Travel Report: LAPT8 Chile, Day 3: Purple Haze

We’re a couple of hours away from the start of the final table of the Latin American Poker Tour Main Event. Should be a quick one (he says, tentatively), given the fact that play went fairly late yesterday and thus the stacks are relatively shallow. Should also be fun to follow as there are a few interesting storylines in play.

There are two former LAPT Main Event winners still among the final eight, with last year’s LAPT Peru Grand Final winner Oscar Alache and two-time champ Nacho Barbero both in the hunt. Also still there is Renata Teixeira, both the last Brazilian and the last woman in the tournament, which I think will ensure a fun rail when things get going today.

Kind of funny yesterday as Teixeira made it deeper in the event to see her friends expressing support online in the form of photos in which they were shown with purple wigs to match her hair color. That picture above includes a compilation tweeted out by one of her supporters (click to enlarge).

There are other interesting characters among these eight, too -- check out these final table profiles for more on each.

We did end early enough last night to get a late dinner, and in fact I had a chance to dine with Teixeira and Ale Braga (who also cashed in the event), my blogging buddy Sergio and his girlfriend Rebeca, and a couple more Brazilian friends, Felipe and Caue. I haven’t much of a clue about Portuguese, but it was nonetheless a fun time with some good eats, as the steak and company were both excellent.

Visit the PokerStars blog today to see how Alache, Barbero, Teixeira, and the others fare, and remember you can watch it on the LAPT Live stream as well.