PokerStars Players Shine at the LAPT
Jul 6, 2008By: G.L. Hodges PokerStars has been bringing you a season of sizzling action with the Season 1 Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT). Following in the footsteps of the successful European Poker Tour (EPT) and Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APT), the LAPT has brought together some of the biggest names in poker. The tour has seen massive prize pools in the most exotic Latin destinations including; Brazil, Costa Rica and Uruguay.
With the huge increase in poker's popularity in Latin American, LAPT Season 1 will surely go down in history as the richest tour ever staged in the region. Many players from countries like Brazil and Argentina got their first taste of what live poker is all about, when they sat across the table with the famous faces of poker. Many Team PokerStars members have been playing the LAPT, including Brazilian Andre Akkari and Costa Rican legend Humberto Brenes.
So far, in Season 1, PokerStars qualifier Valdemar Kwaysser won the LAPT San Jose event, walking away with prize money of $274, 103. Team PokerStars Pro members Daniel Negreanu, Victor Ramdin, Isabelle Mercier and local legend Humberto Brenes were among the 398 entrants. The final table featured an impressive sight, seven players who all qualified for the event on PokerStars!
Kwaysser, a 24-year-old player from Hungary, managed to hang on at the final table which included the other PokerStars qualifiers. Down to just three players, Kwayser played 10-5 and cracked the pocket kings held by 3rd place finisher Steven Silverman. This gave Kwaysser the chip lead going into the heads-up play with Max Steinberg. The final hand saw Steinberg push all-in with J-9 on a flop of 9-8-8. Steinberg’s two pair was no match to Kwaysser’s pocket aces giving him a higher two pair and the game was over.
The first ever PokerStars Latin American Poker Tour champion, Dutchman Julien Nuijten was crowned after winning the title in Rio. On a spectacular show of aggression, 19-year-old Nuijten held a healthy chip stack for much of the tournament, making him a big favorite at the final table that featured a total of five PokerStars qualifiers, including second place finisher Vitaly Kovyazin. The heads-up action lasted only an hour when the chips finally went into the middle. On the final hand, Nuijten made trip 7’s, besting Kovyazin’s top pair. First place paid $222,940 and a spot in the LAPT history book.
The final LAPT event of the season will be at the Mantra Resort Spa Casino Punta Del Este, Uruguay on August 7th -9th with a buy-in of $2,500+$200. But, there is still time to win your seat to this event on PokerStars! Regular qualifiers are running now, so log-in to PokerStars and win your seat for the next LAPT event!
