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PokerStars Continues Upping the Ante for NAPT

Written by Jennifer Newell
Last updated on

It’s not like PokerStars to sit back and accept the status quo.

For years, PokerStars was the global online poker market leader by a fair margin. Of course, Black Friday put the brakes on all of that. But PokerStars took its punishment before slowly and carefully reentering the US market several years later. It withstood serious vetting by the New Jersey gambling regulator and played by every rule when it received its NJ online poker license. It expanded eagerly into Pennsylvania and then into Michigan well ahead of any competitors.

The market share for online poker in regulated states is limited. But PokerStars has done everything possible to give itself the best chance to lead the market(s). What PokerStars has been missing is the live poker component.

So, it’s bringing back the NAPT – North American Poker Tour – and doing so with all of the perks and excitement that accompanied the NAPT before Black Friday.

NAPT Return Schedule

The North American Poker Tour was a hit from the start in 2010, but PokerStars had little time to enjoy its success and foster its growth before Black Friday did its damage in April 2011.

In 2023, PokerStars revived the brand, announcing that PokerStars USA would host the NAPT Las Vegas in November. Specifically, the series will run November 4-12 at Resorts World Las Vegas with 20 events and more than $3M in tournament guarantees, half of which is reserved for the Main Event. (The official series is nearly double that number, but many of those events are qualifiers and not unique tournaments.)

The schedule of official NAPT tournaments is as follows:

  • Nov 5-6 (Event 3):  $1,100 NLHE Deepstack w/unlimited reentries ($125K GTD)
  • Nov 5-6 (Event 4):  $360 Women’s NLHE w/single reentry ($20K GTD)
  • Nov 5-7 (Event 5):  $10,300 NLHE Super High Roller w/unlimited reentries
  • Nov 6-11 (Event 9):  $1,650 NLHE Main Event w/6 flights & unlimited reentries ($1.5M GTD)
  • Nov 6-7 (Event 11):  $550 NLHE Seniors (50+) w/single reentry ($20K GTD)
  • Nov 6 (Event 12):  $550 PLO w/single reentry ($20K GTD)
  • Nov 7-8 (Event 16):  $5,300 PLO w/single reentry
  • Nov 7 (Event 17):  $250 NLHE w/unlimited reentries ($20K GTD)
  • Nov 8 (Event 20):  $550 8-Game w/single reentry ($20K GTD)
  • Nov 9-11 (Event 22):  $550 NLHE PokerStars Cup w/4 flights & unlimited reentries ($300K GTD)
  • Nov 9-10 (Event 23):  $5,300 8-Game w/single reentry
  • Nov 10-12 (Event 25):  $5,300 NLHE High Roller w/single reentry ($500K GTD)
  • Nov 11-12 (Event 27):  $1,100 NLHE Mystery Bounty w/2 flights & unlimited reentries ($250K GTD)
  • Nov 11 (Event 29):  $550 Omaha-8B w/single reentry ($20K GTD)
  • Nov 11 (Event 30):  $250 NLHE w/unlimited reentries ($20K GTD)
  • Nov 12 (Event 31):  $360 NLHE w/unlimited reentries ($20K GTD)
  • Nov 12 (Event 32):  $1,100 NLHE Last Chance Super Hyper Turbo w/unlimited reentries ($50K GTD)

There are also four special tournaments included in the schedule for players staying through the F1 festivities.

  • Nov 16 (Event 200):  PokerStars x Oracle Red Bull Racing VIP Invitational freeroll
  • Nov 16 (Event 201):  $200 PokerStars x Oracle Red Bull Racing charity tournament
  • Nov 17 (Event 202):  $200 PokerStars x Oracle Red Bull Racing charity tournament
  • Nov 18 (Event 203):  $200 PokerStars x Oracle Red Bull Racing charity tournament

Big Game Returns

PokerStars has been providing numerous ways to win prize packages to attend the NAPT. There were online satellites for players on the PokerStars sites in Michigan, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania in the US and Ontario in Canada.

Meanwhile, it is adding extra action to the NAPT schedule, creating even more of an experience than already provided by the series schedule and the Formula One action thereafter.

The biggest news to emerge in recent weeks was that PokerStars decided to bring back the Big Game.

PokerStars Big Game

This was a televised cash game that aired in 2010 and 2011 – ultimately another casualty of Black Friday – but hadn’t been revisited until now. The focus of the show was to put one “loose cannon” into a No Limit Hold’em cash game, with the “loose cannon” qualifying for free but the others putting up their own money to play. The kicker was that the qualifier was staked to play but had to earn enough in the cash game to pay back the stake and profit so she/he could keep that profit.

The return of the Big Game will again bankroll a qualifier to play as the “loose cannon” in 150 hands of a cash game, complete with a $50K stake to play.

New to this iteration of the show, however, will be a camera crew following the entire process of the “loose cannon” winning the seat and through the action. In addition, the qualification process is unique, as everyone has the chance to qualify for a set of shootout tournaments that will play on November 5, with the top 20 finishers going to the cashing process on November 6-7. Judges like James Hartigan and Joe Stapleton will participate in a panel to judge the auditions, and they will choose two winners to be “loose cannons”.

The Big Game will turn into 10 episodes of televised content to be aired sometime in 2024. PokerStars will announce more details soon.

Pulling Out All the Stops

As mentioned, PokerStars is not one to sit back and accept its place in a stagnant market. The operator is going to make the most of the hand its dealt. And it’s doing just that by bringing back the NAPT brand.

But it’s not just for the US market. PokerStars has run satellites on its global dot-com site as well, and players won prize packages worth approximately $20K to fly to Vegas for the NAPT and stay for the Formula One race.

There have been satellites and giveaways. The excitement is building. PokerStars is ready for a new chapter in US poker.

Jennifer Newell

Jennifer Newell

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View All Posts By Jennifer Newell

Jennifer Newell is a freelance writer at LegalUsPokerSites. She has two decades of experience in the iGaming industry. She is a respected poker media member, contributing to publications and websites like USA Today, PokerStars, and PokerScout. Her knowledge spans gambling legislation and the broader online gaming world. She has spent years advocating for diversity, most notably gender equity in the traditionally male-dominated poker sphere.

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