On April 16th, the Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT) Mar del Plata tournament will kick off in Argentina, its sponsor, PokerStars, revealed last week. The $5,200 buy-in event, Season 2’s Grand Final, is capped at 600 players and will name a champion on April 19th. Next up for the LAPT, however, is a stop at Punta del Este, Uruguay.
In events held so far during LAPT’s second season, a total of $1.5 million in prize money has been up for grabs. Last month, Fabian Ortiz became the first LAPT winner from Latin America by virtue of taking down the Vina del Mar stop, a tournament that was held in Chile. Ortz pocketed $141,000 for his efforts, besting the 216 player field. The San Jose, Costa Rica tournament was held in November and attracted 314 players. American Ryan Fee was the champion of that tournament, pocketing $285,000.
The LAPT Mexico stop was abruptly canceled in December after local police raided the tournament area on Day 1. An online finish was planned in lieu of continuing the live event, which was held in Nuevo Vallarta. Players were awarded $5,000 each from the tournament’s prize pool and transferred $500 from PokerStars for the mishap. A Mexico stop was not held during Season 1 of the LAPT. PokerStars also sponsors the European Poker Tour (EPT), Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT), Australia New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT), and Russian Poker Tour (RPT).
Casino Central will host the April LAPT event. Its $5,200 buy-in is the largest ever for an LAPT tournament. The Mar del Plata festivities will also include a $1,100 Second Chance event that is capped at 300 players. The PokerStars website gives a preview of the host city: “Known as the ‘Happy City,’ the town combines the beauty of its natural resources with the hospitality of its people.” The schedule is as follows and all times given are local:
Wednesday, April 15th
Welcome Party: 7:00pm
Sit and Go Satellites to Main Event: 9:30pm
Registration and Direct Buy-ins: 5:00pm to 7:00pm and 9:00pm to 11:00pm
Thursday, April 16th
Registration and Direct Buy-ins: 10:00am
Main Event Day 1-A: 12:00 Noon
Friday, April 17th
Registration and Direct Buy-ins: 10:00am
Main Event Day 1-B: 12:00 Noon
Saturday, April 18th
Registration for Second Chance: 10:00am
Main Event Day 2: 12:00 Noon
Second Chance: 1:00pm
Sunday, April 19th
Main Event Final Table: 12:00 Noon
Ortiz is the reigning LAPT tournament champion after taking down the Vina del Mar contest in January. Also finishing in the Top 10 were Vincenzo Gianelli (second place for $78,570), Damian Salas (third place for $52,380), Leandro Balotin (fourth place for $39,285), Hernan Villa (fifth place for $28,809), Fabio Escobar (sixth place for $23,571), Jyries Saba (seventh place for $18,330), Eduardo Camia (eighth place for $13,095), Jaime Ateneloff (ninth place for $10,476), and Carter Phillips (tenth place for $9,167).
In LAPT Main Events, players start with 10,000 chips and blind levels last for one hour each. The blinds begin at 25/50 and antes kick in during Level 4. The first day of play lasts approximately 12 hours and there is a ten minute break after every other level. PokerStars reserves 3% of the prize pool for tournament staff. Three tournaments were held during Season 1; their winners included Julien Nuijten (Rio de Janiero), Valdemar Kwaysser (San Jose), and Jose Miguel Espinar (Punta del Este).
In the upcoming Uruguay tournament, PokerStars officials are expecting about 300 participants for the $3,700 buy-in Main Event. Team PokerStars Pro members Alexandre Gomes, André Akkari, and Humberto Brenes will play in the tournament, which gets underway on March 18th and concludes two days later.