LAPT Punta del Este: Day 1 is done

Something like a month ago, the chances are that most poker players will have never heard of Punta del Este, Uruguay. Similarly, most residents of Punta del Este, Uruguay, probably didn't know that much about poker. But this week, thanks to the PokerStars Latin America Poker Tour (LAPT), the two have come together in a happy union.

The first day of this, the final event of the first season of the LAPT, has been as good as any in what has already been a spectacular success story. The good news is that we still have two days left until we wrap.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Today was due to begin at noon and we expected about 300 players. However, as midday came and went, there were 351 players snaking around the exterior of the Mantra Resort, Spa and Casino.

By 1pm, each had put up the $2,500 entry fee to create a prize pool of more than $850,000. The first prize is $241,735 and 33 players will be in profit come the end.

As usual, the field included some of the heavyweights of the world game, a huge number of PokerStars qualifiers, and some hardy locals aiming for a shot at the big time. In the first category were the Team PokerStars Pros Greg Raymer, Vanessa Rousso, Humberto Brenes, Alexandre Gomes, Barry Greenstein, Chad Brown and Andre Akkari. While the cards did not fall in the favour of Greenstein, Brown and Akkari, the first four of those big names are all still well in the hunt, with Raymer, in particular, enjoying the trip to Latin America.

The 2005 World Champion won a huge pot with kings against ace-king, then busted Akkari with aces against queens. That catapulted him to the chip lead and close to 85,000 in chips, a level he maintained through the end of the day.

Brenes, of course, loves playing poker and he loves playing it on Latin American soil better than anywhere else in the world. He struggled through the early levels, plunging to a low of about 5,000 in chips, but once the feature table had been assembled and he'd been invited to sit around it, the comeback began. Brenes bagged up 53,000 in chips come closing time, and the shark is well in the hunt.

(As a side point, that wasn't quite enough to be the most chipped-up Brenes in Punta del Este, however. That accolade went to Humberto's brother Alex Brenes, who is our probable overnight chip leader, with 110,000.)

World Series bracelet winner Alexandre Gomes has become a big attraction on the South American poker scene after his fantastically successful sojourn to Las Vegas this summer.

And the spotlight suits Gomes well: the most recent addition to Team PokerStars Pro was still sitting pretty among the 95 finishers, with 31,000.

Vanessa "Lady Maverick" Rousso, meanwhile, ended the day with just less than 20,000, no mean feat given that she played alongside the formidable Raymer all day.

The most up-to-date approximate chip counts can be found HERE. A full, official count will be made available by the tournament staff overnight, and they will appear in exactly the same place when we have them. The payout schedule for the event can be found HERE.

All the action described in Spanish can be found HERE and the same in Portuguese can be found HERE.

As usual, the PokerStars video bloggers have also been out and about in the tournament room, and have talked to plenty of the major players here. The LAPT San Jose champion Valdemar Kwaysser was the latest to share his thoughts:

Watch LAPT Punta del Este: Valdemar Kwaysser (b) on PokerStars.tv

More video blogs can be found over at PokerStars.tv

In case you missed it, here's how the day played out in Punta del Este:

Welcome to Punta del Este
Walking the room
Taking stock at the break
Big guns misfire
Some disappear, others shine
Raymer rising
Alex F and Alex B

Tomorrow's fun starts at noon, when they will return to play level 10 with blinds at 600-1,200 and a 100 ante. They'll play down to the final nine. Be sure to join us.

All photographs (c) Joe Giron/IMPDI

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LAPT Punta del Este: Alex F and Alex B

Every poker tour has its own identity that differentiates it from many of the others. Most obviously, the various tours visit numerous different cities where they charge differing buy-ins catering for every bank balance. But there is also something less tangible, a feel or a flavour that characterises the different occasions and marks them out as unique to a particular tour.

These intangibles, in turn, attract particular players and we have already grown used to seeing familiar faces over and over again on the LAPT. So much so, that these players themselves have now become LAPT icons; the players are as much a part of the furniture as anything else. Falling into this category are the likes of Alex "Assassinato" Fitzgerald, a player who also represents the changing face of poker and its new young pretenders who have been shaking up the establishment for a few years now.


Alex "Assassinato" Fitzgerald

Fitzgerald, from Seattle, Washington, makes his major money around the online tables of PokerStars, but has to travel to get his bricks and mortar fix as he is not yet old enough to play in his native United States. No worries: his father is married to a Brazilian woman, which gives him every excuse to travel to Latin America for the LAPT, brushing up on his Portuguese as he goes. Indeed, his online screen-name "Assassinato" means "assassinator" in Portuguese, just in case anyone is struggling to translate that one.

"He knows how to tell a woman she's beautiful; he knows how to order a beer," said our own Portuguese-language expert, the PokerStars Brazil blogger Maria (whose work, incidentally, you can find HERE, in that incomprehensible tongue.)

"It's terrivel!" Fitzgerald said of his own grasp of the language. "But I love travelling and I love Latin America. It's just so relaxed, you know."

We do know, but it's sometimes not so much fun, as Fitzgerald himself can testify. He was cruising towards the final table in Rio earlier this season, but received a horrible beat to knock him out. "I would have traded all the money I earnt just to have had a chance to play the final table," Fitzgerald said. And although that's the kind of platitude you hear quite often in poker rooms, Fitzgerald clearly means it. He's one resolute, focused and very capable performer, currently with about 30,000 in chips in Punta del Este and a his eyes firmly fixed on the title.

Fitzgerald shared some of his views of the LAPT with our video blog team before play began today:

Watch LAPT Punta del Este: Alexander Fitzgerald on PokerStars.tv

There's more where that came from over at PokerStars.tv

Another fixture on the LAPT is the family Brenes, from Costa Rica. Although big brother Humberto, of Team PokerStars Pro, often takes most of the limelight, his younger brother Alex Brenes has outperformed Humberto so far on the tour.


Alex Brenes

Alex finished sixth in the season opener in Rio, and while he was busted by his own nephew (Humberto's son, of course) in San Jose, he is back in the thick of it here.

And he's been prospering. At latest count, Alex has somewhere north of 100,000 in chips, which is chip leader territory. One to watch, as usual.

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LAPT Punta del Este: Bringing it to the masses

Gone are the days when a new poker tour can turn up, get through its entire first season, and not find itself at the centre of a media storm, probably ending up on TV. Although the opening two events on the LAPT both passed by without television's intervention -- our fine PokerStars.tv excepted, of course -- there has been an almighty kerfuffle going on in Punta del Este these past few hours as Fox Sport's Latin America division makes its final preparations to enter into the world of poker broadcasting.

Felt has been pinned down, ironed, and ripped up again; tiny cameras have been fitted beneath the rail. A camera now dangles precariously above the table, and the retinas of all of our eyes have been scorched with the blast of the studio lights. Taking his place on centre stage -- now that new felt has been found and ironed, the cameras have been fixed, microphones attached and lights turned up again -- is Team PokerStars Pro Humberto Brenes.

The Godfather of Latin American poker was an obvious choice, although his trademark sharks might find themselves pressed into action sooner than he'd like. Brenes has only about 10,000 in chips.

But his is not the only table under scrutiny today. Right at the start of the action, an outer table featuring the LAPT San Jose champion Valdemar Kwaysser was already surrounded by a five-pointed camera cordon, focusing their attentions on every inch of the felt. That army of machinery has been marching one step at a time around all the whole tournament arena, filming about an hour at each stopping point. They're onto their sixth or seventh mini battleground of the day, meaning we're into level seven. Nine are scheduled on this slightly shortened first day, and 183 players remain from the opening 351.

Back at that first table, Kwaysser remains with about 25,000 in chips. He's been joined, on his immediate left, by Alex "Assassinato" Fitzgerald, another online young gun with a huge reputation. Fitzgerald has a beer in hand, a suitcase full of anecdotes, and is entertaining all with his tales from the tables. But his focus is still fixed firmly on the game, and he has amassed about 30,000. The New Zealand PokerStars player James Honeybone completes a triumvirate of big-time online players tearing it up around that particular table.

Team PokerStars Pro Greg Raymer is still the tournament leader with more than 80,000 in chips. It was the Fossilman who accounted for Andre Akkari about an hour ago, the American's aces holding up against the Brazilian's queens. Raymer was smart enough to get out the way when his other Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso was all in moments later. Rousso had the aces this time, another player had kings, and Lady Maverick vaulted to about 28,000.

Earlier in the day, Rousso and Chad Brown caught up with our video blog team to talk about the tournament, the LAPT and their chances.

Watch LAPT Punta del Este: Chad and Vanessa on PokerStars.tv

***
The payouts for LAPT Punta del Este have been confirmed. The remaining players are chasing this much:

1 - $ 241,735
2 - $ 127,675
3 - $ 93,630
4 - $ 68,100
5 - $ 51,070
6 - $ 34,045
7 - $ 25,535
8 - $ 17,025
9 - $ 12,765

10-12 - $ 11,065
13-16 - $ 9,360
17-24 - $ 7,660
25-33 - $ 5,960

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LAPT Punta del Este: Raymer rising

For several years PokerStars-sponsored tournaments across the globe have introduced us to numerous fresh faces in the game. And some players who earned their first bricks and mortar wings courtesy of PokerStars online satellites have gone on to become established "names" in both environments. They, to coin a phrase, found the poker star in them.

None fit the profile of online qualifier made good quite as snugly as Greg Raymer. Although his team-mate Chris Moneymaker has that name and that rags to riches story, it was Raymer who really catapulted the game into the stratosphere when he took down the World Series main event in 2005. He did it when the whole world was watching and he did it when people were questioning whether these online guys could really cut it for real. Sure they could: Raymer's paltry online satellite fee earned him five million bucks.

Since then, Raymer has proved it was no fluke with a catalogue of high-profile successes. He's also become one of the best ambassadors for both PokerStars and the game of poker in general, always on hand for an interview, always ready to sign memorabilia or pose for photos. And this week, he's made the long trip down from the east coast of the United States to the south coast of Uruguay. And what do you know, he's got a bunch of chips.

"I had one huge hand before the break," Raymer said moments ago. "I had about 34,000 and I took out the second chip-leader on the table, who had about 24,000. I had kings, she had ace-king." He then went on to describe how the two-club, straightening flop gave his opponent plenty of outdraw possibilities, but that all the outs missed and sent him to the chip lead, with 60,000, "there or thereabouts."

Raymer is the star attraction here in Punta del Este, although his table is among the more star-studded at the event. His fellow Team PokerStars Pros Vanessa Rousso and Andre Akkari are also in attendance, and the trio have attracted a huge flock of railbirds, especially with half the field on their dinner break. Raymer is captain, though, a role he fills with some glee. After a lean World Series and a disappointing 2008 in general, there are high hopes in Uruguay that he can get himself back on the winners' rostrum.

Unfortunately, Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein has seen his chances of success ended in Punta del Este. The vagaries of the transportation to this part of the world conspired against Greenstein and deposited him in Uruguay about half an hour before the off-time of the tournament.

He half-played, half-napped his way through the opening levels, keeping something close to his original chip stack of 10,000 in front of him. But they were all in just after the dinner break, with Greenstein holding 10-10. The mandatory call for his opponent, the PokerStars qualifier Teddy Peterson, who was holding aces, and that was that.

Humberto Brenes is also suspiciously on the peripheries of the tournament room, suggesting the worst for him.

We'll confirm whether he's in or out as soon as we get the chance. Team PokerStars Pros Alexandre Gomes and Chad Brown, as well as Raymer, Rousso and Akkari, are still in the mix.

And a special word too about Gualter Salles, the PokerStars player from Brazil, who has traded indy car for poker chip in the past few years.

Salles made a huge play with pocket jacks on a queen-high board shortly before dinner, getting an opponent to lay down king-queen and give up a massive pot. Salles is up to 40,000-odd and cruising.

A full chip count will be coming very soon.

***
Back when the day was still young -- and Barry Greenstein was still involved -- he spoke to our video blog team about how things had been progressing to that point.

Watch LAPT Punta del Este: Barry Greenstein Day One on PokerStars.tv

More video blogs, including an archive of previous footage, can be found over at PokerStars.tv.

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LAPT Punta del Este: Some disappear, others shine

As play progresses and competitors get a feel for the tournament conditions, so the bust outs continue while other stacks continue to grow. In the first category, the latest notable scalp was Jason Mercier, the PokerStars qualifier from the United States, who won't be adding LAPT glory to his EPT success in San Remo.


Jason Mercier

Mercier started his day about three yards down from media row in the main tournament room, was moved to the other side of the wall during the third level, and then slipped out the door never to be seen again sometime in the past hour. No details on his demise are yet known, but we're down a young Canadian maths teacher turned poker sensation.

Mario Bonata, from Uruguay, on the other hand, is on the up. He has an enviable array of chip towers, representing all colours including the most valuable blue denomination.

Mario Bonata

At most recent count, the local favourite was sitting with about 40,000, which is four times the starting stack. Nice going.

Also in the ascendancy is Andrew Li, from the United States. Li is already well known on the LAPT after he went way deep in Rio before getting on the end of a shocker, losing with kings against the queens of the eventual champion Julien Nuijten.

Andrew Li

He was second in chips at the time and got it all in against the only man who could either knock him out or double him up. Hoping for the latter, the former was actually true, but Li has returned uncowed. He has 29,000 at latest count.

The full payouts will be with us imminently as the tournament officials end their counting. As they do that, why not check out the latest chip count, which can be found HERE, or take a look at the latest from the video bloggers.

More of the same is available at PokerStars.tv.

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LAPT Punta del Este: Big guns misfire

How much sympathy can you have for a poker player who'll sit down at a table in Las Vegas in November and walk away with at least $900,000?

As a member of the so-called November Nine who will contest the 2008 World Series main event final table, David "Chino" Rheem is such a player. He's guaranteed a million-dollar payday from that brief excursion to Sin City (and probably a lot more), but here in Punta del Este, where he's been brushing up his skills before returning to the big dance, he's just been busted by an opponent holding six-four. Ouch.

What's more, Chino actually had the guy dominated with a pretty mighty holding of his own. OK, so nine-six isn't all that mighty, but it's a huge favourite against that six-four. Chino had got a touch short -- the result of running into aces in a huge pot during level two -- and shoved pre-flop with that nine high. He probably feared the game was up when his opponent made a value call, but then probably expected a double up when he saw what he was up against. But a four flopped and Chino was done.

Still, hold the sympathy, and hold the judgment. We'll hope and expect much more from the PokerStars player in Vegas in a couple of months.

Another World Series success story who won't have fond memories of Uruguay is Brandon Cantu, who busted shortly before Chino when he ran tens into pocket kings.

The PokerStars player from Washington also had a fine run in Vegas last month, cruising to 20th place in the main event for $257,334. But his day in Latin America is also done and he was seen stalking out of the Mantra resort an hour or so ago.

Updated chip counts can be found HERE. We'll be playing until the end of level six before dinner is served. At time of writing, 296 players remain from the 351 who started.

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LAPT Punta del Este: Taking stock at the break

The second level of the day has just drawn to a close, giving the players a 15-minute window to get out into the cool winter air and smoke a cigarette, else dash to the bathroom, pick up a drink, do a few press ups, call home, or sometimes all of the above.

The break also gave us the chance to take stock of the early movement in these embryonic stages, tracking the early chip leaders, the hasty bust outs and the steady progress of the tournament notables. In the first two categories, which tend to go hand in hand, table ten has emerged as the place to be. Three of the top five stacks are seated around that table: Jose Carlos Homero, with 24,000; Lasse Pedersen with 26,000; and Damian Andres Salas with 32,000.

Each was coy when questioned as to how they got their chips, but early double ups usually mean early eliminations and there was rumours of a straight versus higher straight to put Homero in profit and a flopped two-pair versus a flopped set of sevens for Salas. We'll keep an eye on all of them to see if they can consolidate their early progress or go the same way as the vanquished.

Elsewhere, Mario Bonanata also has a decent stack of 25,000 at last count. And he's sitting a few seats down from Valdemar Kwaysser, who got his tournament going with a double up courtesy of queens versus ace-king. An early table of death featuring Team PokerStars Pros Greg Raymer and Vanessa Rousso alongside LAPT San Jose final table player Joe Ebanks got a little lighter on fearsomeness when Ebanks became one of the first out the door.

Raymer, Rousso and team-mates Andre Akkari, Alexandre Gomes, Humberto Brenes, Chad Brown and Barry Greenstein are all comfortably in the pack.

Alexandre Gomes

We're currently updating our chip counts page, and will endeavour to do so at regular intervals from now until the close of play. It's still very, very early, so expect big changes over the coming hours as the tournament takes shape.

At time of typing, the tournament staff believe that 351 players entered, of which 325 remain. Originally, they were playing 11 handed, with overspill tables housed upstairs in the casino proper. Those have now been broken, meaning everyone is at least in the same room. It's a bit of a tight squeeze, with no room for spectators at present. So you really do have the best seat in the house.

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Excalibur to make poker room all-electronic

Four Winds casino in New Buffalo, Mich., was the first casino to launch with a WPT poker room sans dealers. All tables are PokerTek electronic tables, with players depositing and withdrawing to cards at an in-room cashier. Players have a...[...]

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http://www.lasvegasvegas.com/pokerblog/archives/006736.php

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LAPT Punta del Este: Walking the room

After a brief delay at the start of the day, action has begun in Punta del Este.

Not long after we began, the first player departed - his pocket kings emphatically outdrawn by A-Q on a flop featuring two aces. No worries, his seat was soon occupied by an alternate, who will continue to join the action until the end of the second level.

During the opening exchanges, PokerStars blog's Alex Villegas walked the room to pick out a few of the notable players in the field:

Humberto Brenes - Team PokerStars Pro
After playing on his home turf in San Jose, the Team PokerStars Pro joins us once again in LAPT Punta Del Este. Accompanying him as usual are his fun loving antics, poker expertise and desire to be the first Latin American to bring home an LAPT trophy.

Andre Akkari - Team PokerStars Pro

The acclaimed Brazilian poker celebrity has become one of the LAPT?s trademarks.

Chad Brown -Team PokerStars Pro

One of the newest members of Team PokerStars Pro, Brown is already a veteran of the LAPT, having appeared on the opening date in Rio de Janeiro. In between then and now, he starred at the World Series, with five cashes, and is now back on the circuit with Uruguayan glory in his sights.

Barry Greenstein - Team PokerStars Pro

Despite stepping off a plane only this morning, Greenstein will be many commentators' favourite for this event. He is one of the game's true megastars, earning six cashes at this year's WSOP, including his third career bracelet and a final table in the showpiece $50,000 HORSE event.

Greg Raymer - Team PokerStars Pro

Poker ambassadors don't come any more respected than the 2005 World Champion Greg Raymer. As dignified off the table as he is fearless and aggressive on, Raymer is always a threat in any environment.

Vanessa Rousso - Team PokerStars Pro

Another Team PokerStars Pro who enjoyed a successful World Series, with three cashes including the main event, Rousso has returned to Latin America for the final stop on the LAPT.

Alexandre Gomes - Team PokerStars Pro
The most recent addition to Team Pokerstars Pro, Gomes brought home a 2008 WSOP bracelet along with $770,000 to keep him company.

Joe Ebanks
After falling victim to the storm of pocket aces in the final table of LAPT San Jose, Joe Ebanks, feared online as ?Ender 555?, is quickly making a name for himself on the circuit.

Shirley Rosario
After securing her fame as the host on the TV show ?Live At the Bike? and owner of the website Poker-Babes, Rosario hopes to secure a major tournament win here in Punta Del Este

Alex Fitzgerald
His online name ?Assasinato? seems appropriate to those who?ve had the chance to play him online. Having already played in Costa Rica, where he went deep before finding his luck out just before the money, Fitzgerald has all the equipment to go better here.

Max and Maria Stern


The husband and wife team from Costa Rica wear more than just matching wedding rings. Both sport World Series bracelets, making them the only husband-wife bracelet winners. Maria went very deep in San Jose before falling just out of the money.

Alex Brenes
Alex has so far outshone his more famous brother Humberto, with a a solid fourth place at LAPT Rio.

Veronica Dabul
After cashing three times at the recent World Series, the Argentinian Dabul is trying her luck on Latin American felt.

Jamal Kunvuz
Played in this year?s WSOP main event and finished 33rd, taking home a hefty $193,000.

Gualter Salles
Former Indy car racer in the United States, now a stock car driver and team owner in his native Brazil.

David ?Chino? Rheem

Sponsored by PokerStars, David showed amazing skill and endurance in reaching this years WSOP final table. He'll have to wait until November until that plays out, so he's killing some time here in Punta Del Este.

Brandon Cantu

One of very few players in possession of both a WPT and WSOP title, Cantu also went deep in this year's WSOP main event, finishing 27th.

Valdemar Kwaysser

After taking down LAPT San Jose, ending it with a flourish and pocket aces, Valdemar returns to the LAPT in hopes of a repeat here in Punta Del Este.

Jason Mercier
The only player in the tournament field with a chance of becoming the first-ever winner of an LAPT and an EPT event, Mercier won in San Remo last season and is now trying his luck as a qualifier on the LAPT.

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Playing the Money Bubble in Poker Tournaments

When you are playing in a poker tournament, there will come a time when the next person who gets knocked out will receive nothing and everyone else will "make the money." This is well-known by most poker players as the "bubble" and very few players know how to play through it correctly. Instead of being ...

Read The Full Article:
http://beat.bodoglife.com/poker/playing-the-money-bubble-in-poker-tournaments-462
34.html

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