March 22 2012, PokerNews Staff

Download Betfair Poker now and win a $4,000 World Series of Poker prize package!

Join Team Betfair for the World Series of Poker

Betfair is giving its players 28 chances to join Team Betfair for the trip of a lifetime! From now until June, Betfair will be giving away two WSOP Las Vegas Experience packages per week, so don’t miss your chance at being a part of the crew!

For seven nights, you’ll experience the luxury, the sights, the sounds and the nightlife of fabulous Las Vegas alongside your fellow team members and Betfair Poker ambassadors. There are 12 WSOP Trials lined up, each offering a minimum of two chances to secure your luxury $4,000 WSOP Team Betfair Experience package.

Online finals for the previous week’s Trial period will be played on Wednesday evenings at 21:00 CET, starting from March 21, and will award two Las Vegas Experience packages worth $4,000 each plus a total of $13,000 in added cash!

All you need to do to qualify is earn 25 Player Points in any given Trial period – that’s the equivalent of playing just one $11 tournament per day! Qualifying for the second time trial has already begun, so be sure to opt in now!

For the best chance to join Betfair in Vegas, earn 300 Player Points during the Endurance Trial and secure your entry to the Grand Final where there will be a whopping six Team Betfair Vegas Experience Packages up for grabs!

The $4,000 Team Betfair WSOP Experience package includes:

• $1,500 paid into your Betfair account for flights and spending money
• Seven nights of luxury accommodation at the 5-Star Palazzo in Las Vegas
• $1,000 buy-in to take your shot at glory in WSOP Event #59
• Team Betfair Exclusive Welcome Party and Events hosted by Betfair’s WSOP Crew, including John ‘kunku wap’ Tabatabai and Hans ‘Birdie_BF’ Vogl

Claim Up To a $250 Sign-Up Bonus

Betfair Poker and PokerNews have come together to bring you one of the best value sign-up bonuses in the industry. Simply download Betfair Poker, enter the bonus code “PNE250,” deposit at least $10 and for every 80 Player Points you earn, $10 will be released from your bonus account into your Betfair account, up to maximum of $250.

For more information on Betfair Poker be sure to check out our review.

Visit Betfair Poker now

Stay up to date on all the latest news by following us on Twitter and liking us on Facebook.

Follow PokerNews Staff on

Comments

March 21 2012, Chad Holloway

Season 5 of the PokerStars.net Latin American Poker Tour kicked off on Wednesday at the Enjoy Casino & Resort in Vina del Mar, Chile. This marked the third time the LAPT had visited the “Vineyard by the Sea,” and the second time since 2010 when a tragic earthquake forced the cancellation of the event.

Last year, a massive field of 621 players took to the felt, constituting the largest LAPT event in history up until that point. Brazilian Murilo Figueredo won that event for $146,000 and set the stage for this year’s highly anticipated tournament.

Day 1a ended up drawing players from as far away as the United States, New Zealand and Australia, who combined with the hundreds of players from South America to form a world-class tournament. When registration closed, the official number of players was 284, a number that ought to be eclipsed by Day 1b’s field. In fact, officials and players alike are waiting with bated breath to see if 338 register, which would surpass last year’s total.

Day 1a kicked off with a bang as Daniela Horno, who finished in sixth place in this very event last year, got off to a quick start and established herself as the early chip leader. In one of her more significant hands, a player in middle position limped and was met with a raise to 1,450 by Horno in late position. The big blind then brought it in for a three-bet to 4,000 and the limper got out of the way. The details are sketchy at that point as the action happened so fast, but the big blind ended up all in preflop for around 20,000.

Showdown

Horno was in a dominating spot, though the flop gave her opponent some hope and he began calling for a jack. Unfortunately for him, and much to Horno’s delight, neither the turn nor river were a jack. With that, Horno eliminated her opponent and took down the massive pot, bringing her stack to over 60,000.

Horno continued to climb, throughout the day, and ended with 122,200. That was a big stack, but not nearly as big as the chip leader, Waldermar Barrientos, who bagged up 140,300. Other players who advanced to Day 2 included twin brothers Luis Perez (59,300) and Carlos Perez (36,700); former LAPT final tablist Brent Sheirbon (56,100) and reigning LAPT Player of the Year Pablo Gonzalez (32,500).

Unfortunately not everyone was so lucky. A plethora of notables hit the rail throughout the ten levels of play including James Honeybone, Jonathan Markovits, Brian Gitter, Stuart McDonald, Rodrigo Arguello, Jamie Atelenoff and Team PokerStars Pros Freddy Torres (Online) and Leo Fernandez (Argentina).

The PokerNews Live Reporting Team didn’t catch Fernandez’s elimination during Level 8, but were later told that he had moved all in from late position for around 19,000 after an under-the-gun player had opened with a raise. Claudio Lopez then made the call while the original raiser got out of the way. Fernandez rolled over , which was way behind Lopez’s . The board ran out king high and the Team Pro made his way to the rail.

Not long after, Fernandez’s tablemate, Julian Menendez, followed him out the door. It happened when a player in middle position opened to 2,000, Menendez three-bet to 5,500 from the cutoff, the button and blinds both folded, the original raiser called and the flop fell . It was checked to Menendez who took about 30 seconds before announcing he was all in (for roughly 29,000). His opponent snap-called and tabled for ace high with the nut flush draw.

Menendez had outs, but trailed with . Unfortunately for him, he found no help from the turn or river and the Season 4 LAPT Colombia champion was eliminated from the tournament.

Joining Barrientos and Horno toward the top of the chip counts are Jaime Farriol (128,300), Sebastian Rios (126,200) and Carlos Munoz (124,100).

End of Day 1a Chip Counts

The 89 remaining players will return on Friday for Day 2, and a whole new set of players will take their seats at 1200 CLST (0800 PDT)for Day 1b. Of course you can follow all the action right here on PokerNews as we patrol the floors of the Enjoy Casino & Resort for all the latest and greatest poker action.

Stay up to date on all the latest news by following us on Twitter and liking us on Facebook.

Follow Chad Holloway on