Gal Yifrach wins NAPT Main Event four days before standing trial

The North American Poker Tour’s $5,300 buy-in Main Event ended with drama as Gal Yifrach overcame the chip leader Thomas Boivin... but could the latest PokerStars champion be heading for prison?

The $5,300-entry North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Main Event saw a comeback worthy of the competition’s history as Gal Yifrach entered the final table with just 2.28 million chips, less than 20% of the chip leader Thomas Boivin. Yifrach survived the early levels, made heads-up then did a deal with the Belgian professional before winning the title, claiming an amended top prize of $543,025.

Gal Yifrach, who won the event on the American’s 39th birthday, outlasted 737 other entries to win the biggest live score of his poker career in capturing the NAPT Main Event, but with an impending pre-trial conference on November 17th Yifrach could be spending some serious time in jail rather than boosting his bankroll.

Yifrach, an experienced player with almost $3 million in career earnings, even had his mother on the rail as he won the biggest event of his life at Resorts World Las Vegas. The well-known cash game player, who has appeared on Live at the Bike and Hustler Casino Live in recent years, smiled for the cameras. However, a recent California court case has hung over his poker achievements for the last three years.

What Has Yifrach Been Accused Of?

Dating back to March 2022’s indictment, Yifrach is the subject of a federal investigation into allegations of operating an illegal gambling business and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Despite his NAPT Main Event victory, Yifrach has four days to prepare for an even more important final table - the one he’ll sit at to defend himself at court.

Yifrach's alleged illegal gambling operation encompassed a number of prohibited activities. A grand jury filed a superseding indictment against the former WSOP bracelet winner on January 16 of this year detailing crimes that included but were not limited to “supplying, operating, and maintaining video slot machines and devices” for nefarious gain.

Yifrach allegedly took cash from a California casino from January 2018 to January 2022 and ‘washed’ it into clean money he could invest in real estate and other operations. After the charges were brought, Yifrach and his co-defendants apparently continued to run his operation for over a year after he was indicted.

With over 140,000 pages of evidence being put to the NAPT Main Event champion, Yifrach could face up to 25 years in prison, as well as $750,000 in fines and 36 months of supervised release if he is convicted.

After his co-defendant Schneur Zalman Getzel Rosenfeld pleading guilty to the charges last summer, Gal Yifrach faces an uphill battle tougher than anything he has scaled in the poker world... even in Las Vegas this week.

North American Poker Tour 2025 $5,300 Main Event Final Table Results:

*after a heads-up deal