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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December 18 2011, Donnie Peters

The 2011 World Poker Tour Venice had its final table on Sunday and the final six players were vying for the title plus “175,000 in first-place prize money. Leading the way into the last day was Michele Caroli, but he wouldn’t be the one walking away with the title. The man who claimed victory at the end of it all was Edoardo Alescio after he defeated Steve O’Dwyer heads-up.

Alexander Dovzhenko was the second-shortest stack coming into the final table, but ended up as the first one out. According to the WPT Live Update Team, during Level 23 with the blinds at 10,000/20,000/3,000, Dovzhenko raised from early position before action folded to O’Dwyer in the big blind. O’Dwyer reraised all-in and Dovzhenko made the call.

When the hands were revealed, it was Dovzhenko’s versus O’Dwyer’s . From there, the board ran out and Dovzhenko was eliminated in sixth place.

Next to go in fifth place was Andrea Benelli. He was very short-stacked, with just 76,000 in chips, when he moved all-in preflop. O’Dwyer made the call and then Caroli called as well. Both O’Dwyer and Caroli checked down the board before all three players opened their hands.

O’Dwyer tabled for trip queens, Caroli showed for king high and the at-risk Benelli showed for king high as well. O’Dwyer’s hand was the winner, eliminating Benelli and leaving four players at the table.

O’Dwyer also eliminated the fourth-place finisher, Andrea Dato, during Level 24 with the blinds at 12,000/24,000/4,000. Dato raised all-in preflop with 249,000 on the button and O’Dwyer called from the small blind. Dato held for a worse-but-live hand against O’Dwyer’s . The board ran out and O’Dwyer’s ace high held up to give him the win.

With three players left, Alescio was doing a lot of shoving, oftentimes over a raise from one of his opponents. Eventually, Caroli decided to make a stand and called holding . Unfortunately for him, Alescio held . The flop didn’t give much help to Caroli, and neither did the on the turn. The river also missed Caroli, and he was sent out the door in third place.

With the tournament down to just two players, O’Dwyer was pitted against Alescio for the title. This was the 12th final table of the year for O’Dwyer and a big one at that. In the previous 11 contests, he had made it to heads-up play a whopping five times, winning three of them. He went into the battle with Alescio holding a big lead in chips and even drew first blood, but things didn’t go his way from there.

After grinding back a bit, Alescio was all-in against O’Dwyer on the board with . O’Dwyer held and just needed to fade the river card in order to win the title. The dealer smacked the on the river, giving Alescio the winning flush he needed to spike a big double and take a two-to-one chip lead.

On the final hand, the blinds were 40,000/80,000/10,000 in Level 29. Alescio and O’Dwyer put all the money in preflop to flip it out. Alescio held and O’Dwyer . Although O’Dwyer hit an ace, Alescio also hit a five to seal the deal and walk away as the winner.

Final Table Payouts

*Winner also awarded a $25,500 WPT Championship Seat

*Photo courtesy of the World Poker Tour.

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