Travel Report: LAPT9 Uruguay, Day 1b -- Going for Three

The second and last Day 1 flight for the $1,500 buy-in Latin American Poker Tour Uruguay Main Event was bigger -- no surprise there -- with the ultimate number being 438 entries, making a prize pool of $571,590 with $110,870 up top (barring a final table deal).

I mentioned how the event is a re-entry, and today it was Oscar Alache busting just prior to the dinner break (after which late registration concluded and the re-entry option ended), then he bought in again and in just four levels spun up a tournament leading stack heading into Sunday’s Day 2. Both he and Nacho Barbero made it through today on what was each player’s third entry in this sucker (both entered once on Day 1a, then twice on Day 1b).

Alache, of course, has won two LAPT titles before, as has Mario Lopez who’ll return to a top five stack and Barbero (who is sitting just outside the top 20 with 155 players left. Only Fabian Ortiz is missing from the two-time champs club, as he didn’t make the trip this time. No player has ever won three.

I suppose these references to all-time records during the nine seasons’ worth of LAPTs will be set aside starting next year, although we’ll probably find a way to keep bringing back what has become a fairly invovled history of events in the various LAPT stops.

And from what I’m gathering, they’ll probably be going to back to all of the current ones next year, mostly as “PokerStars Festivals” with the one in Panama being a “PokerStars Championship.” In other words, while the LAPT may technically be ending this year, the “tour” of Central and South American stops will continue as usual, only as part of the larger global tours.

It strikes me that the players who typically populate the fields in these events in places like Chile, Uruguay, Panama, and Brazil (and Peru, Argentina, and a few other places in the past) are all still likely going to come to the newly-branded series when they come around. (Truly, if you step back and take a look, when the LAPTs come around they fit into ongoing, year-round tournaments being offered at all of these stops, anyway.) And if the new “Championships” and “Festivals” work to draw a few more players from North America, Europe, and elsewhere, so much the better.

More mañana. Check that PokerStars blog to see if any of these two-timers really get close to making it tres.

Photo: courtesy Carlos Monti / PokerStars blog.

Looking Back Along the Long and Winding LAPT Road

Was just reading a nice post from my friend Sergio Prado for the Brazilian PokerStars blog in which he looks back at nine years of the Latin American Poker Tour.

I’ll admit I had to use Google translate, as my Portuguese is essentially limited to a single word. That said, I think I can make out what his title means well enough: “Minha homenagem ao LAPT.”

Sergio has been an important part of the LAPT for the entire way, ever since the first LAPT event took place back in May 2008 in Rio de Janeiro. As he recounts in his post, tournament director Mike Ward and Reinaldo Venegas (who like Sergio has blogged while also serving other roles with the tour) have both been there throughout as well. A number of others have been there for much of it, too, and Sergio does a nice job remembering them while sharing some nice photos along the way.

My first time visiting the LAPT was way back in June 2010 during Season 3 when I went with Brad Willis to Lima, Peru and we helped cover Jose “Nacho” Barbero’s second straight LAPT Main Event win. I believe that was my first time ever in South America, and the trip was followed by more visits to Peru, as well as to Chile, Uruguay, and Brazil, then also to Panama a couple of times and to the Bahamas where the LAPT likewise added an event.

Sergio’s post got me thinking again about the new branding by PokerStars of its tours and how the introduction of the new PokerStars Championships and PokerStars Festivals will mean the end of these regional tour designations like the EPT, the LAPT, the APPT, and so on. In some ways it’s just a change of name, but then again it signifies something more, given the way each of these tours developed its own history and character as shaped by the players and personalities involved.

I’m slated to go to Punta del Este next week where I’ll meet up with Sergio and along with others we will report on the LAPT9 Uruguay stop, which I’m only today realizing will be the very last regular LAPT series. There’s still the LAPT9 Grand Final to go in Brazil in November, although that will only involve a single main event, not an entire festival. I won’t be making that November trip, as I have other things happening, so the long voyage down to Uruguay will represent my last LAPT ride.

I imagine I’ll be having my own homenagem to share afterwards once that’s done, given how much I’ve valued the experience of covering those tournaments and most importantly getting to meet and work and laugh with the people Sergio lists in his post. To him and all them I gratefully deliver my only Portuguese word...

Obrigado!

Photo: courtesy Carlos MontiPokerStars blog.

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: LAPT7 Peru, Day 3 -- Muy Rápido

An unexpectedly fast one yesterday at the Latin American Poker Tour Peru Grand Final. Not sure why I always come to these events anticipating days to last longer than they ultimately do, but one of these times I’ll remember that on the LAPT the pace is pretty much always muy rápido.

We had 45 players to start the day and had to play down to eight. Settled in thinking it would take us deep into the night to get there, but they managed to work all of the way down to that goal in just under six one-hour levels.

Was a wacky day, really, with the player who started it in 41st place out of 45 -- Jerson Backmann of Mexico -- ending the day with a big chip lead. Another one, Argentina's Jose Torre, was in 44th position, and he made the final table, too, with a middle-of-the-pack stack. Meanwhile Nacho Barbero's quest for a third LAPT title came up short as he busted in 17th.

The early finish allowed us finally to break free from the casino and head a few blocks away to enjoy a nice meal at a restaurant called Punto Azul where I enjoyed a delicious dish of fettuccine full of seafood with the black squid ink adding some extra flavor and character.

Having to be muy rápido with posting today as the final table is drawing near. Check the PokerStars blog today for updates, and while you’re watching the NFL perhaps look in on the LAPT Live stream as well.