4:20pm: Players take a 15-minute break Smoke ’em if you’ve got ’em.
4:14pm: Sweet flop for Salas We caught up with this hand on the turn, just as Damian Salas moved all in on a J♥ 9♠6♣ A♣ board and his opponent called, turning up pocket kings. Salas, however, had flopped two pair with J♦ 6♦ , and delivered the KO when the 3♣ hit the river. Salas is now up to 169,000 in chips.
4:08pm: Lights out for Leo Leo Fernandez lost the vast majority of his stack when he lost a coinflip with pocket jacks against A♥ K♣ . Left with 3,900 in chips, Fernandez shipped them in on the very next hand and got two callers. Both of his opponents checked the J♣ 8♠5♠flop and the 2♥ on the turn, but on the river, the first player fired out 4,500 holding only A♣ 7♣ and the second smelled a rat, making the call with pocket fours. Fernandez mucked and was out the door before the pot was pushed.
4:06pm:”papadelpoker”=papadelbusto Sunday Million winner Jose “papadelpoker” De La Guardia thought his four-bet shove might move his opponent off his hand, but instead, the young Panamanian earned a call. De La Guardia was in a race situation, his pocket fours up against A♦ Q♦ . A queen hit the flop, however, crippling De La Guardia to only 2,500 in chips.
They went in the middle on the very next hand. The cutoff raised to 5,000 to try and isolate him, but the big blind came along as well. The two active players checked down the K♣ 6♥ 6♠10♠6♦ board, De La Guardia turning up the best hand with K♥ Q♦ . Both of his opponents mucked, and since neither of them showed a winning hand for the side pot, that went to De La Guardia as well, taking him up to 9,700.
It looked like De La Guardia was on the road to a comeback when he shoved a third time and turned over A♥ K♥ , but he was up against the small blind’s pocket kings. De La Guardia didn’t improve and with a small shrug, he made his exit.
3:55pm: Nacho Man Reprise Sebastian Winkler from Germany raised 4.6K from the button. Nacho Barbero made a vigilant stand from his big blind and announced all in.
“This is a steal/raise,” said Nacho. “I’m stealing.”
Winkler agonized over the call. “If I fold, will you show?”
“Maybe I’ll let you see one,” said Nacho. “But if you call my all in, we’ll see which hand is better.”
After a couple more minutes of banter the two discussed if they we’re flipping.
“I don’t want to flip. I hate flipping,” explained Nacho.
As the hand dragged out, the clock was called and Winkler was put to a decision for the remainder of his 58K stack. As time ticked down, he called at the last possible second.
Winkler flipped over K♣ Q♣ . Nacho was ahead with A♥ 9♦ . The board ran out J♠3♠5♥ A♠A♣ . Nacho won the pot and Winkler was eliminated. After that hand, Nacho became the first player to pass the 200,000 chip mark. His current stack is around 230K. Without a doubt, Nacho Barbero is the chipleader.
3:45pm: Felipe Ramos eliminated Another Brazilian down. Felipe Ramos got in all in with the best of it, but his A-7 could not hold up against his opponents’ A-J.
3:30pm: Two ladies standing Aside from Team Pro Veronica Dabul (who is doing very well with about 80,000 in chips) only one other woman remains in the field–Brazil’s Daniela de Lima Zapiello. Zapiello typically grinds mid-stakes multi-table sit n’ goes on PokerStars and had two big online tournament finishes this fall– a runner-up finish in the Daily Eighty Grand that earned her $10,021 and a third-place finish in the Nightly Seventy Grand for over $9,000. Zapiello qualified online for the LAPT Punta del Este and is sitting pretty on around 110,000 in chips.
3:18pm: Blinds Up We’re now on level 12. Blinds are 1,000/2,000 with a 200 ante.
3:15pm: Chop Chop Felipe Ramos got it all in with A-2 against Veronica Dabul’s A-9. Luckily for Ramos (or unlucky for Dabul), the board ran out 7-7-x-K-10. Both players chopped the pot.
3:05pm: Funk It Up Lee Marvin Funk from Canada has to be one of the best names that I’ve come across in a very long time. In case you were wondering, that is his real name. We’re not making it up. It appears on his passport. Funk found himself involved in a hand with Day 1 chip leader Martin Fuentes. Funk opened for 7K. Fuentes re-raised to 16K. Funk four-bet shoved for around 30K. Fuentes took his time before he eventually called. Funk flipped over A♣ K♥ and Fuentes trailed with A-Q. The board ran out 10â™ 8â™ 4♦ J♥ Qâ™ . Funk said his heart dropped when he saw the Qâ™ spike on the river, but that card filled in a Broadway straight. Funk won the pot and increased his stack to almost 67K. Fuentes slipped to 55K.
2:53pm: 8-Handed From here on out, action will be 8-handed. Approximately 92 players remain.
2:42pm: Double Dip for Brunner Michael Brunner open-shoved for 20K with 9♠9♦ . Leo Fernandez called with A♠K♦ . The board ran out J♣ 6♣ 3♣ 2♥ J♠and Brunner won his race to double up. Fernandez slipped to 46K. Brunner qualified for the LAPT Punta del Este through a $10 rebuy tournament. He invested a total of $180. Talk about a bargain!
2:30pm: Mesa Ocho Felipe Ramos from Brazil was just moved to Table #8, which also includes Humberto Brenes and Veronica Dabul. At the present moment, Brenes is jamming out to his iPod and singing softly in Spanish. Dabul has a mini basket of apples in front of her and she’s eating a healthy snack to keep up her energy. Dabul did not get any action with her last raise. “No one wants to join me?” she quizzed the table after everyone folded and she tabled K♣ K♥ .
2:20 pm: Players return from break: We’re back in action with 800-1,600 blinds and a 200 ante. 97 players remain in the field and Nacho Barbero is the current chip leader with 175,000.
The plan today is to play eight levels or down to 24 players, whatever comes first.
LAPT Punta del Este reporting comes courtesy of bloggers Change100 and Paul ‘Dr. Pauly’ McGuire and photographer Carlos Monti.
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