Flashback: Sami Bechahed Wins 2023 PokerStars NAPT Main Event
Last year’s PokerStars North American Poker Tour Las Vegas $1,650 Main Event wrapped saw the final seven players from a 1,095-entry field return to battle it out at a live-streamed final table. After eight hours of play, it was poker dealer Sami Bechahed, whose wife was nine months pregnant at the time, emerging victorious to claim a $268,945 top prize and the first NAPT Main Event title in 12 years!
“(It took) a lot of patience. I don’t know what to say, I’m seriously so shaken,” Bechahed told PokerNews after the win. “It’s surreal to me with this stacked final table with (Sergio) Aido, (Nick) Schulman, (David) Coleman … very good players. I came out on top. It’s surreal.”
Bechahed started collecting live tournament cashes in July 2018 when the French-born poker dealer moved to the other side of the felt. He had already nabbed three six-figure scores in his five-year career and had $941,234 in prior tournament earnings.
“I came in as the chip leader, so I didn’t have to be intimidated by anybody,” he added. “I have a lot of mad respect for all of them, but I’m here to play poker. I’m mostly playing poker to have fun but I take it very seriously. So, I came here to have fun, play my best game, and got really lucky.”
2023 NAPT Las Vegas Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sami Bechahed | United States | $268,945 |
| 2 | Jonathan Borenstein | United States | $168,175 |
| 3 | David Coleman | United States | $120,130 |
| 4 | Ping Liu | United States | $92,410 |
| 5 | Sergio Aido | Spain | $71,080 |
| 6 | Nick Schulman | United States | $54,680 |
| 7 | Sandeep Pallampati | United States | $42,060 |