History of the NPT

See where it al began. For the humble beginings at the dinner table, to the bright lights of prime time T.V.

It all started with a dream. A dream that my friends with unlimited financial resources would stop trying to buy the pot, and game with the $600 dollars they had in their pocket. When everyone was down to their last few chips, this is when they would strike. What came from that dream was a game where everyone started playing poker with the same amount of money.

On April 7th 2004 the NPT was born

This was the inaugural year. It started small and late. The first 5 guests showed up a half hour late. Then the remaining 4 players showed up quickly after them.







Riccio "If you don't know who the sucker is.... You're looking at him."

That year I offered the food that would become the standard at future tounaments. I think that by offering the same food every year the players can concentrate on playing and not on what there is too eat.

Mike calles the first ALL-IN in NPT History

The rules for the first year were a little vague. We changed/doubled the blinds every 2 hours. Because of this we
didn't end up crowned a champion until 3 in the morning.
The tournament would go on to learn from the mistakes of that first year.

Ben Larocco, The First NPT champion

The second annual NPT tournamentMarch 12 2005

The second NPT Tournament had even more players than the first. That year we saw some new faces , and some old ones. There was even more people that showed up from the year before.

Mark calles his mom to come pick him up

The rounds were shortened that year to prevent any 2am finishes. Everyone had a good time.

Sung yu out first, 2 years in a row

Brian is the winner of the 2005 NPT

The third annual NPT tournamentMarch 21 2006

The 2006 tournament had one of the best player turnouts in the history if the NPT.
The New and Improved traveling trophy

At the 2006 NPT we had players representing the over 40, crowd, The west Chicago region, and the best player from the university of Miami Ohio.
But the big news of the 2006 NPT tournament was the new belt.The old belt was replaced by a custom made belt.






Mike is stunned he's out so early on at his first NPT

The new belt replaces the old one created by John Pero. The new belt is what drives poker players from around the country to Battle For The Belt!!!






John Win the new and improved belt.