PokerStars.net LAPT Rosario Day 4: Sansour Crushes the Final Table
Four days ago the PokerStars.net Latin American Poker Tour Season Three Grand Final kicked-off at the City Center Casino in Rosario, Argentina. The tournament drew 254 players and generated a prize pool of $1,176,200. The final day saw eight players return for their shot at the title and $322,280 first-place prize.
The day started of fast with the eliminations of Nico Fierro (8th place - $25,880) and Ivan Saul (7th - $37,640), both of whom fell at the hands of Martin Sansour. Regardless, all attention seemed to be focused on Matthias Habernig, the young Austrian who had won the previous LAPT event at Florianopolis. Habernig was looking to match Jose “Nacho” Barbero's feat of winning back-to-back LAPT titles, but found his tournament life at stake when he pushed all-in from the small blind with Q♥3♥ and was called by Sansour’s A♠7♥ from the big. The board ran out K♥K♠A♣9♥2♠ and Habernig’s day came to an end in sixth place ($49,400).
After Habernig’s elimination, it didn’t take long for a monster pot to develop. The hand in question developed between Sansour, who had become the chip leader, andRoberto Bianchi, who had fallen to second in chips. With a board reading Q♥J♣8♣6♠Q♠ and a few thousand in the pot, Bianchi moved all-in and was snap-called by Sansour. The crowd was stunned to see that Bianchi had pushed with pocket threes only to run into Sansour’s flopped straight. Bianchi was eliminated in fifth place ($61,160) while Sansour pulled away from the rest of the pack with 3.5 million.
The chip leader continued his elimination streak by knocking out William Ross in fourth place ($84,960). A short time late Palacios decided Sansour couldn’t be the only one eliminating people, so he put an end to Daniel Ades’s day in third place ($115,270). The action in that hand began when Palacios opened for 110,000 from the button and Ades moved all-in from the small blind. Palacios snap-called with A♣K♦ and was far ahead of the J♣7♣ of Ades. The board ran out 4♣2♠6♠4♠K♣ and Ades was felled.
Heads-up play was expected to be an epic battle between Sansour (3,505,000) and Palacios (1,575,000), who had been playing solid all day; surprisingly, the match lasted only two hands. On the second deal, Palacios raised and Sansour moved all-in. Palacios called and showed A♦Q♣ but was dominated by the A♣K♣ of Sansour. The K♦7♠2♠ flop essentially closed the door on Palacios. The turn and river changed nothing and Palacios was eliminated in second place ($188,200). Sansour, who knocked out six of his seven opponents, became the LAPT Grand Final Champion. In addition, he will take $322,280 back to Peru and close the door on another great season of the LAPT.
LAPT Rosario Final Table Results:
1. Martin Sansour - $322,280
2. Bolivar Palacios - $188,200
3. Daniel Ades - $115,270
4. William Ross - $84,690
5. Roberto Bianchi - $61,160
6. Matthias Habernig - $49,400
7. Ivan Saul - $37.640
8. Nico Fierro - $25,880
Speaking of big tournament action, check out our $10,000 Sunday Million Freeroll on PokerStars. This is the fourth big Sunday Major freeroll we have had in as many months and this time the qualification criteria has been slashed.
PR & Media Manager for PokerNews, Podcast host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.
