A Heads-Up Couple

I’ve had the good fortune to have had the chance to cover poker tournaments in a variety of countries around the world, including having on both the European Poker Tour and the Latin American Poker Tour.

There isn’t usually too much overlap among players in the EPT and the LAPT -- not too surprising, of course, given that the festivals take place on different continents. The PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas is where the tours all collide, more or less, with the recent addition of the LAPT Bahamas event helping encourage further the mixing of players from Europe, Central and South America (and the U.S., too).

Ivan Luca of Argentina is one of the few who I’ll encounter turning up at both EPT and LAPT events, which means I’ve also grown accustomed to seeing his girlfriend, Maria Lampropoulos, often railing him. Luca’s been a consistent performer for a few years now, and currently sits inside the top 30 in the Global Poker Index overall rankings.

Lampropoulos also plays and has done well, too, occasionally going deep in events at festivals I have covered. Just recently she made it relatively deep in the EPT Dublin Main Event (finishing 58th), while Luca was final tabling both the €25K High Roller and another €5K side event.

It’s come up a few times, then, whenever Lampropoulos is in an event that someone will mention the fact that she and Luca are a couple, usually with an eye toward bringing that side story into the coverage somehow. And it usually does get mentioned, although my instinct often is not to make such a big deal out of poker couples unless there’s some compelling reason to do so.

For example, in 2011 you might remember how with just four tables left both Doc Sands and Erika Moutinho -- then a couple, later married -- were among those remaining, and in fact they were seated next to each other on the feature table for a time. That was an instance where it wouldn’t have made much sense not to draw attention to the pair’s relationship. (Sands ended up finishing 30th and Moutinho 29th.)

Was following the conclusion of the LAPT Chile Main Event today which ended with Rodrigo Strong of Brazil outlasting the Chilean Fabian Chauriye heads-up to win. Luca and Lampropoulos chose not to play in Viña del Mar, instead deciding to play in the Eureka Rozvadov Main Event over in the Czech Republic, and as it happened another one of those interesting situations happened making it impossible not to remark on the relationship status of a couple of poker players.

That’s because out of 682 entries, Luca and Lampropoulos both survived to make the final table, and then somewhat incredibly both made it to heads-up as well. At that point they struck a deal (natch), then Luca went on to win.

I watched a bit of the live stream on Twitch over on the PokerRoomKings channel this afternoon -- including the heads-up portion -- featuring one of the most unenthusiastic poker commentators I’ve ever heard. During the hour or so I watched his analysis seemed almost entirely limited to complaints about the pace of play. (I’ll quote a sample: “This is hardly bearable. Jesus Christ. God this has taken too long of our lives.”)

Too bad, because it seemed like a story worth having some fun with, especially when the pair got into some table talk regarding postflop decisions in one of the hands. (That was when we heard that bit quoted above, in fact.) Off the top of my head, can’t think of another instance of a couple getting to heads-up in a tournament as big as that one. Deserved a bit more excitement, I thought.

The tourney ended with a kind of cooler for Lampropoulos when a river card that filled a straight for her also made a flush for Luca. I suppose that wasn’t the appropriate outcome on this International Women’s Day, but it still made for a pretty cool story, one you can read more about over on the PokerStars blog and at PokerNews.

Image: Eureka Poker Tour logo.

Fire in the Distance

Short postscript today on the Chile trip as I continue to get readjusted back to life on the farm.

Happened to see a story tonight describing a huge forest fire raging over in Valparaiso, the ciudad herman (“sister city”) of Viña del Mar located just a few kilometers southwest down the Pacific coast. Sounds like they’ve evacuated 4,500 people already from both port cities and likely will be evacuating more soon. Click here to see some of the incredible, frightening images of the fire which contrast wildly with the serene scenes I was posting from my trip this week.

I was reminded how during the week I had heard a story related to the preponderance of stray dogs in Viña del Mar. Last year I was there during March and wrote here about all of the dogs about. Most are friendly and obviously cared for and fed, and some are even being vaccinated, I believe, although it is still a problem. I remember having read then something about how there were similar issues with strays in other Chilean cities (including Santiago), too.

This year there did seem to be even more dogs on the streets and the beach, and the story I heard that it was related to a huge fire in Valparaiso last April, subsequently called “The Great Fire of Valparaiso.” That one lasted five days, killed 15, and destroyed 2,500 buildings.

Dogs fled the city and many didn’t return (apparently), ending up adding to the already large population of strays in Viña del Mar. That was the explanation I heard this week, although I didn’t realize the fire was as recent as it was (and thus didn’t necessarily explain all of the dogs as many were there before).

Now people (and dogs, presumably) are fleeing their homes again as high winds carry the new blaze onward to threaten both cities. It’s an area somewhat prone to natural disasters, with earthquakes an ongoing threat. An earthquake forced the cancellation of the LAPT stop there once (back in Season 3), and I remember there was one in the area just after I left last year.

That said, while the high winds and dry conditions do make fires a danger (particularly this time of year), what I’m reading regarding both the investigation of last year’s blaze and the new one this week indicate both might’ve been started via human negligence.

In any event, I’m hopeful the fire will be contained soon and doesn’t grow to be as destructive the one from a year ago from which residents -- both two- and four-legged -- are still feeling the effects.

Chilling in Chile (Again)

Mentioned yesterday how I’d had a chance to dine with some of the Brazilian players and media on the last night of LAPT Chile. Started out as a small group with just me, Brazilian blogger Sergio and his girlfriend Rebeca, and Andre Akkari.

Eventually a few more showed to fill seats at the other tables we’d had the waiters at Tierra de Fuego slide together. Then we had more tables moved as more and more arrived. Eventually there were more than 25 in our party, and I joked with Felipe (another of the Brazilian media) how the building wasn’t going to be big enough for the table.

“They’ll be able to build an extension after tonight,” he grinned.

Indeed, it turned out to be quite the feast (and quite the bill). Most had steak, but since that's what I'd had the night before I went with the swordfish, which was scrumptious. As happened the night before, I found myself surrounded by Portuguese, a language about which I haven’t the first clue. Some (like Sergio, Felipe, and others) spoke some English, too, but I’d sometimes go several minutes only listening and watching.

It reminded me a little of living in France years ago where I knew some French but occasionally would be thrust into situations where I couldn’t keep up well enough to speak myself, and thus could only listen. The fact that there were so many top poker players among the group made me think about non-verbal “tells” a little, and how one can develop a kind of literacy in that realm that is analogous to learning a language.

Unlike in France, though, here I didn’t have much chance of picking up words, except when the conversations had to do with poker in which case I realized I could follow pretty well the gist of what each speaker was saying even without the vocabulary. It’s interesting how a bad beat story transcends verbalized language, with expressions, shrugs, polite nods, sympathetic smiles and laughter, and other gestures adequately conveying all.

Got up early Thursday to get some work done before being forced to check out at noon, then spent much of the afternoon with Caue, another of the Brazilian contingent. We enjoyed a ceviche lunch at the Peruvian restaurant, Ica, where I had eaten once before last year, then explored the city a bit before he was due to leave. Caue and I had a chance back at Panama to visit the Canal together before, and again we had a good time discussing various subjects, seeing some sights, and enjoying what turned out to be a beautiful sunny day.

Was on my own near the end of the afternoon and so spent some time on the beach reading and people-watching, and also looking out on all of the cruise ships passing to and fro not far from the shore. At the center of that one to the left is El Castillo Wulff, which hangs out over the sea not far from my hotel and the Enjoy Casino Viña del Mar. (Click any of the pics in this post to enlarge.)

Eventually I caught my shuttle to Santiago, winding back through the mountains and vineyards as the sun started to set on the day. The overnight flight was about as good as it gets, comfort-wise, as I drew a row to myself and was able to sleep a little after watching an episode of Ken Burns’s The Roosevelts -- the one in which TR gets shot while delivering a speech and continues on another hour before getting medical attention.

After stopping through Dallas finally touched down around noon today, getting back to the farm an hour after that. The horses remembered me, or at least they pretended to after I greeted each with a carrot. Vera definitely did, and while it was another fun trip -- made more so by the great LAPT staff and others with whom I got to work again -- I was glad once again to be back in my home hemisphere.

Travel Report: LAPT8 Chile, Day 4: Vamoooo!

“Four left, and all three stories still in play.”

So I said to Sergio, the PokerStars Brazilian blogger, yesterday afternoon as the tournament was down to just four players.

The last day of the Latin American Poker Tour Chile Main Event this year featured one of the more exciting final tables to follow that I can remember from the LAPT. Probably only the very first LAPT Main Event I helped cover -- the one in Lima back in Season 4 in which Nacho Barbero won his second title back-to-back -- rivaled it in terms of the at-the-table drama.

There were parallels between the finishes of both events, as this one also ended up featuring an almost-back-to-back champion, with Oscar Alache of Chile winning after having just won the LAPT Peru Grand Final back in October. There was the LAPT Bahamas event in between, which technically makes Alache not a back-to-back champ. He becomes only the third player ever to accomplish winning two LAPTs so far, joining Barbero and Fabian Ortiz.

Another similarity was the presence of Barbero himself at this final table. He ended up finishing fourth, although did earn a six-figure payday thanks to a four-handed deal. The stacks were on the short side near the end and so a decent amount of luck was involved with how things played out, at least until heads-up. Still, it was something to see Barbero get that far yet again at this, his seventh LAPT Main Event final table (a record).

What helped make the final table even more exciting, though, was Renata Teixeira almost becoming the first woman to win an LAPT Main Event. She led, in fact, at the time of the four-handed deal, and after knocking out Javier Venegas in third had a slight lead to start heads-up versus Alache. She also (in my opinion) gave Alache a tougher time than did his heads-up opponent back in Lima last fall, Daniel Campodonico, but after a half-hour Alache was able to whittle away enough at her stack to take the lead, then he’d win an all-in with pocket tens versus her A-Q-suited.

I said yesterday how I expected there might be a fun rail for this one thanks to Teixeira being there as not only the last woman in the tournament but the last Brazilian, too. And I wasn’t disappointed as there were a few dozen loud supporters, many donning purple wigs to match Teixeira’s hair (that’s a picture of some of them above, taken by the great Carlos Monti). They even had a fight song of sorts they’d sing urging her on, in between the usual shouts of “Vamoooo!”

Probably the most dramatic moment happened at seven-handed when Teixeira (who started the table eighth of eight in chips) ended up all in on the turn with trip aces versus Rodrigo Quezada’s flopped flush, then rivered a full house to survive and cripple Quezada (who soon went out in seventh). The place was absolutely rocking after that fifth-street card.

Everything wrapped up by early evening, then I had a chance to go out to dinner with Sergio and a huge group of Brazilian players and media, including Teixeira. That, too, was a fun time, which I think I’ll save to write about tomorrow after getting home.

Meanwhile, I’ve only got a short while here to pack and get out of my room, with my flight not being until later tonight. Will get to explore Viña del Mar a little today, and it looks to be a sunny day for it, too. Eager to get home, but don’t mind the chance to relax a little first after that wild finish.

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.

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).

Travel Report: LAPT8 Chile, Day 1b: An Hour Not Lost Is an Hour Gained

So, so glad to wake up this morning and discover that after decades of following Daylight Savings Time, Chile abolished it this year -- meaning I didn’t lose that hour I thought I had lost, and in fact felt like I’d gained one.

Was another long one yesterday for Day 1b of the Latin American Poker Tour Chile Main Event, as expected, wrapping up a little after midnight. A bigger group showed up for the second and last of the Day 1 flights, bringing the overall total number of entries to 410 and the prize pool up over $900,000.

That’s essentially the same prize pool as LAPT Chile had a year ago. It’s a bigger buy-in this time ($2,500 instead of $1,700), with more entries a year ago (609).

Not too much out of the ordinary to report from yesterday. No one was able to get close to the 197,500 that Nicolas “PKaiser” Fierro bagged on Day 1a, and so he’ll be the frontrunner by far to start play today with 139 players still remaining.

I remember first really noticing the Chilean when covering him playing the WSOP Main Event in the past, including in 2011 when he made a deep run to finish 34th. Fierro’s cashed in LAPTs before, his previous best showing being an eighth-place finish in Argentina back in Season 3 (before I started going to LAPTs).

The money bubble will burst today as the top 55 get paid and the plan calls for them to play down to 32. Perhaps we’ll even end before midnight tonight and I’ll gain another hour or two, but I’m nonetheless satisfied with the one I didn’t lose last night.

Head over to the PokerStars blog today to follow the action from Viña del Mar.

Travel Report: LAPT8 Chile, Day 1a: Fierro in Front

It was your basic noon-to-midnight run yesterday for Day 1a of the Latin American Poker Tour Chile Main Event.

There were 155 entries for the $2,500 tournament (including reentries), and surely there will be more today. That buy-in is up from last season’s $1,700, meaning the fields will probably be a little smaller although I expect the prize pools to remain comparable if not grow larger.

Early on I had a chance to meet and talk to a Brazilian poker star, Rodrigo Garrido. I’d watched him win the Sunday Million on PokerStars just a few weeks ago, and so it was interesting to discuss that victory with him as well as other things. He was the 2014 Player of the Year for the Brazilian Series of Poker, and perhaps unsurprisingly roared out to a fast start yesterday here, becoming the first player in the room to 100,000 chips.

Another player I’ve watched win a lot online did well yesterday, too -- Nicolas “PKaiser” Fierro of Chile, who just this week moved back to the top of the Pocket Fives global rankings of online players. Whereas Garrido dominated early, Fierro won a couple of big pots late to charge way out in front and end the day chip leader among the 48 making it through to Sunday’s Day 2.

Interestingly, Fierro ended with 197,500 -- the exact amount leader Jefferson Melo ended Day 1a with here last year. (Melo ended up finishing third.)

I mentioned in yesterday’s short post there was a cash game (pictured above). Dubbed a “celebrity cash game,” it included a few poker pros -- Team PokerStars Pros Christian de Leon and Andre Akkari among them -- plus some folks from the entertainment world including television personality Otavio Mesquita and the actor Gonzalo Valenzuela (who actually final-tabled the LAPT Chile Main Event a few years ago).

They weren’t playing for high stakes, but the game was fun nonetheless. It’s one of several new ideas they’re experimenting with on the LAPT this year, with the expansion of the festival schedule (from nine to 13 events) being another.

A “mix-max” event was played yesterday and attracted a decent field of 110 players; coming up will be some non-hold’em events, too, including an intriguing sounding “Dealer’s Choice” PLO event that will allow the button to call each hand whether the game will be straight 4-card PLO or the 5-card version.

Head over to the PokerStars blog today for another round of noon-to-midnight updating and see how many and who else comes out.

Travel Report: LAPT8 Chile, Pregame: Action!

Just a quick dinner break post here during the first of two Day 1 flights at the Latin American Poker Tour Chile Main Event. Things have gone smoothly thus far in the Main, with some other interesting activity here in the tournament room including a cash game and a “mix-max” side event (more on that tomorrow).

I was able to get a full night’s sleep, dozing right through the music and noise filtering through my street-facing hotel window, and after completing some other work this morning made it down for breakfast and much-needed coffee to get me up and running for the day.

Looking ahead, while I’ll be eyeballs deep in work over these next five days, I do have a late flight out on Wednesday, meaning I may get to explore the city a little more than I was able to last time around. We’ll see about that then, as well as what energy I have left in the tank when I get there.

Back to work for now. Follow along over at the PokerStars blog.

Arriving in Viña

I’ve made it back to South America to beautiful Viña del Mar where the eighth season of the Latin American Poker Tour gets going once again tomorrow with the start of the $2,500 Main Event.

The journey down was smooth, although as often happens for me with red-eyes I failed to get much rest at all sitting upright in my seat for the eight-and-a-half-hour flight. That meant spending much of the morning and afternoon in a bit of a daze as I unpacked and readied for the next several days here -- and fighting fatigue a little as well tonight as I pen this post.

I did get out during the late afternoon and early evening, however, to wander up and down the coast-facing Ave Peru walkway.

Just perfect weather here -- right at 72°F with the sun out and a light breeze. A t-shirt is fine. The clip-clop of horse-drawn carriages competed with the seagulls’ whines overhead as I walked. There were many children laughingly bouncing around the slides and monkeybars in the playground situated nearly within the shadow of the Enjoy Viña del Mar Casino. A jazz trio plus a female lead was playing live music right beside them with a large crowd gathered to listen, adding still more to the scene’s very pleasant soundtrack.

Oh yeah, and the dogs were out, too. Like always.

Eventually made it over to the Enjoy to reunite with a few LAPT folks then go with Reinaldo for a nice, leisurely dinner at a place called Entre Masas located just a couple of blocks away. They’re known for their empanadas, but we instead split a couple of dishes filled with assorted meats, veggies, cheeses, olives, and more.

Have to shut it down for now as I need to try to grab some extra rest, including making up for the hours I lost thanks to traveling eastward a couple of time zones. More to come.

Maggie, the Moon, and Me in Miami

Checking in here quickly from the Miami airport where I have stopped off en route to Viña del Mar, Chile to rejoin the Latin American Poker Tour.

After kicking off at the PCA in the Bahamas in January, Season 8 continues this week with the LAPT Chile stop. This will be a return trip for me as I was able to go to Chile around this time a year ago.

Looks like nice, mild temperatures there right now, not unlike what I’m leaving at the farm today where the sun was out and the snow from a week ago has all but disappeared entirely. Meanwhile the moon has risen to chase the sun away, as evidenced in the above pic texted to me by Vera. That’s Maggie -- who more than occasionally gets referred to as “Maggie Moon Pie” -- looking on with interest.

Looking forward to reuniting once more with all of the LAPT folks. Also curious to look in on some of the side events that will be going on alongside the $2,500 Main Event that starts on Friday. Among those are included a “mix-max” event, a straight PLO one plus something described as “PLO High Only Dealers Choice 4 or 5 Cards Freeze-Out,” and a H.O.S.E. event (all with lower buy-ins). There is a $5K High Roller on the sked, too.

The eight-and-half-hour flight from here will carry me to Santiago and to dawn tomorrow, then I’ll have another hour-and-a-half ride to the coast and Viña. Will start checking back in once there as usual, while also directing you over to the PokerStars blog for reporting from Friday through Tuesday.

Homer, Then Home

Home safe and sound after a long trip from Monday to Tuesday and from continent to continent. Was a great trip and I have to thank all of the LAPT and PokerStars folks for helping making it so.

I actually have only a little time here on the farm before I’ll be heading back out for another tourney journey, this time northward to the World Poker Tour National: Canadian Spring Championship happening at the Playground Poker Club near Montreal.

I mentioned a few times on the Chile trip how I’d been intending to go for a run at some point, and indeed finally managed to yesterday morning. I ran only about a mile or so on the beach, traveling first north then south through the soft sand.

It was overcast again, as it was for most of the mornings this week, although the temps were mild which made for a pleasant time out. I looked up now and then at the hotels and other tall structures as I went, again thinking about earthquakes. There were a few other runners about. And dogs, of course. And also a sand Homer Simpson passed out along one of the boardwalks.

I left the iPod in the hotel room and so was left with my own thoughts as I ran. I found myself thinking a little more specifically about being in another part of the world so far away from home, more than 5,000 miles in fact, kind of imagining the map and the long, slinky Chilean coast against which the Pacific meets. And a tiny little speck of me moving slowing along it.

We’ll see if I manage to do any running at all this coming week. Am doubtful, in part because I’ll be staying some distance from the venue, which’ll add some extra time the the front and back of each of the long days.

Gonna sign off and enjoy these hours here with Vera and all the animals. It may or may not be true that I sent her a message during the week asking “how are Samalam, the Magster, Sweetums, Lilypoo, Big Moe, and Frecklepants?”

The traveling is great fun and I’m grateful for the chance to do it, but really I’m a homer.

Travel Report: LAPT7 Chile, Day 4 -- Crashing and Barking

The fourth day -- final table day -- was the shortest, as often happens on the Latin American Poker Tour (and elsewhere). The long, three-hour final table bubble the day before at Viña del Mar had created several short stacks, and indeed most would bust early as eight players quickly became five and then two.

The rapid pace slowed a bit at five-handed as the remaining players took a half-hour to discuss a deal that never materialized. Then after one more knockout a deal was swiftly reached, with two more busts happening immediately thereafter to set up heads-up play between Rodrigo Perez of Chile and Mario Lopez of Argentina with Perez enjoying a better than 3-to-1 chip lead to start their duel.

Looked for a moment like heads-up play might only last a single hand as both players were dealt aces and got all of Lopez’s stack in straight away. But Lopez had the better kicker and his hand held up, and soon he drew even and then pulled ahead of the Chilean.

They’d go at it for about an hour-and-a-half before Lopez finally finished the deal to pick up the $22K or so that had been set aside for the winner after the four-way deal. In the end both he and Perez walked away with about $120K each from the $915K-ish prize pool. (Melo the muscle man, referenced yesterday, finished third.)

After all the loose-end-tying was done, Sergio and I again were able to enjoy a very nice dinner in which I again went for the seafood dish -- swordfish, this time -- followed by a super sweet ice cream-based dessert dish featuring several kinds of chocolate.

During dinner I checked the scrolling score updating the UNC-Iowa State NCAA tilt, thereby learning the Heels’ season has concluded. I had hastily filled out a bracket on Thursday morning and in fact had UNC losing their first game to Providence (which nearly happened), so for them to get as far as they did wasn’t too disappointing. And, of course, there was the added pleasure of seeing that Dook fell dramatically to Mercer in their first tourney game, which was delightful.

Got to bed at a decent hour although didn’t sleep all that well, mostly just from being restless about another long bit of travel coming up today, I think. While laying awake for part of the night I realized there had been two constants when it came to the soundtrack of my week in Chile, essentially playing at all times although I hadn’t always noticed thanks to other distractions filling my noggin’.

One was the waves, constantly crashing against the shore not too far from my hotel. Earlier in the week I managed to fashion a Pablo Neruda post along the way, noting the Chilean poet’s preoccupation with the ocean. It’s hard not to be so preoccupied with the soothing ambient noise filling all of the quiet spaces up and down the long Pacific coast.

The other was the sounds of dogs barking. As I have already mentioned this week, they’re on every corner, on the beach, everywhere. Often laying about and restful, sometimes they’re spurred to comment on goings-on around them.

One day this week I laughed when seeing a runner on the sidewalk with a leashed dog passing the same canine quartet I’d photographed the day before. All four suddenly sprang into action to chase the intruders to the next intersection, seemingly barking notice that the block was theirs.

The dogs’ night barking wasn’t so bothersome, really, and while it wasn’t so permanent as the sound of the waves it was still a frequent accompaniment.

Am heading to the airport later this afternoon for another overnight flight back, and so may do some more walking -- and perhaps even running, too -- before I leave. One last chance to commune a little with the waves and the dogs.

Travel Report: LAPT7 Chile, Day 3 -- Rumbling Along

There’s a shot to the left of my walk in each day from the hotel to the casino. I may try to go for a run along this sidewalk tomorrow morning as I don’t fly out until Monday night. Have seen plenty of others doing the same this week, along with all of the dogs about.

Kind of an oddly-shaped day in terms of the poker pacing for Day 3 of the Latin American Poker Tour Chile Main Event.

They started with 32 and raced down to nine in less than four hours. With the schedule calling for them to stop at the eight-handed final table, it appeared that the day wouldn’t be lasting much longer. Which after three straight 12-hour-plus days seemed like a good situation.

But nine-handed play managed to last three full hours of play with a 75-minute dinner break tossed in the middle, so that ended up keeping us into the evening, then after a dinner that began around 10 p.m. it still turned out to be kind of a late one.

At last I was able to enjoy an actual dinner, and took full advantage having a delicious salmon dish while talking about progressive rock and poker in Brazil with Sergio. We also talked a little about the earthquakes that regularly hit Chile, something I’ll admit I’ve been vaguely thinking about from time to time while in my fourth-floor hotel room or on the third floor of the Enjoy Viña del Mar Casino.

The LAPT stop in Chile was canceled back in 2010 after the huge earthquake hit about 175 miles south of Viña del Mar, an 8.8-magnitude monster that is one of the largest ever recorded, causing billions in damages and resulting in more than 500 deaths. That was late February that year with the tourney having been scheduled a couple of weeks later, I believe.

Others who’ve come for the stop have experienced earthquakes as well, including a minor one a couple of years ago happening during the week of the event. I can only say that I’ve experienced an earthquake one time before and in an almost trifling way.

Apparently one did hit northern Chile during the day on Saturday (we are far south), and indeed from reading around they are so frequent it seems like the chances are actually better to feel one than not to if visiting for more than just a few days. Will be just fine with missing that part of the Chile experience if I can.

Sergio’s countryman Jefferson Melo leads to enter the final table (pictured at left, as photographed by Carlos Monti). He’s led to end Day 1a and Day 2 as well, and has thereby been able to pose for some all-timer chip leader photos. With bodybuilding as his hobby, it’s hard not to avoid the puns describing Melo bulking up his stack as he muscles his way to the top of the counts.

Check the PokerStars blog for reports, and watch the new LAPT Live feed (in Spanish and Portuguese) over on PokerStars.tv.

Travel Report: LAPT7 Chile, Day 2 -- Teach and Learn

Just a couple of quick notes to share from Day 2 of the Latin American Poker Tour Chile Main Event, both tourney-related.

They played down from 195 players to just 32 yesterday, and it took from noon to midnight once again for the day’s play to complete. Along the way I had a chance to chat with Ken “Teach” Aldridge, here amid a first-time visit to South America.

Some may know of “Teach” from his World Series of Poker bracelet win back in 2009 or his runner-up finish in a World Poker Tour event in 2011. He’s collected a number of other cashes and deep runs over the last five years or so, and is an easily recognizable figure thanks to the bright yellow jacket and cap he’s always sporting.

I was kind of surprised to see him here, mostly because the number of U.S. players making the trek down for LAPT events has shrunk dramatically after Black Friday. Some events only get a couple of Americans total; I believe about six played this one.

Read my interview with Aldridge to get to know him better. I especially like his perspective on what he’s doing in his early 60s traveling about playing poker. As he explains, the game has become an avenue for him to meet others and experience the world, something I can identify with greatly.

In fact, I’ll admit I can identify with even more with “Teach,” and not just his background as an educator. As it happens, he and I were born in the same North Carolina town, and he still lives not far away so we have a number of other common touchstones.

As it happened, Aldridge and David Williams both made the cash and then busted on the same hand last night, finishing 43rd and 44th, respectively.

I also enjoyed dinner last night with LAPT President David Carrion, LAPT Tournament Director Mike Ward, LAPT Poker Manager Thomas Koo, and and LAPT Event Manager Maria Paula Montero. There was shop talk about building tours and the impressions afforded by tourney turnouts, prize pools, and other factors -- all kind of fascinating to learn about and consider.

Back to the grind. Check the PokerStars blog for updates as usual.

Travel Report: LAPT7 Chile, Day 1b -- Chile Dogs

Once a tournament gets underway and the successive days begin to play out, a routine develops for those reporting on it whereby all is generally divided into work or not-work. And for me the not-work also gets taken up with some work, too, sometimes, which kind of closes the window of opportunity for sightseeing or other extracurriculars even more.

Yesterday’s second and final Day 1 flight at the Latin American Poker Tour Main Event in Viña del Mar, Chile followed the pattern of the first with 10 one-hour levels making for a noon-to-midnight workday. There was a bigger field as expected, and in the end 609 total entries which is actually a nice-sized turnout with the upped buy-in from last year.

On the reporting side of things, a highlight was chatting with David Williams about his decision to make his first LAPT trip among other topics. We talked a little about the 10-year anniversary of his runner-up finish in the WSOP Main Event in 2004, too, and he expressed some amazement that a decade has already past.

Kind of amazed at that myself, thinking how it didn’t seem that long ago that I watched along with everyone else that year’s episodes on ESPN along with the comprehensive coverage of all the preliminary events, too, that ESPN tried that year.

Williams made it through the day with an above-average stack, as did a few other notables here on the LAPT. 195 return to start play on Day 2 which will no doubt be another long one as the plan is to play all of the way down to 32. The final table comes Sunday.

Walking back late last night with Sergio, I couldn’t help but chuckle at all of the dogs hanging out on the street sidewalks. They are everywhere, with most seeming to be without owners. I snapped that photo up above on the way in one day, a group of them hanging out as though chatting about the weather.

Gotta cut it short again as it’s been hard day’s night and I’ve been working like a dog. Go sniff around at the PokerStars blog if you’re curious to read more about what’s happening in Chile, and follow the links to watch the live stream, too.

Travel Report: LAPT7 Chile, Day 1a -- Reporting from the Rail

Some quick hit blogging here once again during the dinner break at the Latin American Poker Tour Chile Main Event.

Yesterday went well, though by night’s end I was about as tired as I could be after the travel plus having to take care of a lot of extra duties surrounding the full day of tourney work.

The Grand Ballroom in which the tournament is being held is nicely laid out, comfortable both for players and media alike. The turnout for the first of the two Day 1 flights on Wednesday ended up settling at 237 entries altogether after the re-entries ended after the dinner break.

The buy-in was upped this year from the $1,100 of a year ago (when there were 1,024 entries), to $1,700 this time (putting it more in line with other LAPT events). So the overall number entries is expected to be down a bit, and in fact there are a number of concurrent events happening this week which will likely be having an effect as well.

Still, it’s a pretty exciting time on the LAPT after having completed a successful sixth season and finding itself as popular as ever in this part of the world. The tour is growing into something starting to resemble the template set by the bigger (and senior) European Poker Tour, from the various accommodations provided to the broadening of the coverage.

Just 74 made it through the 10 one-hour levels yesterday, with the Brazilian Jefferson Melo ending the night with a little under 200,000 chips. There are more entries today (registration is still techincally open as I write), and I’d suspect tonight’s leader will have passed Melo.

I’d mentioned how Lynn Gilmartin was playing her first LAPT this week, and yesterday she battled through the dinner break only to have the misfortune of running pocket kings into pocket aces to bust (reminding me of a similar tourney experience from a while back). A highlight of the day, though, was interviewing Lynn for the PokerStars blog, which I got a kick out of and I think she did, too.

Also enjoyed talking to Carter Gill yesterday, who I mentioned before has been a hugely successful tourney run on this continent of late, including winning the LAPT6 Grand Final in Uruguay and final tabling the LAPT6 Panama event before that. Gill was friendly and humble, and while he, too, busted before the day was out he was back at it again today.

Have to sign off, but check the PokerStars blog for more scribbling and also the great pics from Carlos Monti, a.ka., the Fisherman, who snapped the one above yesterday morning.

Travel Report: LAPT7 Chile, Pregame -- Poker by the Pacific

We’ve already gotten well underway here at LAPT7 Chile at the Enjoy Viña del Mar Casino and Resort (pictured at left), as I’m stealing just a few moments here during the dinner break to post a quick update. We’ll call this a “pregame” to the regular daily reports I’ll start submitting tomorrow.

Had too much to do this morning and in fact I’m still in need of chasing missed sleep which I look forward to doing this evening. Meanwhile had a nice breakfast today with Sergio who runs the Portuguese blog for PokerStars, then also have enjoyed reuniting with the rest of the LAPT staff, the Codigo Poker guys (who do live updates), and several of the players, too, as today’s first day has progressed thus far.

Last year they had a whopping 1,024 entries here, but with the buy-in tripping up to $1,700 from the previous $1,100 that overall total might go down some but the prize pool could still be a big one.

For those who might be curious there is a live stream happening from the tourney’s start which is somewhat like what you find at the European Poker Tour. The commentating is either in Spanish or Portuguese, but even if you don’t speak either you can obviously follow the action pretty well.

Thus far today Carter Gill -- who is red hot in tournaments on this continent at the moment -- started out on the featured table. Then David Williams and Nacho Barbero moved on there, and it sounds like after the break Lynn Gilmartin’s table will be there. So click those links and take a look.

You can peek as well over at the PokerStars blog for more reporting from now through Sunday’s final. Meanwhile, it’s back to more scribblin’ for me.

Chilling in Chile

I have successfully wound my way about 5,000 miles or so south to Viña del Mar, Chile where the Latin American Poker Tour is set to kick off its seventh season with the LAPT7 Chile Main Event tomorrow.

The second flight from Atlanta down to Santiago, a red-eye that left around 10 p.m. and landed at dawn, went well and I even managed to snag a few hours sleep after watching All the Presidents Men for the umpteenth time.

Had a nice neighbor for the ride, a woman originally from Chile who moved to the U.S. as a late teen. She was heading back to visit family somewhere north of Santiago, her first trip back in a decade. We chatted about traveling, poker and gambling (the latter a predilection of her husband), and life in Chile.

Team PokerStars Pro Christian de León was on the plane, too, and we shared the shuttle from Santiago International Airport. David Williams is coming down as well and in fact was supposed to be with us, but he ended up switching plans to come a day later as the event has two Day 1 flights.

The weather greeting us as we stepped outside the airport was about as perfect as one could imagine -- upper 60s, clear and blue, with a light breeze. T-shirt weather, really, although equally comfortable in a light jacket and a far cry from the icy, wintry mix I’d left at the farm a day before.

Mountains surrounded us for the first part of the drive, then after we tunneled through a couple of them they began to receded to be replaced by ubiquitous vineyards. Eventually we neared the coast and at last the row of hotels looking out over the rocks and crashing waves where the land meets the Pacific.

Ended up resting much of the day, my repose interrupted only briefly for a short trek to snap some pics. Reunited some of the LAPT folks this evening and had a nice dinner with Reinaldo (now the media coordinator for the LAPT) before getting back to the hotel where I’m presently looking for ways to watch that NCSU play-in game that starts in about a half-hour.

More mañana.

Checking in Before Chile

Airport blogging again, this time from a quiet terminal in the Hartsville-Jackson Atlanta International airport where I have a bit of a wait. No free wi-fi here (boo), but I can make do for a short while to deliver a brief report explaining why I’m here.

This is my transfer point, and I have a few hours to kill before boarding my flight to Santiago, Chile. From there I’ll be shuttling it over to Viña del Mar for the Latin American Poker Tour’s Chile event, the first stop of Season 7 (following the PCA which gets cross-listed).

Have been to a few LAPT stops before, but never to Viña del Mar and so am curious to see some new sights as well as to reunite with the great staff, media, and the players, too, who together make LAPT events especially fun ones to cover.

I’ve already been asked if I’m a wine drinker -- alas, I’m not -- as the “Vineyard of the Sea” is a good destination for such. Am a lover of all seafood, though, and so am hoping to enjoy a few good meals amid the poker.

Am also looking forward to seeing one of my favorite poker couples, Team PokerStars Pro Angel Guillen and Lynn Gilmartin, who I know will be there. Word is Lynn is gearing up to play her first LAPT this week. Besides being a great presenter and interviewer, Lynn’s a good player, too, having a few scores to her credit. I’m remembering as well her deep run in last summer’s media event at the WSOP, where if I’m not mistaken she took third, matching the finish of another poker media type who always likes to bring that up whenever possible.

Was thinking of Lynn last night as I tuned in over at Fox Sports to catch the premiere of the WPT Alpha8 that had been scheduled and for which Lynn hosts. You’ll recall the kickoff event in that new $100K buy-in tourney series took place in Florida late last summer, and I happened to have been there to help cover the sucker. Thus was I especially curious to see the edited product, but alas bad weather caused NASCAR went late with its Sunday race and the show was preempted.

But now Lynn will be on the other side of things, and I’m already thinking I’ll have to interview the interviewer at some point this week. (That’s her, of course, with Joe Hachem from the Aussie Millions a year ago.) Stay tuned here as well as I’ll be checking in with updates and pointing you to the PokerStars blog for all of the reporting on where the chips end up in Chile.