LAPT Punta del Este Main Event Day 1 | 2010 PokerStars.net LAPT Punta del Este

02-24-2010 04:30 UTC-12

Welcome to Punta del Este!

[user116926]

While you wait for the action to restart here at the PokerStars.net LAPT Punta del Este, let us show off all the exotic sights this beach-resort town has to offer:

Jealous much? You could be here too! Qualify online for any of the LAPT stops, or even NAPT or EPT with satellites running daily on PokerStars.

02-24-2010 04:38 UTC-12

During the break, we caught up with Mike Brunner, one of the multitude of online qualifiers here in Punta del Este.

Brunner says he's really enjoying playing his first major tournament here in South America. It was a long trip from his native Madison, Wisconson, and he's relishing the chance to wear shorts and sandals while the rest of his hometown deals with a snowy, blustery winter. And the soft field sure doesn't hurt either.

Brunner qualified for this event via a $11+r satellite on PokerStars. He says he was in for at least 16 or 18 buy-ins, but the rebuy machine made it work and soon found himself heads up for the package. A crucial coinflip held Brunner's pocket eights against ace-nine on the final hand, and he was locked up for a seat in Uruguay.

When he's not grinding out his tuition money online, Brunner is a student at the University of Wisconson where he studies Economics. His knowledge of money and investments has suited him well thus far; Brunner is sitting with about 27,000 as he returns from break.

Tags: Mike Brunner

02-24-2010 04:47 UTC-12

Sanchez Can't Get a Bite

[user66118]

Diego Sanchez opened to 450 under the gun before a man in the hijack seat three-bet to 1,150. Sanchez made the smooth call, and the two men saw a flop of {9-Hearts}

.

After a check from Sanchez, Mr. Hijack continued out with another 1,600 chips. Sanchez flatted again, and the turn paired the board with the {9-Clubs}

. The action check-checked, and Sanchez checked again on the {A-Diamonds}

river. When his opponent checked it back, Sanchez slumped in his chair, tabling {2-Diamonds}

for the full house. His opponent flashed {Q-Clubs}

as he slid them into the muck, and a frustrated Sanchez collected the smaller-than-he-would-have-liked pot.

Still, he's up to about 31,000.

Tags: Diego Sanchez

02-24-2010 04:47 UTC-12

De Korver Almost Back to the Starting Stack

Mickey Doft

After getting down to under 10,000 in level two, Pieter de Korver is off to a good start in level three.

He raised to 550 in early position and was called by the player in the big blind. De Korver's opponent check-called bets of 600, 1400, and 3,550 on a {4-Spades}

board, sending his hand to the muck when de Korver tabled {8-Spades}

for a flush.

Pieter de Korver is back to around 18,000.

Tags: Pieter de Korver

02-24-2010 04:55 UTC-12

A Numbers Game

[user66118]

The big board in the corner of the room shows that approximately 311 players have entered this iteration of the LAPT Punta del Este.

Registration has closed following the break, so nobody else will be allowed to join the party from here on out. We're just waiting for the staff to finalize the entries before we have the official total, but 311 is going to be awfully close.

It should be noted that the field size is down a bit from the previous two seasons. The staff seems content with the turnout, though, blaming the slight dropoff on the Americans. It's not all our fault, though. PokerStars themselves may have stolen a couple dozen entries by scheduling the NAPT Venetian against this event. Nobody's complaining, though, and the 300+ runners will still generate a handsome prize pool.

We'll get you the full official numbers as soon as they're in.

02-24-2010 05:13 UTC-12

Brunner Bullied Out

[user66118]

Mike Brunner was the preflop aggressor for this hand, and he found calling action from an unknown player in the big blind. (We hope to have a full player list soon so we can dispatch with the "unknown player" moniker. In any event, it's all we got for now.)

The two men watched the flop come down {K-Hearts}

. Brunner continued out with a bet of 800, which his opponent check-called.

The turn was the {A-Diamonds}

, and it drew another check from Mr. Big Blind. When Brunner fired another 1,600, though, he snuck in a check-raise to 5,000 straight. Brunner's cards quickly hit the muck, dropping him back to about 22,000.

Tags: Mike Brunner

02-24-2010 05:26 UTC-12

Copycats

[user66118]

A player in middle position opened to 700, and Rodrigo Seiji three-bet to 2,300. In the small blind, Reggie Lyons came over the top with a four-bet to 7,200, enough to quickly fold the initial raiser. Seiji wasn't going anywhere though. He eyed up his stack for about a minute before moving all in for about 18,000 on top. Lyons nodded and called, the two men just about even in chips.

Showdown
Seiji: {K-Hearts}

Lyond:

Chuckles all around. The board wouldn't provide any freeroll nonsense as it came out {2-Hearts}

. Both men will chop the chump change in the middle of the table, and it's on to the next shuffle.

02-24-2010 05:29 UTC-12

Maridu Slowrolled

Mickey Doft

Six players saw a flop of {6-Diamonds}

. Two players checked to Maria "Maridu" Mayrinck and she bet 1,500. Just two others came along to see the {9-Clubs}

turn card. They all opted to check, landing the {5-Spades}

on the river.

The first opponent to act bet 1,500 and Maridu popped it to 4,200. The second opponent folded, putting the action back on the first opponent. Loudly, he announced call.

Maridu tabled {8-Spades}

for a straight and after a few seconds and looking over the table at Maridu's cards, her opponent slammed over his hand - {6-Spades}

for a full house. Maridu, a bit confused by the slowroll, laughed it off.

She's down to about 16,000.

Tags: Maria "Maridu" Mayrinck

Level: 4

Blinds: 150/300

Ante: 0

02-24-2010 05:30 UTC-12

Lock the Doors

[user66118]

The official number of runners for the third annual LAPT Punta del Este is 307. Of that total, 279 still remain in play. We'll post the prize pool as soon as it's made available.