Travel Report: LAPT8 Chile, Day 2: Two Team Pros Bubble

About a half-hour away from getting back to it today at the Latin American Poker Tour Chile Main Event where 32 players remain from the 410-entry starting field.

Kind of a hectic day yesterday, with rapid-fire action during the early hours as 139 played down to 57 -- two spots from the cash. Then things slowed considerably as the bubble refused to burst, with an hour of non-bustouts preceding the dinner break.

Post-dinner it would take about 40 more minutes for two to fall, and somewhat uncannily the last two to be eliminated before the money were the only two Team PokerStars Pros playing in the event, with Christian de Leon going out in 57th and Andre Akkari in 56th. (What are the odds?)

Both were their usual gregarious selves upon their eliminations, and of course everyone else still in the tournament was glad at how things turned out. There was a big, funny round of applause for Akkari when he busted, and he laughed and waved to the crowd in response to congratulate them. Kind of a fun moment following the lengthy tension of the bubble.

They raced down to just 32 after that, with Javier Venegas leading the way and Nacho Barbero with a top five stack and hopes of earning a record third LAPT title. Check in at the PokerStars blog today to see how things go, and if you’re curious you can watch the LAPT Live stream as well (in Spanish and Portuguese).