The PokerStars North American Poker Tour Las Vegas festival is only a few days old, but Nick Petrangelo has already staked a solid claim as one of the players of the series. Shortly after finishing runner-up to Cherish Andrews in the first PokerGO Tour-qualified event of the festival, Petrangelo immediately moved on to play a $20,000 no-limit hold’em event.
The tournament needed an extra day to finish after drawing 53 entries. But on Wednesday, Petrangelo followed his second-place finish in the $10,000 mystery bounty with a tournament title in an even higher-stakes affair. The two-time bracelet winner won the tournament outright, claiming the $309,030 first-place prize along with the spade trophy.
This victory also earned Petrangelo 360 Card Player Player of the Year points. Jesse Lonis, currently the front-runner in the Card Player POY race, presented by CoinPoker, tacked $111,400 and 180 points onto his totals with a fourth-place showing. This was his 28th final-table finish, with eight titles won so far in 2025. Lonis’ to-date POY earnings now sit at more than $11 million, while his career haul has grown to more than $27.5 million. More than $430,000 of that has come from his two scores at Resorts World Las Vegas, which is the venue for this NAPT stop.
Cary Katz also made his second consecutive PGT-qualified final table. Katz added a fifth-place finish ($86,000) in this event to eighth place in the aforementioned bounty event. Faraz Jaka, the runner-up in this tournament, recorded his sixth six-figure live result of 2025.
Petrangelo now has $41,822,981 in recorded career earnings, including 22 significant tournament wins. Even with a somewhat limited tournament schedule, this was Petrangelo’s sixth final-table finish and 11th cash. He had not yet captured a title on the year.
Petrangelo Front-Running NAPT Las Vegas Dream Seat Race
This victory is Petrangelo’s seventh career PGT title, but his first since 2022. While his results for the 2025 season aren’t enough to put him into a contending spot in terms of the top 40, Petrangelo has eyes on another way into the PGT $1,000,000 Championship. Petrangelo’s 247 PGT points for this win, combined with 72 PGT points for his first result of the festival, give him a front-running spot on the NAPT Las Vegas Dream Seat leaderboard through three qualifying events.
Speaking of the PGT leaderboard, which automatically qualifies the top 40 players who cash in at least three PGT events over the course of the season, several players at this final table are currently in qualifying positions. Lonis (6th), Kristen Foxen (12th), and Stephen Chidwick (21st) are all in strong positions heading into the tail end of the season. Thomas Boivin (43rd) and reigning PGT POY champion Jeremy Ausmus (52nd) are both within striking distance, but each has plenty of opportunities to improve their standing.
Foxen earned $146,800 as the third-place finisher. The women’s all-time money leader now boasts over $14.3 million, giving her more than a $3.4 million lead over second-ranked Vanessa Selbst.
NAPT Las Vegas runs through November 12, with a $5,300 main event that kicks off November 6.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points |
| 1 | Nick Petrangelo | $309,030 | 360 |
| 2 | Faraz Jaka | $202,600 | 300 |
| 3 | Kristen Foxen | $146,800 | 240 |
| 4 | Jesse Lonis | $111,400 | 180 |
| 5 | Cary Katz | $86,000 | 150 |
| 6 | Jeremy Ausmus | $65,800 | 120 |
| 7 | Stephen Chidwick | $50,600 | 90 |
| 8 | Thomas Boivin | $40,600 | 60 |
Photo credit: Rational Intellectual Holdings Ltd. / Matthew Berglund.
