PokerNews ambassador Keith "whoopsboom" Becker is one step closer to winning a trip to NAPT Las Vegas after the Pennsylvania streamer won a $100 Path to NAPT satellite to earn a PokerStars Silver Power Pass to NAPT.
The satellite, a $100 buy-in event on PokerStars PA and step four of the Path to NAPT, awarded two Silver Passes redeemable for NAPT Regional events and bi-weekly $1,000 satellites to the NAPT. The second pass went to fellow Pennsylvania grinder Mike "Dionysus1888" Lavin.
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PokerNewscaught up with Becker to learn more about the victory, which can be seen on Becker's Twitch channel, and his plans to spin it up into a $10,000 Gold Pass to next month's NAPT Las Vegas festival.
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Becker, a PokerNewsambassador since April, said he's played plenty of satellites and studied the tournament format.
"The multi-step dynamic adds a lot of variance, obviously, as you need to win not just one qualifier but several or many depending on where you start," said Becker. "But when the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is something as awesome as an NAPT Gold Pass, it's worth it.
"The biggest thing in these satellites — as in any other — is in knowing when you need to fight and accumulate chips versus when it's best to take it easy and avoid spots, ensuring you get the ticket. That's crucial. I was very fortunate in that I accumulated a large stack early and primarily just watched the action unfold amongst others on the FT. In a satellite like this you don't go for glory, you go for making sure you get the prize — and I got it!"
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Becker described the beginning of the 16-player Path to NAPT satellite as "wild" with two players who were "passive maniacs" who "either fold every hand pre or stack off for a huge pot."
"It made for a crazy dynamic, but thankfully we found ourselves with a lot of easy decisions and mostly just accumulated chips in that stage," he said.
As the satellite reached three-handed play, Becker sat back and watched as Lavin won a flip with ace-king against the pocket sevens of "Jekari1230" to secure passes for both players.
"It was particularly nice to win alongside Mike Lavin, who I've known for a long time because of Pennsylvania poker," said Becker. "Good dude and crusher in the PA streets."
Becker made it clear he plans to use is Silver Pass to win a Gold Pass to NAPT Las Vegas, a $10,000 package that includes travel expenses and entry into the $5,300 NAPT Las Vegas Main Event. Becker himself has been giving updates on Gold Pass winners in Pennsylvania including Andrew "PhillyTaxGuy" Kershaw and Jonas "NellieKane" Wexler.
"I am absolutely going to attempt to win the Gold Pass and get to play at NAPT Las Vegas," he said. "I'll be trying to capitalize on what I think is my best chance this Sunday, October 6 at 7 p.m. Eastern. And I'll be streaming that as well, so hopefully I'll have another happy clip for you soon!"
Follow Becker on his journey to winning a Gold Pass at twitch.tv/AccidentalGrenade.
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