The Latin American Poker Tour, currently being sponsored by PokerStars, had their LAPT Mar del Plata event start this week in Argentina with a $5,200 Main Event. This prestigious poker tournament was capped at 600 entrants, both internet pros and top live tournament circuit players, with two separate starting days. The LAPT Mar del Plata event is held at the Casino Central, one of Argentina’s most luxurious casino and resort destinations.
The structure of the event was similar to most “Main Event” tournaments, with each player starting with $10,000 in tournament chips and blinds starting at a modest $25-$50. Unlike the WSOP Main Event, which starts with $20,000 stacks and sees levels increase every two hours and, the LAPT main events move up their blinds every hour. Although the event was capped at 600 players, approximately 280 made the long trek from around the world to Argentina to play in arguably the LAPT’s most prestigious event.
Day 1a took off on Thursday and featured 140 players from every corner of the planet. Notable players included Maria Mayrinck, Chris Moneymaker and illustrious names such as Boris Becker and LAPT Viña del Mar winner Fabián Ortiz. Apparently, players did not arrive at the LAPT to enjoy sitting down for very long as two tables broke down out of the starting 14 set up during the first hour alone. Becker was outlasted on Day 1a by his wife Lilly Kerssenberg, who in turn was busted while sitting at Moneymaker’s table. Also eliminated on Day 1a were Mayrinck, Moneymaker and Ortiz, who hoped to make a big splash in this event but fell short.
Play was suspended for Day 1a when the field was trimmed down to 27 players. The big contrast of the dasy was that 77-year-old Jaime Ateneloff of Uruguay finished the day with the chip lead while 19-year-old Jorge Landazuri De Los Rios sits a close 2nd in chips. Of the 27 remaining players from Day 1a, none are notable tournament circuit pros or members of Team PokerStars Pro. The surviving Day 1a field is a diverse one, with 15 players from the hosting country of Argentina, while Mexico, Spain, Uruguay and the Netherlands still have players alive. The United States has a single player remaining alive out of Day 1a in Ryan Smith, a PokerStars Online qualifier who sits with 51,100 in chips, good enough for 13th in the Day 1a remaining field.
Currently, Day 1b is playing at the Casino Central and notables including Humberto Brenes, Alex Brenes, Dennis Phillips, Andre Akkari, Joseph Hachem and Team Pokerstars pro and recent SCOOP event winner JC Alvarado. The event isn’t without its cast of characters as well, performing antics typically reserved for the World Series of Poker’s Main Event where players try to get noticed for television coverage. Although there are no camera crews televising the event, PokerStars.tv has been filming small videos for self-broadcast. Notable shameless self promoters include United States player Zachary Hall who is wearing a ridiculous rainbow-umbrella hat that has gained some attention from media and cameras. Hall won entry into the tournament as an online qualifier.
This is the second year that the LAPT has gone through Central and South America with PokerStars heavily promoting the event in hopes of gaining a marketing foothold in a part of the world where poker has yet to be heavily adopted. With notable Latin players such as JC Alvarado and Humberto Brenes attending the tournament events, as well as international poker superstars like Joseph Hachem and Chris Moneymaker, it seems that PokerStars is getting a leg up on the competition gaining market share in the Latin American markets.
The LAPT Mar del Plata held $550+$50 super satellites the day before Day 1a began and other tournaments during the LAPT’s visit include a $460+$60 No Limit Hold’em Turbo, a $1,020+$80 “Second Chance” tournament as well as a $10,000 high roller event that begins on Saturday, April 18th.
The tournament series has made its way through Costa Rica, Mexico, Uruguay and now Argentina to wrap up the second season of the tour. Although there has been no announcement about a third season it seems that the widespread coverage and enthusiasm that the events are getting this year makes a third season an almost surety.
