Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT) - News
LAPT Returns to San Jose! - September 16, 2008
The PokerStars Latin American Poker Tour is back for Season 2. The first event will see the return of the tour to San Jose, Costa Rica, and is being held at the Ramada Plaza Herradura Conference Centre, November 3-5. The event has a buy-in of $3,700 and a guaranteed prize pool of $1,000,000!
Last year’s event attracted a field of 398 and saw PokerStars qualifier Valdemar Kwaysser win the title - along with prize money of $274,103! Those who played at the event included Team PokerStars Pro members Daniel Negreanu, Victor Ramdin, Isabelle Mercier and the Godfather of Costa Rican poker himself, Humberto Brenes. This year’s event will no doubt attract the world’s best players, and you can join them. See the How to Enter page for more information on how you can win your seat. Don’t miss out on your chance to become the next LAPT champion! Visit the San Jose page for full details of the event.
Jose Miguel Espinar wins LAPT Punta del Este
August 10, 2008
Jose Miguel Espinar, 27, from Valencia, beat the Costa Rican poker star Alex Brenes - and 349 others - to take the title and a $241,735 first prize at LAPT Punta del Este. Jose Miguel, a former central heating salesman, has only been playing poker since December but has had a spectacular start to his poker career. Only a month after he started playing, he cashed for $24,000 at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure - and now he is an LAPT Champion.
For Brenes, one of the best poker players in Latin America and the younger brother of Team Poker Stars Pro Humberto Brenes, coming second was bitterly disappointing. But Brenes has already set an LAPT record by making two final tables in the first three events after coming fourth in Rio de Janeiro for $62,800.
Alexandre Gomes, 26, from Brazil - the newest Team PokerStars Pro - came fourth in Punta del Este winning $68,100. Alex only joined the PokerStars team a month ago after winning a bracelet at the WSOP.
A total of 351 players from 34 countries took part in LAPT Punta del Este generating a total prize pool of $851,175. They included 145 players who won their seats online with PokerStars. Both Gylbert Drolet from Canada and Paulo Cesar Ribeiro from Brazil.
As well as Gomes, Team PokerStars Pros Humberto Brenes from Costa Rica, Andre Akkari from Brazil and Americans Barry Greenstein, Greg Raymer, Vanessa Rousso and Chad Brown also played. Sponsored players included WSOP finalist David "Chino" Rheem, Brazilian stock car racer Gualter Salles, Max and Maria Stern from Costa Rica - the only married couple who have both won WSOP bracelets - Argentinian pro Veronica Dabul, American Brandon Cantu, plus Jamal Kunbuz from Venezuela. Also playing were the Hungarian LAPT San Jos champion, Valdemar Kwaysser, and Jason Mercier, who won the EPT event in San Remo last season.
The next season of the LAPT starts in Costa Rica on November 3. The tour will again visit Brazil and Uruguay, but three more countries are also being added to the schedule: Argentina, Chile and Mexico. All six events will be filmed for television.
See http://www.lapt.com for more information; for LAPT Punta del Este reports, visit the PokerStars blog at http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/ and http://www.pokerstars.tv.
Team PokerStars Pros going strong at Punta del Este
August 8, 2008
At the start of Day 2 of the PokerStars.net LAPT event in Punta del Este, Uruguay, Greg Raymer was the Team PokerStars Pro with over 70,000 in chips. A total of 93 players survived Day 1 of the sell-out event.
Team PokerStars Pros Humberto Brenes, Vanessa Rousso and newest recruit Alexandre Gomes from Brazil were also holding their own at the luxurious Mantra Resort Spa Casino, along with 36 players who had won their seats online with PokerStars. The second-placed starter on Day 2 was young American PokerStars qualifier Carter Gill - with 125,150. Sponsored players Veronica Dabul from Argentina and Jamal Kunbuz from Venezuela had also both made it through.
A total of 351 players took part in this final event of LAPT Season 1, creating a total prize pool of $851,175. More than a thousand players competed in LAPT Season 1 generating prize money of over $2.5 million.
Pros and celebrities play poker to benefit Latin American charities
August 7, 2008
Soap stars and sports stars competed against some of the world's top poker players in a unique pro/celebrity poker tournament this week - on the eve of the PokerStars.net Latin American Poker Tour event in Punta del Este.
The tournament, which took place on August 6 at the luxurious Mantra Hotel in the Uruguay resort, featured some of the best-known names in Brazilian television, as well as Argentinian polo player and horse breeder Martin Barrantes, Brazilian stock car racer Gualter Salles and former tennis pro-turned model Victoria Vannucci.
The pros ranked against them included Team PokerStars Pros Alexandre Gomes and Andre Akkari from Brazil, Humberto Brenes from Costa Rica plus Veronica Dabul from Argentina.
At stake was a $10,000 first prize, donated by PokerStars.net, which the winner could pass on to the charity of their choice. Although some of the players were relatively inexperienced, they all put up a good fight during the 90-minute competition. Under the expert tutelage of Humberto Brenes, Victoria Vanucci and Argentinian model and dancer Jessica Cirio made short work of the pros.
However it was Brazilian actor Andr Marques, the host of Brazil's popular "Video Show" on Globo TV, who eventually triumphed - knocking out Jesica after some 20 minutes of heads-up play.
In keeping with the friendly spirit of the event - which was filmed for broadcast on Fox Sports - Andre, Jesica and Humberto Brenes had previously agreed to split the $10,000 top prize three ways so all their favourite causes could benefit. Andre donated his share to the "Casa de Apoio Colibri" (House of Support Colibri), which provides support and accommodation to cancer patients; Jesica pledged her share to helping a friend who is suffering from a painful skin disease while Humberto has chosen to benefit the AJC, the Association of Jovenes Cristianos.
Sarne Lightman, Director of Marketing, PokerStars Latin America, said: "PokerStars was thrilled to have such high profile celebrities take part in our charity tournament. We are also very happy that Andre, Humberto and Jessica agreed to split the prize money as PokerStars will now be helping to benefit charities in Costa Rica, Brazil and Argentina."
Stars head for LAPT Punta del Este
July 30, 2008
The Latin American Poker Tour heads for its final stop in Season 1 in the beautiful seaside resort of Punta del Este in Uruguay - and is set to be a sell-out.
More than 160 players have already won seats online at PokerStars and will be joining star players such as Team PokerStars Pros Andre Akkari from Brazil, Humberto Brenes from Costa Rica, plus Vanessa Rousso (right), Greg Raymer, Barry Greenstein and Chad Brown from the USA, plus Alexandre Gomes from Brazil, the newest member of Team PokerStars Pro.
Over 600 players have already taken part in the first two LAPT events. The winner of LAPT Rio was Dutchman Julien Nuitjen who took home $222,940; LAPT San José was won by Hungarian Valdemar Kwaysser for $274,103.
The three-day LAPT Punta del Este event starts on August 7; satellites continue on PokerStars until July 27.
PokerStars qualifier wins $274,102 at LAPT San José
May 6, 2008
Valdemar Kwaysser, 24, a professional poker player from Budapest, Hungary, won the second LAPT event in San José, Costa Rica for $274,102. Kwaysser, who won his seat in a $200 satellite on PokerStars, was playing in only his second major tournament but is an accomplished online player. A year ago, almost to the day, he came 3rd in the PokerStars Sunday Million for $133,000.
In the final hand against 19-year-old American Max Steinberg, Valdemar's Aces held up against J9 on a 889 flop. Max, 19, whose identical twin brother Danny also played in the event, takes home $144,773.
A total of 398 players from 35 countries took part in the three-day sell-out event, including 175 who won their seats online with PokerStars. Six of the nine final table players were PokerStars qualifiers.
The final stop for Season 1 of the LAPT is Punta del Este from August 7-9. Satellites are running now on PokerStars until late July and 15 players have already won seats and will be heading to Uruguay this summer.
See results, players, press release, for more info.
Humberto and PokerStars help LAPT players help the sharks
May 24, 2008
Team PokerStars Pro Humberto Brenes and players at LAPT San José have helped raise over $20k for a vital campaign against shark finning. Dozens pledged to give 1% of their tournament winnings to Pretoma.org, a sum then matched dollar for dollar by Humberto. PokerStars then matched this joint sum, which was in turn being matched by the Avina Foundation - effectively turning every player dollar into a total of eight dollars.
Shark finning is an inhumane practice which involves cutting off a shark's fins and discarding the body. Although illegal in many countries including Costa Rica, it causes the death of over 200 million sharks per year and is responsible for a 90% decline in shark populations worldwide during the last 50 years.
More than 150 players signed up at the start of the tournament and 23 of these made the money, contributing $5,344 and a total of $21,376 for the charity.
Humberto said: "Costa Rica's greatest treasure is its natural resources. I want to thank all the players who contributed winnings or made donations. Their support was great and will encourage us to do this again at future tournaments. I am known as "The Shark" and now - through our LAPT San José campaign, I can help protect the real sharks."
Please click Sharks Costa Rica and Pretoma for further details.
Satellites for LAPT Punta del Este start on PokerStars
May 16, 2008
Satellites for the final LAPT Season 1 tournament in stunning Punta del Este, Uruguay have started now on PokerStars, giving players the chance to win a $5,000 prize package. Daily qualifiers - including Steps satellites - give players the chance to win an LAPT prize package worth $5,000 - which includes the tournament buy-in, four nights' hotel accommodation and spending money to help cover transportation expenses.
The three-day US$2,500 Texas No Limit Hold'em poker tournament takes place at the luxury Mantra Resort Spa Casino in Punta del Este, Uruguay from August 7-9, 2008. Click LAPT Punta del Este for further details.
LAPT San José looks set for success
May 10, 2008
Beautiful Costa Rica is one of the world's most popular tourist destinations, attracting over one million visitors a year to its untouched rain forests, palm-lined beaches and numerous national parks. With the advent of LAPT San José it is also set to become a top poker destination, attracting top pros from around the world.
Among the international stars that will taking their seats at the $2,500 buy-in San José event are Team PokerStars Pros Andre Akkari from Brazil, Victor Ramdin from Guyana, Isabelle Mercier and poker legend Daniel Negreanu from Canada- and Costa Rican Humberto Brenes, playing on home turf. Click Punta del Este for details.
First LAPT a massive success
May 5, 2008
The three-day, $2,500 buy-in event was won by 19-year-old professional Julien Nuijten from Amsterdam, Holland for $222,940. The young player, a friend of Team PokerStars Pro Noah Boeken, was a dominant force in the tournament from early on and a favourite to win once he arrived at the final table. Despite some bad beats, he eventually bested Vitaly Kovyazin, 47, a construction company manager who moved to the USA from Russia 16 years ago. Vitaly qualified for Rio using PokerStars Frequent Player Points - effectively free-rolling his way to his $117,750 prize for second place.
More than 150 Brazilians took part in the event, alongside players from a further 27 countries. Alex Brenes, younger brother of Team PokerStars Pro Humberto, came 4th for $62,800.
LAPT Rio was the biggest poker tournament ever held in Brazil and attracted top international poker stars including nine members of Team PokerStars Pro - Andre Akkari from Brazil, Humberto Brenes from Costa Rica and as well as Vanessa Rousso, former World Champions Chris Moneymaker and Greg Raymer, Victor Ramdin, Isabelle Mercier, Chad Brown and Gavin Griffin.
Former Indy car racer Guater Salles, sponsored by PokerStars, also played in the tournament surviving until late on Day 2. The players created a record prize pool of $785,000.
See PokerStars blog | results | vblogs | pokerstars.tv | gallery
Team PokerStars Pros on home ground
April 2008
The launch of the LAPT will give Latin American Team PokerStars Pros Andre Akkari and Humberto Brenes the chance to play in major live poker tournaments on their home soil.
Humberto Brenes - known as the "Godfather of Costa Rican Players" - is a larger-than-life character who has become a global poker star, not just for winning two World Series bracelets, but also for his charisma, generosity and good-natured humour. A qualified industrial engineer, Brenes was already a highly successful businessman before he turned his attention to poker. He has now cashed at more than 40 major tournaments.
Andre Akkari is Brazil's best-known poker player and has numerous results to his name in both online and live events. Born in São Paulo, Akkari was already a keen online player when he went to Las Vegas in 2005. He returned home with several cashes and first place finishes, and then went on to win further live tournaments in Punta Del Este, the Vegas Open in São Paulo, and the Bellagio Cup II. By 2006, age 31, he was ready to turn pro and left his job with an internet software company. Since then he has played in over 43 tournaments in Latin America, Europe and the United States.
