October 20 2012, Rich Ryan

On Friday, the World Series of Poker Circuit Main Event began at the Horseshoe Hammond Casino, and after Day 1a, Canadian professional Mike Leah held the chip lead with 276,100 chips.

Leah jumped out of the gate fast, running his stack up to 70,000 chips before the first break, and continued to trend upward. The Canadian pro was gifted a big pot in Level 12, when an opponent moved all in for more than a pot-sized bet on a flop of . Leah quickly called with , which crushed his opponent’s . The turn and river came , , respectively.

The $1,675 buy-in event attracted 835 and among the entrants were notables Isaac Baron, Ryan Julius, Steve Karp, Harrison Gimbel, Amanda Musumeci, Faraz Jaka, Dan Heimiller and PokerNews’ very own Chad Holloway. Unfortunately, none of those players advanced. At the end of the day, 170 players remained.

Nick Jivkov, who won 2012 WSOP Event #5: $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold’em and final tabled the Horseshoe Hammond Main Event in 2010, was live multi-tabling on Friday. Jivkov was at the final table of a $365 limit Omaha hi/lo tournament, but decided to hop in the Main Event anyway. Jivkov was eliminated when he ran ace-king into Dale Robinson’s pocket kings, and the board ran out . Not to worry though, Jivkov took down the Omaha event, pocketing $16,046 for his efforts.

Another player eliminated during play was 86-year old World War II veteran Richard Decowski, who was one of the first players to cross the six-figure mark. However, he went on to lose a massive pot with pocket jacks against an opponent’s pocket queens. A few levels later, Decowski was eliminated when he moved all in with . Steve Terrile picked him off with two kings.

Mukul Pahuja also had a very nice day. Right off of the bat Pahuja was aggressive. He was faced with a raise from Owais Ahmed and a call from another opponent, before three-betting to 2,600 on the button. Pahuja received one call, and the flop fell . Pahuja’s opponent led for 4,000, and Pahuja quickly raised to 10,600. His opponent mucked, and Pahuja raked in the pot. Pahuja finished the day right behind Leah with 261,400 chips. His brother, Vinny Pahuja, was eliminated on the day and will be left with the option to re-enter on Day 1b.

Other notable players who survived the day include Danny Johnson, Aaron Steury, Mark Maletic, Joe Kuether, Kennii Nguyen, Jacob Bazeley, Eric Crain, Nick Grippo, and Jeff Fielder.

Day 1b will begin on Saturday at 1200 CDT (2000 CEST), and run for 15 levels just like Day 1a. Both fields will then combine on Sunday at noon. Make sure you keep it locked to PokerNews.com for all of your up-to-the-minute live updates from this and every other Main Event on the WSOP Circuit.

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May 27 2012, Josh Cahlik

The PokerStars.net Latin American Poker Tour Punta del Este Main Event has officially reached a conclusion. Marcelo Ramos Da Fonseca was able to defeat Team PokerStars Pro Angel Guillen to pocket $144,240 in first place prize money as well as an LAPT title.

LAPT Punta del Este Main Event Final Table Payouts

*Denotes three-handed deal

Action started out slow for the first hour. Any player who was brave enough to make a preflop three-bet usually took the pot down. Carlos Leoncio Mironiuk, however, proved this theory incorrect when he three-bet his way to becoming the first casualty of the final table. Action folded to Marcelo Ramos Da Fonseca in the small blind who raised to 58,000 and Mironiuk three-bet all-in for 510,000. Ramos Da Fonseca snap called with and was far ahead of Mironiuk’s . Mironiuk failed to improve and was sent home, collecting $15,390 in prize money.

The next elimination came on the final hand before the first break. Ivan Luca opened to 51,000 and was called by Francisco Baruffi Neto. Guido Ruffini three-bet to 132,000 from the cutoff. Action folded back to Luca who pondered for over three minutes before the clock was called and he was forced to fold his hand after failing to come to a decision. Baruffi Neto tagged along and the two saw a flop of .

Baruffi Neto checked and Ruffini bet out 136,000 and Baruffi Neto called. The turn was the and Baruffi Neto checked again. Ruffini continued his aggression with a 200,000 chip bet and Baruffi Neto responded by moving all-in. Ruffini snap called and the hands were turned over.

Showdown

Baruffi Neto:
Ruffini:

The river brought the and Ruffini was sent home in eighth place. This was the biggest pot of the tournament thus far and gave Baruffi Neto a commanding lead over the field, boosting his stack to over 2,400,000.

Russian online qualifier Vladimir Dobrovolskiy was the next victim of Baruffi Neto’s control of the table. Dobrovolskiy’s lost the preflop all-in race against Baruffi Neto’s . Soon after, Angel Guillen was able to score a key double up through Ivan Luca when his was able to best Luca’s .

Pablo Joaquin Melogno began to ramp up his aggression during six handed play, most notably raising eight pots in two orbits. When Osvaldo Silvio Resquin decided to push back by moving all-in, Melogno made the call with and was crushing Resquin’s . The board ran out and just like that Resquin was our sixth-place finisher, pocketing $35,970 for his efforts.

Ivan Luca, who was the chip leader coming into Day 3 of this event, was the next to go. Luca adopted a sort of villainous role in his final few orbits at the table, as his tanking was viewed by others at the table as excessive. One such instance occurred when Luca tanked for over a minute after action folded to his small blind. Baruffi Neto called the clock on him and Luca let the entire clock drain before the dealer pulled his cards into the muck.

A few hands after this incident, Luca moved all-in for his final 401,000 holding and was called by Baruffi Neto’s . Luca failed to improve his hand and he was forced to settle for a fifth-place finish.

Four-handed play seemed to stretch on, as the players were doing most of their work preflop. Melogno was the short stack at the table, and he used this to his advantage, moving his stack around and collecting blinds and min-raises often. This strategy got the best of him, however, when he moved all-in against a raise from Angel Guillen. Guillen called and the hands were exposed to the table:

Showdown

Guillen:
Melogno:

The flop came and Guillen’s ace-king high retained the lead. Melogno picked up a ton of outs, however, when the turned. Fortunately for Guillen, the river was not a queen, jack, eight, or diamond. The bricked out for Melogno and his fate was sealed as the fourth-place finisher.

The final three players made a deal, guaranteeing each remaining player at least $116,240 with $38,000 saved for heads up. It was soon after this deal was struck that a large hand transpired between Guillen and Baruffi Neto.

Baruffi Neto raised to 175,000 from the button and Guillen three-bet to 425,000 from the big blind. A flop was spread out before the players and Guillen continued out for 275,000. Baruffi Neto called.

The turn was the and Guillen bet out 400,000. Baruffi Neto announced all-in and Guillen quickly called with his . Guillen was well ahead of Baruffi Neto’s , a lead that Guillen kept through the river. The next hand Baruffi Neto moved all-in for his last 135,000 with but was unable to improve against Ramos Da Fonseca’s . As per the deal that was struck, Baruffi Neto collected $116,240 in winnings.

Another deal was made heads up, giving an additional $10,000 to second place and $28,000 to the champion. Guillen began the heads up battle with the chip lead, but that was quickly relinquished to Ramos Da Fonseca. Play slowed down between the two, often taking down pots with either a min-raise or a small bet on the flop. Eventually, however, the match came to a head when Marcelo Ramos Da Fonseca raised to 200,000 and Guillen moved all-in for his final 2,800,000. Ramos Da Fonseca snap called and the hands were flipped over.

Showdown

Guillen:
Ramos Da Fonseca:

The board ran out and Team PokerStars Pro Angel Guillen became the last casualty of the tournament. Marcelo Ramos Da Fonseca, on the other hand, was awarded the $144,240 in prize money and the LAPT Punta del Este Main Event championship trophy.

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