Day 4 of the $5,300 PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Main Event at Resorts World Las Vegas wrapped up quickly, with only 16 players still in the hunt for the $653,050 top prize. After just three levels of play, Belgium’s Thomas Boivin bagged the chip lead with 3,365,000 and will return as the player to catch.
Boivin came into the day near the top of the counts and wasted little time taking control. With over $13 million in live earnings and a long list of big results, he’s no stranger to deep runs on the biggest stages. His steady play and timely aggression helped him pull away from the pack late in the day.
Right behind him sits Richard Green with 2,800,000. The American has been making a name for himself on the live scene, and this deep run could mark his career-best result. Kazakhstan’s Baurzhan Akimov rounds out the top three with 2,595,000 after winning a massive pot early on when his queen-ten outdrew Jesse Lonis’s ace-king in a five-bet showdown.
The field started with 40 players and was quickly trimmed as big names hit the rail. Matthew Salsberg, Jeremy Ausmus, Shannon Shorr, Mike Vanier, Ryan Riess, Toby Lewis, and Kai Nicholls were all eliminated before play ended for the night.
PokerStars Team Pro and chess grandmaster Jen Shahade is still in the mix despite a short stack of 555,000. Others to watch include Michael Berk (1,785,000), Gal Yifrach (900,000), and Jesse Yaginuma (820,000), all proven players capable of turning things around when the cards fall their way.
Play resumes at 12 p.m. local time with blinds at 10,000/20,000 and a 20,000 big blind ante. The goal for Day 5 is to reach the final six. Every player left has locked up at least $29,350, but with pay jumps getting steeper and the final table within sight, expect the action to heat up fast.
