Tom Orpaz Steals Day 1 Chip Lead in $10,300 Super High Roller at NAPT Las Vegas
The first featured event of the 2023 PokerStars North American Poker Tour Las Vegas kicked off on Sunday and Tom Orpaz leads the $10,300 NAPT Super High Roller after the first ten levels of play. The remaining 16 players will return to Resorts World Las Vegas on Monday at 12:30 p.m. to play Day 2.
A total of 36 entries turned out for Day 1 and that number may grow before late registration ends at the beginning of Day 2. The prize pool sits at $349,200 with payouts to be announced after the start of play on Monday.
Orpaz bagged 355,000 and he is followed on the leaderboard by Sergio Aido with 233,000. Richard Green has 191,000 in third while Calvin Lee and Kyung Lee round out the top five.
Orpaz was a late arrival to the tournament in Level 9, but he got off to a hot start and chased down the chip lead in the final moments of the night.
Day 1 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Name | Country | Chips | Day 2 Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom Orpaz | Israel | 355,000 | 237 |
| 2 | Sergio Aido | Spain | 233,000 | 155 |
| 3 | Richard Green | USA | 191,000 | 127 |
| 4 | Calvin Lee | South Korea | 188,000 | 125 |
| 5 | Kyung Lee | USA | 164,000 | 109 |
| 6 | Jesse Lonis | USA | 124,500 | 83 |
| 7 | Sam Soverel | USA | 115,000 | 77 |
| 8 | Myles Mullaly | USA | 84,500 | 56 |
| 9 | Samuel Laskowitz | USA | 73,500 | 49 |
| 10 | Dan Shak | USA | 62,000 | 41 |
Day 1 Highlights
After a short delay, Day 1 started with five players in their seats and Samuel Laskowitz was the first to jump to the top of the counts with the successful call of a bluff from Scott Ball. Ball moved in with just jack-ten and Laskowitz called with a pair of tens to score the early double. The hand left Ball with just 10,000 and he found a small double before he hit the rail for the first time just a few moments later.
Masato Yokosawa sat down during the second level and quickly doubled with a set of fours against Laskowitz. Yokosawa needed a second entry later in the day, but he fought hard to bag a hopeful 19,000 for Day 2. The Japanese star is looking to follow up on a strong showing at European Poker Tour stops in Cyprus and Barcelona — the latter of which produced two third-place finishes. He will return on Monday with a chance to add to nearly $1.5 million in lifetime earnings.
Kyung Lee held the lead after the dinner break, but he was soon eclipsed by the hard-charging Jesse Lonis. Lonis caught fire in the late levels, thanks in part to the ouster of Dan Shak with two pair. Shak got it in with ace-queen and top pair, but Lonis had queen-jack for two pair and the pot. Shak rejoined the tournament, but not before Lonis moved above the 200,000 mark with the aforementioned elimination of Yokosawa.
Lonis looked to be the Day 1 chip leader in the closing moments of the last level, but Orpaz came out of nowhere to bag the top stack. Orpaz joined the tournament in Level 9 and he chipped up to the 200,000 mark within an hour. It was a big hand with Lonis in the final moments that tipped the Day 1 advantage to Orpaz.
Orpaz had a world-class trip to EPT Barcelona with two wins —one in a $25,000 event and another in the $50,000 Second Chance. The second win put him over $1,000,000 in career earnings.
The remaining players will return on Monday at 12:30 p.m. for Day 2. The day will start in Level 11 with blinds of 1,000/1,500 and an ante of 1,500. The plan is to play another ten levels before the final group bags up for Day 3.
Be sure to keep it with the PokerNews team throughout the NAPT for live updates from the floor of your favorite tournaments.