About the Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT)
The Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT), sponsored by PokerStars.net, started in May 2008 in Brazil, and already promises to become one of the world's leading poker tours. As with the hugely successful PokerStars Asia Pacific Poker Tour which launched last year, the LAPT is bringing exciting, world-class poker action to a new region of the globe.
In Season 1, the LAPT is introducing some amazing destinations - Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, San José in Costa Rica and the fabulous resort of Punta del Este in Uruguay. Players from all over the world are set to join local players at the tournament, including top professionals and members of Team PokerStars Pro such as André Akkari from Brazil and Humberto Brenes - the "Godfather of Costa Rican Players" and a double World Series bracelet winner, Daniel Negreanu, Vanessa Rousso, Chad Brown, Victor Ramdin, Isabelle Mercier, Gavin Griffin and former world champions Chris Moneymaker and Greg Raymer.
Thanks to PokerStars' huge number of online qualifying satellites, thousands of poker players travel every year to compete in live events across Europe, the US, Asia Pacific and the Caribbean. Using their Frequent Player Points, some don't even pay to enter - but have returned home with enormous wins in their pockets. They include young German Sebastian Ruthenberg who qualified online on PokerStars in a FPP tournament for the EPT Season 3 German Open and won €220,000. and Tim Vance, who won first prize and €834,590 at EPT Copenhagen in Season 4. Meanwhile, Gavin Griffin, who won $2.4 million at the EPT Season 3 Grand Final, spent just $240 qualifying for the event on PokerStars.
With the launch of the LAPT, PokerStars is yet again bringing a whole new dimension to poker and helping turn it into a truly global sport.
The LAPT has been created by a talented team that includes:
Glenn Cademartori - LAPT President
Glenn Cademartori is as passionate about the LAPT as Latin Americans are about life. Latin America is the hottest and fastest growing region in the world right now for the poker industry, and the LAPT has been developed to fuel this growth. The LAPT will put Latin America on the global map as one of the best destinations for poker tourism. And Latin American poker players are ready for their own high-stakes tournaments to rival those of the more mature markets of North America and Europe. Latin America and the world is ready for the LAPT.
Glenn has more than 15 years experience in the gaming, marketing, and advertising industries in North America and Latin America. His last 2.5 years have been in poker gaming developing marketing strategy, media planning, and event production in the United States, Canada, and now Latin America. Glenn also served as the international spokesperson for several gaming brands in North America, Europe and Scandinavia prior to his work with the LAPT. Glenn is proud to launch the LAPT and is looking forward to exponential success of the tour in the years ahead.
Mike Ward - LAPT Tournament Director
Mike has been in the poker business since 1992 and Poker Tournament Director at Foxwoods Resort Casino since 1996. In 2007 alone, he has overseen dramatic expansion of tournament poker at Foxwoods - over 220,000 players competed for a combined prize pool in excess of $50,000,000. Mike also manages two major World Poker Tour events, the Foxwoods World Poker Finals and the Foxwoods Poker Classic, both of which continue to attract record numbers of entries and generate prize pools in excess of $15,000,000 annually. Since 2004, the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure has been under Mike's direction. As PCA Tournament Director, he has seen the entries grow from 200 to over 1,100 in 2008. Over the years, Mike's work ethic and innovative ideas has earned him the respect of players and peers alike. He looks forward to bringing his energy and unique perspective to the Latin American Poker Tour.
PokerStars.net
PokerStars is the headline sponsor of the Latin American Poker Tour and also the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (launched in 2007) and the European Poker Tour (launched in 2004). It is the world's largest online card room, with over 13 million members and 15 billion poker hands dealt. PokerStars hosts regular qualifying tournaments to live LAPT events, allowing players to secure LAPT packages for free.
For further information, please email lapt@pokerstars.com.
