February 19 2012, Donnie Peters

Day 3 of the 2012 PokerStars.net Latin American Poker Tour Grand Final wrapped up shortly after dinner on Sunday in São Paulo, Brazil. Leading the way in a big way is Daniele Nestola. He finished with 1.892 million in chips and has about 600,000 more than Carlos Ibarra, who is in second place. Vitor Torres will be the short stack, wrapping up with 273,000 in chips.

The day began with 24 players returning to action including Team PokerStars Pro Humberto Brenes. Entering the day as the shortest stack in the room didn’t make things easy on Brenes and he was out the door in 22nd place.

Brenes was all-in with against Martin Santos’ . The board ran out and that was the end of the line for the Costa Rican pro.

Also falling short of the final table were notables Caio Pimenta (12th) and Mayu Roca (11th). The last player eliminated on the day was Joshua Ewing in ninth place.

Getting short on chips, Ewing looked down to see pocket fours and moved all-in for approximately 230,000. He was crushed by the pocket kings held by Gasperino Nicolas and couldn’t find any help on the flop, turn or river. For his finish, Ewing took home R$22,390 and his elimination officially ended the day.

The biggest name at the final table belongs to Team PokerStars Pro and four-time World Series of Poker gold bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu. This was Negreanu’s first time ever making an LAPT cash and he’s made the most of it so far by finding his way to the final table. In doing so, Negreanu has accomplished a feat that no other poker player has done.

Combining this final table appearance with his EPT Vienna and APPT Sydney final table finishes in 2010, Negreanu is the only poker player to ever make a final table in Main Events across all three of the PokerStars-sponsored tours. “Kid Poker” bagged up 702,000 in chips and will enter Monday’s final day fifth overall.

Final Table Seating Assignments and Chips

Live updates will begin at 1200 BRST (1400 GMT) Monday and the PokerNews team will bring you all of the action. There’s R$324,600 up for grabs for the winner and all of the remaining eight players would love to get their hands on it.

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April 14 2011, Mickey Doft

The 2011 PokerStars.net North American Poker Tour Mohegan Sun High Roller Bounty Shootout concluded on Thursday and much like the Main Event on Wednesday, it was déjà vu all over again. Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier, last year’s NAPT Mohegan Sun Bounty Shootout champion, was back at it. Having watched Vanessa Selbst repeat as Main Event Champion the day before, there was no doubt that Mercier looked to do the same. He would have to get through an impressive bunch to do so, though.

Here is how the seating assignments looked for the final table.

Bounties were kicked up to $10,000 at the final table, having been $2,000 each at the first flight of tables. Also up for grabs was an additional $20,000 and automatic entry into the next NAPT bounty shootout for the player who won the most bounties. Aside from that, a first-place prize of $142,600 was on the line.

The first to drop at the final table was Joe Sweeney, shoving with on a board and running smack into Eugene Katchalov’s . Sweeney did not find the miracle suckout and exited in ninth place. Micah Raskin hit the rail next after his fell to Jonathan Jaffe’s . Scott Blackman busted in seventh place after losing in a three-way pot with against Jimmie Guinther’s and Michael Pesek’s . The board ran out as Pesek hit the river to cripple Guinther and end Blackman’s tournament. A short-stacked Guinther, with , was finished off by Pesek’s pocket deuces a few hands later and took sixth place.

The cruelest hand of the final table occurred with five left as Taylor von Kriegenbergh held and looked to eliminate Eugene Katchalov and his . The flop was harmless, but von Kriegenbergh spiked the lead when the turn left Katchalov two outs to survive. On cue, the popped off and left von Kriegenbergh short stacked, busting a few hands later at the hands of Michael Pesek. Jonathan Jaffe was the next to go when his ran into Jason Mercier’s . A clean board for Mercier ended Jaffe’s day with a fourth-place finish.

Michael Pesek fell in third place after his failed to hold against Eugene Katchalov’s when the board came down . The heads-up play chip counts between the two Team PokerStars Pros began as follows:

Mercier: 269,600
Katchalov: 180,400

It did not take long for the chips to get in. On a board, Mercier held for top pair and an open-ended straight draw while Katchalov tabled for bottom two pair. The turn brought the and kept Katchalov in the lead, but the river delivered the knockout blow in the form of the to give Mercier a better two pair to take it down. For his runner-up showing, Katchalov earned $66,000.

Final Table Results

What more can you say about Jason Mercier? Having won six bounties at his first table and another three at the final table to win the most bounties, Mercier collected a cool $246,600 for his performance in the 2011 NAPT Mohegan Sun Bounty Shootout. More impressive, though, is his repeat performance as champion, capping off an amazing week here at the Mohegan Sun as both major events were won by last year’s respective champions.

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