- PokerStars is reviving the North American Poker Tour (NAPT) after 12 years, with the first stop to be held in Las Vegas in November.
- The tour will feature a $1650 Main Event, a $5300 High Roller event, and a $550 PokerStars Cup at the Resorts World Las Vegas.
- The NAPT, which took place in 2010 and 2011, had been halted due to Black Friday.
- PokerStars returned to the US online poker market in 2016 and has shown renewed interest in live US tournaments in recent years.
It’s official: The North American Poker Tour (NAPT) will return to the US this year! PokerStars has stated that it will be bringing the iconic tour back to Las Vegas from November 4 – 12, 2023, pokerfuse understands.
There have been hints over the past couple of weeks that PokerStars might bring back the tour. Now we have official confirmation from the operator that the NAPT, aborted 12 years ago mid-way through its Season 2, will be making its return.
The third season of the NAPT will kick off in Las Vegas, featuring a $1650 Main Event with six starting flights, a $5300 High Roller event and a $550 PokerStars Cup. PokerStars has partnered up with Resorts Las Vegas, one of the newest properties on the Strip, to play host to the first stop of the revived tour.
“We are delighted to announce the return of this iconic series and once again hold the NAPT for poker players in North America,” said Steve Preiss, VP for PokerStars North America. “We’re working hard to ensure that this is a spectacular series and can’t wait to head to Las Vegas to get the show on the road.”
2023 NAPT Las Vegas Key Details
- Dates: November 4 – 12
- Venue: Resorts World Las Vegas
- Main Event Buy-in: $1650
- Other tournaments on the schedule: $5300 High Roller, $550 PokerStars Cup
- Play one hand & get $150 in bonus play funds
- Top-quality mobile app
- Best online MTT schedule
Back in Action After Over a Decade
The first season of the North American Poker Tour took place way back in 2010. It consisted of seven individual events taking place all over the country, including Las Vegas, Connecticut, California, and the Bahamas.
The NAPT returned for the second season in 2011, but only two events were held at the Atlantis Resorts, Bahamas and Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. Interestingly enough, Vanessa Selbst managed to book back-to-back wins in Connecticut.
Things abruptly stopped for PokerStars in the US on April 15, 2011, when the US Department of Justice seized the operator’s domains — an event that has become known as poker’s Black Friday. This forced PokerStars out of the US market, and with that, the NAPT was retired as well.
It took almost five years for the operator to return to the United States in any capacity. In March 2016, the operator launched a fully licensed poker site in the regulated New Jersey market. In the years to follow, they moved into other states, launching in Michigan and Pennsylvania. In January of this year, it connected its Michigan and New Jersey operations together to create the first multi-state PokerStars US real money network.
In recent months, PokerStars started to show renewed interest in live tournaments on US soil. The return of the NAPT is the culmination of these efforts.
Kicking Things Off in Vegas
PokerStars has selected Resorts World Las Vegas as their partner for the first stop of the 2023 NAPT. The decision does not come off as a surprise, given that the two already have a business relationship in New Jersey, where Resorts acts as the operator’s land-based partner.
The event will take place November 4 – 12, with the $1650 Main Event starting flights kicking off on November 6. There will be six Day 1 flights, so this could turn into a very sizeable tournament by the time the registration ends.
In addition to the Main, PokerStars has revealed two more events that players will get a chance to play in during the 2023 NAPT Las Vegas stop:
- $550 PokerStars Cup — November 9 – 12
- $5300 High Roller — November 10 — 12
In the days and weeks to come, PokerStars will be revealing online satellites for the NAPT event, and it remains to be seen if these will be restricted to PokerStars US platforms or if players from the dot-com and PokerStars Ontario sites will have access to NAPT qualifiers as well.
A Very Short Notice
While the return of the NAPT represents a significant landmark for PokerStars in the US, the operator decided to do things on fairly short notice. With the tournament taking place in the first half of November, there are only about nine weeks before the cards get in the air.
It is also somewhat surprising that the operator picked Las Vegas, Nevada, instead of one of the states where they also have an online presence. On the other hand, the decision may have to do with the partnership with Oracle Red Bull Racing and the fact the F1 Grand Prix in Las Vegas takes place November 15 -17. The room will award a number of packages for this unique experience.
While some questions are still to be answered, the NAPT is coming back this year, and we expect PokerStars to reveal the rest of the schedule soon.
Stay up-to-date on the triumphant return of PokerStars’ iconic live series, including stops, schedules, online qualifiers, news, and more with our complete guide to NAPT 2023-24!
