The Latin American Poker Tour(LAPT) kicked off Season 7 with an outing in Chile and crowning a champion in Mario Lopez. The Grand Ballroom in the Enjoy Casino and Resort, Chile was the place of heightened activity with a strong 609 playing field. The 5 day $1700 buy-in Main event had two starting fights and also allowed for re-entries.
But despite the re-entry format, the tournament unfolded at a very fast pace and a 8 handed final table took place on 23rd March. Amongst the finalists were two Chileans, two Brazilians and Jefferson Melo lead the pack when the FT began. Melo had been the persistant star performer through this LAPT Chile Main Event as he led Day 1a 2 also.
Raul Pino of Panama and Brazilian Guilherme Pita were the two small stacks when the FT began and also the first to exit. Lopez was responsible for both the eliminations and thus consolidated a healthy stack. Robert Lipkin who was the only player from North America in the FT went down in sixth place when his pocket four’s fell to Lopez’s pocket six’s.
A failed deal negotiation later Johann Ibanez went out in fifth place to Luis Resk to better his previous LAPT best finish of 9th place at LAPT6 Peru. Finally as Rodrigo Perez led the final 4 players a deal was struck guaranteeing him $120,000. Resk and Lopez locked $95,000 and Melo $90,000 with $22,991 left for the final winner to play.
Some quick all-ins later, Resk fell in 4th place followed by Melo in 3rd place. Heads up between lopez and Perez pursued which lasted for quite some time. Ultimately, Lopez prevailed overcoming a chip disadvantage to mark the biggest cash of his tournament career.
The Final Results of LAPT7 Chile Main Event
Date: Mar 19 – 23, 2014
Buy-in: $1,700
Entries: 609
Prize pool: $915,631
1 – Mario Lopez, Argentina, $117,991*
2 – Rodrigo Perez, Chile, $120,000*
3 – Jefferson Melo, Brazil, $90,000*
4 – Luis Resk, Chile, $95,000*
5 – Johann Ibañez, Colombia, $47,620
6 – Robert Lipkin, Canada, $37,260
7 – Guilherme Pita, Brazil, $27,560
8 – Raul Pino, Panama, $18,960
LAPT’s next stop is in May 2014 now with LAPT7 Brazil happening in Sao Paulo.