LAPT6 Chile: Saho leads record-setting Day 1b

Today was a record-setting day for the PokerStars.net Latin American Poker Tour. Although we have yet to get final confirmation from the registration desk, the Big Board claims that there were 629 entries into the tournament today. That number shatters the LAPT’s previous one-day record of 536, set back at LAPT4 São Paulo.

That wasn’t the only attendance mark to be annihilated today. The 629 entries, combined with yesterday’s tally of 377, pushed the LAPT into four-figure territory for the first time in its history. There were 1,006 entries into LAPT6 Chile – almost 50% more than the previous record holder, the Medellin event from Season Five.

And what of those 629 entries? At the end of the day they were led by a Brazilian, Norson Saho, who bagged 211,200. Saho, a resident of São Paulo, was the first Brazilian ever to win the PocketFives Triple Crown – winning three different tournaments on three different sites over the course of seven days. You might say, then, that Saho knows a thing or two about riding a big stack all the way home.

He’ll be joined tomorrow by three Team PokerStars Pros. Jose “Nacho” Barbero bagged up 127,100 in chips, which will be worth about 80 big blinds at the start of play. He’s followed by Christian de Leon (110,000). Leo Fernandez (18,200) will have the most work to do when play reconvenes, but he’s in better shape than Andre Akkari, Angel Guillen and Humberto Brenes, all of whom busted earlier today.

Here we are, then, at the end of Day 1b. It started with an early morning wake-up call. Many of the women were bunched together on one side of the room, a quirk of the draw.

I met Leonardo Martins last night; he met Carter Gill today, a coincidence of the highest order. Martins and Gill were the only two players from their starting table not to re-enter or bust. Many of those re-entered players wandered the tournament room like stray dogs as they bounced from one table to another.

In the middle stages of the day the stars started to come out — Brazilian stars. They were joined by several of the aforementioned Team Pros and one very dedicated parent.

The task tomorrow is daunting. When the 162 Day 1b survivors are added to the Day 1a survivors, they’ll number almost 250. The schedule calls for the field to play all the way down to 24 by the end of tomorrow’s Day 2. There’s no word yet on whether Tournament Director Mike Ward is considering an audible to end play at 32 players. We’ll have to see what happens.

Until then, you can find us at the bar.

Dave Behr is a freelance contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

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