The cards fell just right when it mattered most for Gregor Sverko, and the Croatian tournament grinder began his latest trip to the U.S. with a big win.
Sverko stood alone at the top of the payout ladder Monday night, emerging victorious in the NAPT Las Vegas $550 Mystery Bounty. Sverko took home the first-place prize of $46,800, plus $19,500 in bounties.
England’s Daniel Samson finished second for $28,800 after coming up short in a back-and-forth heads-up battle against Sverko. Samson came within a four-outer of eliminating Sverko during four-handed play, only for the Croatian to hit his gin card and run it all the way up to the win.
All-in and at risk preflop with 
against Samson’s 
, Sverko flopped a straight draw on the 
flop, but the 
on the turn saw his outs shrink to just the four nines in the deck. The 
came on the river to save Sverko’s tournament life, and give him the momentum needed to push on.
A hot start to the road trip
Sverko traveled to the States to play in the NAPT Las Vegas series before he heads to the Bahamas for the WSOP Paradise festival in December. The trip is off to about as good of a start as he could have hoped for.
“Feeling pretty good,” Sverko told PokerOrg after the win. Tired and good. Mixed feelings.”
Sverko clinched the win nearly 12 hours after the start of Day 2 of the Mystery Bounty. He entered final table play second in chips, with Samson as the chip leader.
The final two emerged after Shyamsundar Challa bowed out in third place for $20,530.
The heads-up battle for the tournament trophy lasted about 40 minutes, with the chip lead going back and forth multiple times. Sverko took the lead for good in a hand where he checked his option with 5-2 offsuit, saw a five and a deuce hit the flop, and managed to get paid off big.
“I just want to get it in there,” Sverko said. “An ace came on the turn and I played check, overbet river and got paid. That was a pretty big one heads up.”
The Mystery Bounty win gives Sverko the second-biggest live tournament score of his career according to the Hendon Mob. “With the bounties it’s going to be around $75K [$66,300 was the final payout], pretty good for a $550 buy-in.”
Big numbers for NAPT Las Vegas opener
The Mystery Bounty led off the 2024 NAPT Las Vegas, with five Day 1 flights playing out in the first three days of the series. Those five flights drew a combined 1,201 entries, and the prize pool nearly doubled the $300,000 guarantee, ending up at $576,480.
The field was trimmed down to 179 players by the end of Day 1E, all of which returned for Day 2 action inside the Resorts World Convention Center at noon local time Monday.
It took just over eight hours for the collection of Day 2 hopefuls to play down to the final table. Notable eliminations on Day 2 included Justin Young, Barny Boatman, Maria Konnikova, and Terrance Reid.
Most of the biggest stacks going into the final table held up as the tournament got down to the final five. The top five finishers each took home five-figure paydays, beginning with Alexandro Tricarico bowing out in fifth place for $12,180.
Chanelle Mortimatsu exited the tournament in fourth place for $15,800, setting up the battle among the final three of Sverko, Samson, and Challa.
Challa, of California, ended up limp-jamming a dominated 
into the 
of Sverko, setting the latter up with a lead he would eventually take all the way to the win.
When it came to the final hand Samson was unable to wreak his revenge on Sverko, as the latter flopped a full house holding 
on a flop of 
. Samson, with 
, could only pray for a miracle one-outer to chop the pot, but the miracles were all done for the day.
NAPT $550 Mystery Bounty final table results
| Place | Player | Prize (including bounties) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gregor Sverko |
$66,300 |
| 2 | Daniel Samson |
$37,300 |
| 3 | Shyamsundar Challa |
$25,530 |
| 4 | Chanelle Morimatsu |
$17,800 |
| 5 | Alexandro Tricarico |
$15,180 |
| 6 | Chris Johnston |
$11,420 |
| 7 | Victor Paredes |
$11,280 |
| 8 | Eric Siegel |
$6,140 |
| 9 | Chinchia Hsu |
$4,830 |
Additional images courtesy of Rational Intellectual Holdings, Ltd.
