February 20 2012, Eric Ramsey

Season 4 of the PokerStars.net Latin American Poker Tour concluded this week with Daniele Nestola taking home the title. The timing for the Grand Final in Brazil could not have been better. In a country that needs no excuse for a party, there’s no better excuse for a party than Carnival, and it arrived alongside the Grand Final in full confetti and papier-mache regalia. It’s the biggest week of the year on the Brazilian calendar, and it came paired with the nation’s most prestigious poker tournament. A total of 367 players paid 4,000 reais apiece for a ticket to LAPT São Paulo, and the four-day event culminated in Monday’s final table.

The marriage of poker and party brought notables from as far away as Canada and Northern Europe, and the temptations were even enough to lure Daniel Negreanu to play. His influence has spread far south of the equator, and his presence alone put a notable mark on Brazilian poker. Luckily enough for fans gathered ringside, Negreanu was chatty and playing mostly fantastic poker, and he picked his way all the way through the field and into the final eight.

Daniele Nestola began the final table as the big stack and wasted no time wielding that in a pot that ended the run of Argentina’s Juan Gonzalez. They were playing 12,000/24,000/3,000 when there was a raise and a flat-call in front of Nestola’s small blind and decided to squeeze in a reraise from 54,000 to 148,000. In the big blind, Gonzalez four-bet shoved for 549,000 holding . The other two players folded out of the way, but Nestola called with , and the race was on. The board ran , and the early quads were the first sign that the day would belong to Nestola. Gonzalez was the first player to fall in his wake, earning R$26,340 for eighth place.

The final Brazilian fell in seventh place when Vitor Torres lost the last of his chips. He’s an imposing man at the table, but his short stack found him shoving into Felipe Morbiducci’s . The flop was not at all good news for the native and was awarded R$35,560 as he left the stage to a warm ovation.

Negreanu was down in the realm of 20 to 25 big blinds as the blinds went up in the second level of the day and made it clear that he was playing for the win. Unfortunately, his first bid for a double went afoul at the hands of Carlos Ibarra. Negreanu was the preflop raiser, and Ibarra called in late position to go heads-up to the flop. When it came , Negreanu continued out for 102,000. Ibarra wanted to play for 300,000 though, and his raise effectively put “Kid Poker” to a decision for all his chips. Negreanu had 575,000 left behind, and he chatted up Ibarra a bit before committing with . Ibarra had been working with though, and Negreanu was two cards from the exit. The turn and river were no use, and Negreanu’s sixth-place consolation prize was R$48,730.

That put Ibarra within striking distance of Nestola’s chip-leading stack, and the two men traded spots a couple of times before Nestola really began to turn the screws. He found the same Ibarra had used to tally a knockout of his own, and it earned him the bounty of Ecuador’s Jonathan Markovits. The latter stuck his short stack in with the respectable , but he could not overcome Nestola’s rockets, leaving in fifth place with R$64,540.

Morbiducci, from Chile, was the next to run aground at Nestola’s expense when the two got it in with and respectively. Morbiducci had his tournament momentarily extended by the flop, but the turn drew Nestola right back into the lead. The river was the , and the blank sent the first of two Chileans off to the exit in fourth place with R$89,570.

Gaspernio Nicolas had been biding his time as the price of poker had been growing, and he really began to mount a charge during three-handed play. He overtook Nestola briefly, but his time at the top was short-lived. Nestola once again found those friendly in a big pot against Nicolas, and the Nestola’s chip lead began to grow once again as he knocked his opponent down a notch.

Nicolas managed to take care of Ibarra, the other Chilean, in third place, but he was still facing an uphill battle. Ibarra’s elimination came when he bluff-shoved his short stack with on a flop. Nicolas’ was good enough to send him on his way, and he earned the first six-figure payout with a check for R$148,840 and a respectable third-place result.

Nestola and Nicolas agreed to chop R$500,000 of the remaining prize pool in half and play for the remaining R$39,300, and it didn’t take long at all for Nestola to claim that remainder and the trophy. The heads-up battle was short and lopsided, and it was a seemingly innocent limped pot that ended the day. Nicolas flopped top pair with on the , and Nestola called a bet with his drawing at the open-ender. The came right on fourth street, and the rest of the money got in right there. Nicolas was already drawing dead to the river, and he took a quarter-million Reais back home to Venezuela with him.

From start to finish, the whole tournament took just over four hours, and Nestola was likely headed out for a night of partying Carnival-style in the streets of São Paulo. He has 289,300 reasons to celebrate, and he was smiling broadly as he posed for his winner photo with the winning hand, the trophy, and all the chips.

2012 LAPT Grand Final São Paulo Results

PlacePlayerPrize (Reais)

1	Daniele Nestola	289,300
2	Gasperino Nicolas	250,000
3	Carlos Ibarra	148,840
4	Felipe Morbiducci	89,570
5	Jonathan Markovits	64,540
6	Daniel Negreanu	48,730
7	Vitor Torres	35,560
8	Juan Gonzalez	26,340

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February 20 2012, Chad Holloway

On Sunday night, Fox Sports Network aired its first tournament of Season X of the World Poker Tour – the Legends of Poker from the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California. The Legends of Poker is one of the most prestigious titles in all of poker and has been on the WPT schedule from its inception.

Last year, Andy Frankenberger topped a field of 462 to claim the $750,000 first-place prize, joining the likes of Doyle Brunson and Dan Harrington as past Legends of Poker champions. In Season X, the tournament, which was originally held Aug. 25 through 30, 2011, featured a $3,500+$200 buy-in and attracted 757 entrants, creating a prize pool of $2,570,015.

This year, the WPT’s television coverage was expanded and now includes three hours of airtime from each event, including in-depth coverage of the tournament’s early days, and more comprehensive coverage of the final table.

Prelude: The broadcast got under way with footage of Day 1a, which drew 322 players including Dwyte Pilgrim, Faraz Jaka, Matt Affleck, Phil Hellmuth, and of course the defending champ. “No one’s ever won the same tournament in the WPT twice,” Frankenberger said before the start of the action. “So I wouldn’t say there’s a lot of pressure to do it, but I put a lot of pressure on myself anyways. I always put pressure on myself to win. I hate losing.”

Not everyone was able to avoid defeat on Day 1a as Gavin Smith, Kathy Liebert, and Matt Mafafioti hit the rail, though each had the option of reentering on Day 1b. Likewise, Frankenberger busted late in the day and was not among the 141 Day 1a survivors. A few players who were, included chip leader Matt Berkey (248,500), Will “The Thrill” Failla (148,300), and Zach Clark (126,400).

On Day 1b, 435 players showed up and brought the total field up to 757 entrants. Among the entries was Chris Karagulleyan, who won the Legends of Poker in Season I, and Season V champ Joe Pelton. By the time action ended, only 197 players remained, meaning 338 returned for Day 2, with JC Tran leading the way with 265,000.

The eliminations mounted quickly on Day 2 including Frankenberger, Maria Ho, and Michael Winnett. After a long day, the field had been reduced to 99 with Ken Aldridge (659,500) leading, though Cody Slaubaugh (658,000) was hot on his heels, followed by Failla (550,500) and Berkey (502,000).

On Day 3, the money bubble loomed as 81 players were slated to be paid, meaning 18 players would leave disappointed. “Titan” Tom Braband and Dylan Hortin were among the early eliminations, and Joe Ressler earned the unfortunate distinction of being the bubble boy.

Once in the money, the eliminations came furiously. Jamie Gold scored his first WPT cash with a 67th-place finish for $7,300, and WPT Season IV Player of the Year Gavin Smith followed him out the door a short time later in 57th place for $7,710. Tran (39th – $9,250), Jonathan Little (38th – $9,250), Slaubaugh (35th – $10,280), Pilgrim (33rd – $10,280), Berkey (30th – $10,280), Allen Kessler (28th – $10,280), and Keith Kozar (23rd – $14,135) all hit the rail before play ended with just 21 players and Jeff Vertes leading the way with 2,712,000.

Day 4 saw the final 21 reduced to six, losing Dan Heimiller (20th – $14,135), Brent Hanks (16th – $19,275), Christina Lindley (15th – $24,415), Buchanan (13th – $24,415), Matt Kay (10th – $29,555), and James Carroll (8th – $51,400) along the way. Ray Henson (7th – $64,250) ended up being the final-table bubble boy.

Here is a look at the seating assignment at the start of the final table:

WPT Legends of Poker Final Table

in the big blind and had a decision to make. He removed his sunglasses, asked for a count, and eventually folded. “I can’t wait to see that, Owais,” Aronson said. “I can’t wait.”

Ugliest Hat in History: Jeff Vertes opened for 325,000 with only to have Owais Ahmed move all-in for 1,630,000 with . The rest of the field folded and as Vertes was contemplating his options, Will Failla told Ahmed, “That has got to be one of the ugliest hats in history.”

“I don’t want to play from behind,” Vertes said before laying down his hand, allowing Ahmed to swipe another pot without so much as a flop.

Action Flop: In the very next hand, Jeff Vertes opened for 325,000 with and received a call from Will Failla, who was on the button holding . Ken Aldridge also came along for the ride from the big blind holding , and there was three-way action to the flop. The players checked to Failla, who put out a bet of 300,000. Aldridge folded, and Vertes gave a bad acting performance before making the call.

When the hit the turn, Vertes checked and surprisingly Failla did the same. The river saw Vertes give another bad acting performance, sighing deeply and acting conflicted, before he put out a bet of 500,000. Failla seemed to know something was up, but felt compelled to make the call nonetheless. Even though he lost the hand, it almost seemed like a win for Failla as both the crowd and commentators acknowledged that he could have lost a lot more on the hand.

Ahmed Eliminated in Sixth Place: Action folded around to Owais Ahmed in the small blind and he once again moved all-in. Will Failla was in the big blind and took a peek at his cards before making the call.

Showdown

Failla was a 54 percent favorite, and tried to get the crowd pumped up before the flop fell . Failla still wasn’t convinced that he was going to win the hand and proceeded to stare down the board and chant, “Ace of diamonds, ace of diamonds, ace of diamonds.” Wouldn’t you know it, the spiked on the turn to fulfill his request and leave Ahmed drawing dead. The meaningless was run out on the river for good measure as the short-stacked Ahmed was eliminated in sixth place for $77,100.

“Don’t Listen to Anything He Says:” Will Failla opened from the cutoff for 300,000 only to have Adam Aronson move all-in from the button for 1,895,000. Both blinds got out of the way, Failla stood from his seat, and announced a call.

Showdown

“I want you to think of the queen of hearts,” Failla told the dealer.

“Don’t listen to anything he says,” Aronson joked. In this case, the dealer, or rather the cards, favored Aronson as the board ran out . With that, Aronson chipped up to 4,070,000.

To Be Continued: Who’ll be the next player to join the prestigious list of Legends of Poker winners and take home the $758,085 first-place prize? Part II is set to air on Sunday, Feb. 26, on FSN, so be sure to check your local listings. If by chance you miss it, check back next week for the latest recap of all the action right here on PokerNews.

Past Legend of Poker Champions

SeasonPlayerEarnings

1	Chris Karagulleyan	$258,000
2	Mel Judah	$579,375
3	Doyle Brunson	$1,198,290
4	Alex Kahaner	$1,125,900
5	Joe Pelton	$1,577,170
6	Dan Harrington	$1,635365
7	John Phan	$1,116,428
8	Prahlad Friedman	$1,034,500
9	Andy Frankenberger	$750,000

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*Picture courtesy of World Poker Tour.

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