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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April 21 2012, Marc Convey

Davidi Kitai has become the first ever Belgian player to win a PokerStars.com European Poker Tour, after he defeated Andrew Chen in an epic heads up battle to claim the trophy, a Shamballa bracelet worth more than “10,000, and a seat at the season-ending “100,000 free-roll Champions of Champions Event. We’ve used the word epic before during this season to describe the many long heads up battles we’ve seen, but on Saturday, we use it to describe the sheer quality of the poker on show. Many here have commented how they believe that the heads up battle here was the best of the season.

There were five-bet jams preflop, check-raise river bluffs, three-bet three street bluffs, and brave all-in river calls with marginal hands.

The most memorable hand from the many great hands that were played happened when Kitai open with and called when Chen three-bet to 900,000 with . Chen led for 615,000 on the flop and Kitai called, as he did when he was faced with a 1,480,000 bet on the turn. The fell on the river and Chen moved all in for his remaining 11,190,000. Kitai was covered and called all in after tanking for three minutes. The consensus was that he thought king-high was good enough and he may well have called if the river bricked.

With this win, Kitai has become the fifth player to complete poker’s Triple Crown.

Kitai said on his victory, “I feel really great, it’s amazing. I never expected to beat this field.”

2012 PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Berlin Results

Play was aggressive from the beginning of the day and thanks to the card-up broadcast on EPT Live, it was apparent that the players’ range was wide, as was the three-bet range.

The first elimination occurred when Bahadir Kilickeser three-bet Pratyush Buddiga with . No one was expecting Kilickeser to call when faced with a four-bet all-in, but he did and Buddiga tabled the dominating , which was powerless to stop a cruel ten that appeared on the turn, eliminating Buddiga.

By the time Marc Wright was ousted in seventh, Kitai had already proved to all those watching what an incredible talent he was, by making the correct decisions in every single spot. Wright put him a difficult place when he raised all in on the turn of a board with for a double gutshot straight draw. Kitai tanked for more than five minutes before making the call with for top pair. It held and Kitai was clear at the top with nearly twice as many chips as his closest competitor.

Mario Puccini hadn’t been involved in many confrontations up until that point but he really stamped his mark on the final table, starting when he eliminated César García in a classic race that saw Puccini’s pocket queens hold against García’s ace-king.

Both Puccini and Chen were eating into Kitai’s lead and it was the latter who took over top spot when he eliminated Kilickeser. Chen raised on the button, Kilickeser defended from the big blind with and the flop fell . Kilickeser check-raised all in with bottom pair, but Chen had flopped top pair with . Chen’s hand held and Kilickeser was eliminated.

André Morath hadn’t played many hands and when he did enter a pot, his opponents ran for the hills since he kept showing down monsters. He liked to defend his big blind with almost any two cards and that saw a lot of his chips migrate over to his three opponents’ stacks. He must’ve been over the moon when Puccini busted next. Puccini, who was the dominant player for some of the day, saw the wheels come off his tournament. He went from chip leader to out in fourth in less than one level. He was raised off pots, caught bluffing and doubled up Morath before his final hand.

He decided to make a stand with and three-bet all in over the top of Kitai’s open. Kitai had opened with less than stellar cards numerous times but this time he had in the hole. He made the instant call and a safe board was revealed in front of them.

Morath went back to leaking chips to the point where he felt he had to make a stand. He looked down at in the big blind and three-bet all-in after Chen raised from the button. Chen called with the dominating and the board belonged to him.

The two remaining players went on a dinner break at this juncture and agreed a deal based on their chip counts. Chen locked up “613,000 and Kitai “632,000 with the eventual winner walking away with an extra “80,000.

With EPT Berlin in the books, the next stop is Monaco for the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final. The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be there to cover all the action from the “100,000 buy-in Super High-Roller event and the “10,000 buy-in Main Event.

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