March 25 2012, Chad Holloway

Day 4 of the 2012 PokerStars.net Latin American Poker Tour Chile concluded on Sunday by crowning the first champion of Season 5. The final eight players of a 651-player field returned to the Enjoy Casino & Resort in Viña del Mar to play down to a winner, which took approximately five hours to determine. At the end of the day, Aliro Diaz hoisted the trophy and took home $76,560 in prize money.

2012 LAPT Chile Final Table Payouts

At the start of the final table, which included three Chileans, two players from Colombia, two Brazilians and one Argentinian, the big question was whether of not a local would capture the LAPT Chile National Poker Championship title.

Here’s a look at how the final table stacked up at the start of the day.

2012 LAPT Chile Final Table

It took about 40 minutes for the first elimination of the day to occur, and it happened right after Nicholas Batt doubled Javier Venegas. It began when Felipe Velasquez opened for 90,000 and was met with an all-in shove by Batt, for around 725,000. Velasquez made the call with and was off to the races against Batt’s .

The railbirds were on their feet as the dealer put down the flop of . The Velasquez contingent erupted in cheers as their man had hit an ace to take the lead. The turn was of no consequence, and neither was the river. Velasquez chipped up to 2.8 million on the hand, while Batt became the eighth-place finisher worth $13,040.

Not long after, action folded to Diaz in the cutoff and he opened for 95,000. After the button got out of the way, Halysson Sala moved all in from the small blind for 505,000 total holding . The big blind got out of the way, and Diaz called with .

It was a classic race, but Sala needed to improve to stay alive. The flop was not what he was looking for, and neither was the turn, though it gave him some extra outs. Unfortunately for Sala, salvation would not be delivered on the river as the bricked, and he was eliminated in seventh place for $17,470.

It was at that point that a six-handed deal that was struck. Chip leader Velasquez guaranteed himself $60,000, while each of the other five players locked up $40,000. Per the terms, each would add to their respective totals depending on their finish as follows: first – $36,560; second – $26,000; third – $18,000; fourth – $14,000; fifth – $10,000; and sixth – $7,000.

It took some time for the next elimination to develop, but it came when Velasquez opened to 140,000 in the hijack and was called by Diaz in the cutoff. From the small blind, Sergio Escobar, who began the day as chip leader, shoved for about 475,000, and Velasquez isolated with an all-in re-raise.

Showdown
Velasquez:
Escobar:

The flop paired Velasquez and left Escobar in a world of hurt. Neither the turn nor river offered help, and Escobar’s Main Event run ended in sixth place for $47,000.

A few hands later, action folded to Venegas on the button and he wasted little time in moving all in for 710,000. Leonardo Olivares was in the big blind and thought for a solid minute before making the call. Venegas turned over , and seemed excited his cards we live against the of Olivares.

When the flop came down and Venegas hit his king, his supporters erupted with cheers from the rail; however, it was short lived as the peeled off on the turn. This time it was Olivares’s rail that erupted. During the commotion, the harmless was put out on the river, and Venegas shook hands with the victor before taking his leave in fifth place for $50,000.

In a blind-versus-blind battle of Chileans, Velasquez moved all in from the small for around 1.4 million and Diaz snap-called from the big blind. Velasquez flipped over and was in trouble against Diaz’s , especially after the flop delivered the latter a set. Velasquez picked up a gut-shot straight draw to a three, but it was not meant to be as the hit the turn followed by the on the river. Velasquez was eliminated in fourth place for $74,000.

A short time later, Joao Lopes opened to 300,000 on the button and Olivares folded his small blind. Diaz, though, re-raised all in from the big blind with the big stack. Lopes called all in for about 1.3 million.

Showdown
Lopes:
Diaz:

Lopes’ cries for a three failed to materialize as the board came down to end his Main Event in third place.

On the seventh hand of heads-up play, Diaz opened for 185,000 and then called Olivares’s three-bet to 500,000. When the flop fell , Olivares thought for a moment before announcing all in for around 2.5 million. Diaz thought long and hard, approximately two minutes, before announcing a call.

Showdown

The crowd was on its feet as the dealer burned and turned the . In order to survive, Olivares needed either an ace or queen on the river. The dealer burned one more time and put out the . With that, LAPT Chile was over as Olivares shook hands with his opponent and made his way to the payout desk to collect $66,000.

The next stop on the PokerStars.net Latin American Poker Tour will be in May at the Mantra Resort, Spa and Casino in Punta del Este, Uruguay, and of course PokerNews will be there to bring you all the action straight from the felt.

Remaining LAPT Season 5 Schedule

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February 18 2012, Donnie Peters

Saturday marked another day of action in São Paulo, Brazil, for the 2012 PokerStars.net Latin American Poker Tour Grand Final. Day 2 had 107 players return to action and at the end of play, just 24 remained. Topping the final three tables was Caio Cesar Pimenta with 607,000 in chips.

There were plenty of notable players remaining in the field on Day 2, but perhaps none more notable than “Kid Poker,” Daniel Negreanu. The Team PokerStars Pro and four-time World Series of Poker gold bracelet winner entered the day as one of the top stacks. At the bag-and-tag portion of the day, Negreanu was found stuffing 398,000 in chips in his bag – plenty to work with from here on out.

With 107 players returning and just 48 cashing, that meant plenty of the competitors would go home without anything to show for their efforts. After many headed out the door short of a cash including Nacho Barbero, Jorge Periera and Bill Gazes, 49 players were left and it was time for the bubble.

Local superstar Felipe Ramos was crippled just before the bubble started in a hand against Vincenzo Giannelli. With just 7,000 in chips left, Ramos was all-in on the next hand following his big loss. Again, he was up against Giannelli and in some bad shape. Ramos was all-in with , up against Giannelli’s . After the board ran out , Ramos was felted and officially ended the tournament as the bubble boy.

After Ramos fell, it was time for half of the remaining field to exit before calling it a night. Some of those players to exit in the money were 2011 WSOP Europe Main Event winner Elio Fox, Team PokerStars’ Leo Fernandez and Patrick Mahoney. Mahoney’s bustout came on the most exciting hand of the tournament against Negreanu.

After Pimenta opened to 10,500 with the blinds at 2,500/5,000/500, Negreanu called from the cutoff seat and action folded to Mahoney in the big blind. He three-bet to 36,500 and that knocked Pimenta out of the way. Negreanu called and the two saw a flop of .

On the flop, Mahoney fired 38,000 and Negreanu called. The was added to the board on the turn and both players checked to see the land on the river. After Mahoney checked, Negreanu bet 77,000. His bet was met with an all-in raise from Mahoney worth 197,500. Negreanu tanked and tanked, but eventually made the call with for two pair. Mahoney held only for ace high and was eliminated in the pot worth around half a million in chips.

Besides Negreanu and Pimenta, some of the other notables still in the field include Humberto Brenes, Mayu Roca Uribe, Carlos Ibarra and Felipe Morbiducci. Last year in the LAPT São Paulo Main Event, Brenes took 15th place and is not far away from topping that performance this year. He’ll enter Day 3 with 51,000 in chips – short, but still alive.

The remaining players will be returning to the ballroom tomorrow at 1200 BRST (1400 GMT) to battle it out for one of the eight spots of the final table. PokerNews will be on hand for all of the live coverage, which you won’t want to miss. Stay tuned to our Live Reporting Team for all of the updates.

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