Nick Marchington came back from break at The NAPT Las Vegas Main Event ready to battle heads-up for hours. Two minutes later, he stood on center stage in disbelief as the newly-crowned champion.
Marchington topped Joel Micka in a heads-up duel that lasted just one hand, and the English poker pro clinched the Main Event trophy and the $765,200 first-place prize.
The final two players took a 20-minute break before resuming play in the $5,300 buy-in centerpiece of the NAPT Las Vegas festival. To say that the first hand of heads-up play was a dream scenario for Marchington would be an understatement.
"We sat down for heads-up, and on the break I went through my normal routine, going for a walk on my own and just listening to music," Marchington said. "And I prepared myself for a potentially long heads-up match."
"And then I sat down, and the entire final hand, which was the only hand of heads-up, lasted about 45 seconds. I took me a while to actually process that I had won because it was all over in a flash."
Dream hand for Marchington
That hand began at 200,000/400,000 with Marchington limping on the button with 
. Micka checked his option with 
.
The flop came 
and Micka checked. Marchington made a min-bet, and Micka called. The turn then came the 
, completing the nut straight for Marchington.
Micka checked Marchington made a three-quarter pot sized bet for 750,000, and Micka called.
The river came a disastrous 
for Micka, completing an inferior straight. Micka checked and Marchington went all in before Micka snap-called for his remaining 4.2 million.
And that was that.
"I’m sure I’ve played an online tournament where the heads-up has been over in one hand, but live it’s never happened to me before. I can’t think if it happening. I’m sure it has many times, but for it to happen here is surreal."
Micka took home $478,450 for the runner-up finish. Jeff Madsen (341,750) bowed out in third to set up the finale between Marchington and Micka.
Marching to NAPT Main Event title
Marchington entered heads-up play with a 4-to-1 chip advantage over Micka, and spent most of the day with a big chip lead over everyone at the final table. He entered the six-handed final table with nearly 10-million chips, with Madsen in second with just under 5.6 million chips.
Marchington hovered around the 20-million chip mark for most of three-handed play, with Micka and Madsen trading barbs back and forth as the shot stacks.
Madsen exited after taking a beat in an all-in preflop against Micka. Madsen's 
couldn't hold against Micka's 
on a 
runout.
That hand sent Marchington and Micka on a 20-minute break, which lasted far longer than the actual heads-up match.
The $765,200 is Marchington's second-biggest career tournament score, only trailing his seventh-place finish in the 2019 World Series of Poker Main Event for $1,525,000.
"It feels like a lifetime ago when I final tabled the Main," Marchington said. "I was pretty much a spring chicken in poker. Now I feel more like a veteran, in that I’ve been doing it for a living for six years. I felt a lot more ready for the final table this time, and I’m happy with how I played."
2024 NAPT Las Vegas Day 5 results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nick Marchington | United Kingdom | $765,200 |
| 2 | Joel Micka | United States | $478,450 |
| 3 | Jeff Madsen | United States | $341,750 |
| 4 | Marco Johnson | United States | $262,900 |
| 5 | Curt Kohlberg | United States | $202,250 |
| 6 | Masato Yokosawa | Japan | $155,550 |
