the relocation process. “This will help,” he says.
While Pallampati is not a professional poker player, he spends a lot of time grinding mid-stakes tournaments and live cash games. As a data scientist, he has a fitting background to be able to excel in the game. Saturday will be the biggest day for him at a poker table. “I’m planning to keep laddering one place at a time, but if there is a spot, I’m taking it,” he says.
This might not be the only time we’ll see him on the NAPT circuit. Pallampati likes to travel and naturally prefers to combine his trips with poker action. He enjoys riding a Harley and certainly enjoys riding the wave of success as well.
David Coleman is used to competing against the best players in the world, having attended several high-stakes tournament series in recent years. That is also where he got his top prizes on the live circuit, which helped him push his career winnings to over $2.7 million.
Coleman has notched nine six-figure payouts, including two runner-up finishes in $50,000 events run by PokerGO. Interestingly, Coleman’s Hendon Mob profile lacks an outright victory; he boasts six second places and three thirds.
This year, he hasn’t had a standout result yet; his top prize was $76,470, but that only tripled the entry fee to a high buy-in tournament in Florida.
Ping Liu’s first reported live tournament payout came in October 2011. Since then, he’s accrued more than $2.5 million in winnings. His biggest notch was a $599,147 payday for fourth place in the 2018 WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic. Liu has picked up a few other six-figure prizes over the years, including $156,100 for running deep in this year’s WSOP Main Event (58th place).
While he’s been to several big final tables, he has just three outright victories on his pedigree. The latest, however, came just last week: he took down a $5,000 PokerGO event for $89,600.
In the NAPT Main Event, his run was almost over shortly before the two-table redraw. He needed to spike one of two remaining aces in the deck with one card to come to double through Je Wook Oh. A “Barry Greenstein river” indeed saved him.
With nearly $17 million in live tournament winnings, Nick Schulman is arguably the most experienced player on the final table. Schulman is used to playing not only big buy-in tournaments but also high-stakes cash games in Las Vegas.
Formerly a pool player, the 39-year-old first came into the poker spotlight when he conquered the WPT Finals event for $2,167,500. That result from November 2005 remains Schulman’s top score, but he’s still one of the most dominant and versatile players in the world.
He boasts four WSOP bracelets from three games: No-Limit 2-7 Draw, Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo, and Seven-Card Stud. Moreover, he has a complex experience with live-streamed tables, being a successful player as well as expert commentator.
Sami Bechahed started collecting live tournament cashes in July 2018 when the French-born poker dealer moved to the other side of the felt. With a fifth or higher place finish here today, he’ll break $1 million in total reported tournament earnings. Bechahed surely aims higher with his chip-leading stack.
He already nabbed three six-figure scores in his five-year career. Two of those came from sub-$400 buy-in tournaments in L.A.; a runner-up finish among 5,302 entries and a victory in a 3,065-entrant field. In addition to that, Bechahed claimed $274,916 for his win in the WSOP Circuit Dallas/Oklahoma Main Event in November 2022.
The first PokerStars North American Poker Tour Main Event champion in 12 years will be crowned today as seven players return for Day 4 of the $1,650 Main Event at Resorts World Las Vegas. That includes chip leader Sami Bechahed, the only player at the final table with more than 100 big blinds.
The Californian will use those chips to fend off accomplished professionals Sergio Aido and Nick Schulman, who with a combined $32 million in tournament earnings may prove difficult to stop, as well as fellow Californian Sandeep Pallampati and East Coast grinders Ping Liu, David Coleman and Jonathan Borenstein.
NAPT Main Event Final Table
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
There were plenty of highlights on Day 3 as the final table formed. Ryan Leng went out in ninth place before the elimination of Day 2 chip leader Anthony Dianaty, who ran jacks into the aces of Bechahed as he surrendered the chip leader badge.
Chip leader Sami Bechahed
Day 4 will kick off at 12:30 Vegas time on Level 30 with blinds of 50,000/100,000/100,000. PokerNews will be reporting on a 30-minute delay to avoid any spoilers of the PokerStars stream.
Each returning player has locked up a payday of $42,060 and $268,945 awaits the winner.
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 is on-site at Resorts World Las Vegas and is ready to provide updates ahead of the next NAPT Main Event champion being crowned.
