Nick Marchington Wins 2024 NAPT Main Event for $765,000 in Las Vegas

A stunning final table performance from 26-year-old Nick Marchington saw the British player seize the 2024 NAPT Main Event title along with a top prize of $765,200. With 895 entries, Marchington, who made the final table of the WSOP Main Event five years at the age of just 21, finally won the major title he had been seeking as he beat American Joel Micka heads-up.

Early Stages of Final Table Go with Form

The journey of Nick Marchington from poker hopeful to live boss is a short one but it has taken into each step a determination and desire from the young player. Back in 2019, Marchington was a passionate, inexperienced poker hopeful, whose base of knowledge was forcibly short, him having been too young to play the World Championship before in Las Vegas. After falling just short of achieving his dream so early in his career in seventh place, he cut a mature young man as he spoke to PokerNews after the event.

Five years on, Marchington went into the final table of this year’s 2024 NAPT Main Event with the chip lead and a very strong one. Marchington’s pile of 9.06 million was almost double that of his nearest challenger, Jeff Madsen, who sat behind 4,775,000 as the final stages began. It was legendary WSOP Main Event hero Matt Affleck who busted first, cashing for $92,000 in eighth place when he lost a flip with ace-king to Joel Micka’s pocket queens. A jack-high board was no good for Affleck as the field was whittled to seven.

Only one more player needed to bust before players would get one more night of rest before the televised final and that happened to be Brock Wilson. The American high roller regular moved all-in for just under 14 big blinds with ace-seven offsuit and was called by Madsen with pocket eights. A board of 7-4-3-2-T gave Wilson a little hope on the flop and turn but he missed nine outs on the river as Madsen eliminated him to jump into second place on the leaderboard.

Final Begins with Micka on a Charge

The early stages of the final table could hardly have gone any better for the British player Marchington, as no-one busted for a long time, but he continued to grow his stack, putting his remaining five opponents in a world of poker pain. Eventually, Masato Yokosawa shoved with pocket tens and Marchington had impeccable timing to wake up with pocket jacks, taking out the Japanese player for $155,550.

It wasn’t long before five became four, as American Curt Kohlberg crashed out in fifth place for a score of $202,250. A classic flip took place as Kohlberg wanted ace-king to hit but Joel Micka’s pocket nines held up, as a Big Slick free board of 8-7-6-J-3 sent Kohlberg to the rail and strengthened Micka’s cause.

Micka busted another player in fourth place, as he sent home Marco Johnson for a score of $262,900. Johnson three-bet shoved with ace-four but Micka woke up with pocket tens and another pocket pair held up, especially after the flop of A-T-4. A deuce on the turn and a seven on the river ended matters in Micka’s favor as just three players remained.

Marchington Crushes the Opposition

“I’ve been doing this for a living now for six years, and I felt a lot more ready for the whole experience.”

With three players left on dinner break, Marchington had a stranglehold over proceedings, with 19.83 million chips to Joel Micka’s 4.19m and Jeff Madsen’s 2.88 million. Madsen was unlucky to miss out in third, however, calling with the superior pocket queens when Marchington had shoved pre-flop with ace-ten. The flop of 8-5-2 was safe enough for the at-risk player, as was a jack on the turn but an ace came from nowhere on the river and sent Madsen home in third for a result worth $341,750.

Heads-up was an imbalanced affair going into the duel, with Marchington enjoying a better than 4:1 chip lead. It took just one single hand for the conclusion to take place, as a board of J-6-5-3-2 came and Marchington’s shove with seven-four was the nuts. It was certainly better than the five-four held by Madsen and the American couldn’t fold the straight as he called to his doom and a runner-up score of $478,450.

It was Marchington who took down the tournament and claimed the $765,200 top prize.

“I think when I made that run in the Main Event in 2019, I was a spring chicken, especially in tournaments,” he told reporters afterwards. “I was very inexperienced in poker, and now in life and in poker, I feel a lot more experienced. I’ve been doing this for a living now for six years, and I felt a lot more ready for the whole experience of a final table.”

You can watch a full rerun of the 2024 NAPT Main Event final table in the company of PokerStars commentators James Hartigan and Joe ‘Stapes’ Stapleton right here!