LAPT Punta del Este Main Event Day 3 | 2010 PokerStars.net LAPT Punta del Este

LAPT Punta del Este Main Event

Day 3 Completed

02-26-2010 12:39 UTC-12

Día 3 Terminó!

Mickey Doft

It took a bit longer than expected, but Day 3 of the PokerStars.net LAPT Punta del Este is complete. Ten hours after play began, the final table of eight is set, with Norbert Ludger leading the way. His tournament was in jeopardy early today in a hand with Stephen Chidwick, but Ludger's straight draw got there against Chidwick's two pair. With 13 players left, he won the biggest pot of the tournament thus far with a turned full house, beautifully enticing his opponent to bluff all in with just ace-high.

Team PokerStars Pros Jose "Nacho" Barbero and Humberto Brenes hoped to make it to the final eight, but only one of them did. Brenes lost a key hand with pocket jacks against pocket kings and would not recover, busting in 16th. Barbero's day was spent mostly on the shorter end of chips, but he got a boost on the final hand when he eliminated Ernesto Panno on the final table bubble.

We'll see you right back here tomorrow at noon local time (though play is rumored to start around one o'clock) for what promises to be an exciting day on the felt. Until then, goodnight and buenas noches from Punta del Este!

Seat 1: Roman Suarez - 403,000
Seat 2: Norbert Ludger - 1,596,000
Seat 3: Jose "Nacho" Barbero - 548,000
Seat 4: Bernardo Dias - 840,000
Seat 5: Andres Korn - 503,000
Seat 6: Nicolas Cardyn - 988,000
Seat 7: Daniela Zapiello - 560,000
Seat 8: Marco Caicedo - 666,000

02-26-2010 12:31 UTC-12

Ernesto Panno Eliminated in 9th Place ($14,590)

[user66118]

Ernesto Panno wasn't going to sit around and nurse short stack. On the very next hand, he got the remainder of his chips into the pot with {A-Hearts}

. Nacho Barbero was the would-be knocker-out, turning over the dominating {A-Spades}

. Sensing that Day 3 might be moments away from ending, the spectators once again rose from their seats and began shouting for the cards they wanted.

After a long pause to build the suspense, the dealer ran out what would indeed be the final board of the night: {J-Diamonds}

. Both players make their pair of aces, but Barbero's kicker plays, locking up the pot and signaling the floor person to scurry for chip bags.

Ernesto Panno put on a fine show today and for the past three days, but his bid to bring this Uruguayan title to his native Argentina has fallen short. He's out as the final table bubble boy, taking home $14,590 for his work this week.

Tags: Ernesto Panno Nacho Barbero

02-26-2010 12:21 UTC-12

Panno Looking to End This Day

[user66118]

Bernardo Dias was all in before the flop for his last 308,000 chips. Ernesto Panno thought it over for a minute or two before making the call with the covering stack.

Showdown
Dias: {K-Spades}

Panno:

Dias celebrated at the sight of Panno's cards, but there were still five cards to come. With the spectators rising from their seats, the dealer ran out the board: {3-Hearts}

.

That's plenty safe for the at-risk Dias, earning him a double up back over 600,000. Panno is now on the short stack with just about 200,000.

Tags: Bernardo Dias Ernesto Panno

02-26-2010 12:08 UTC-12

Play Resumes

[user66118]

The players are back on stage, and the cards are in the air. The blinds are up, and the three short stacks should be feeling the pinch with less than 15 big blinds.

Level: 24

Blinds: 15,000/30,000

Ante: 3,000

02-26-2010 11:45 UTC-12

Break

Mickey Doft

The remaining nine players are on a 15-minute break.

02-26-2010 11:37 UTC-12

Dias and Caicedo Swap Stacks

[user66118]

Bernardo Dias opened to 55,000 before Marco Caicedo moved all in for a total of 327,000. When it came back to Dias, he thought it over for a few minutes before making the call with the covering stack. With Caicedo at risk, the cards were turned up:

Dias: {6-Clubs}

Caicedo:

All right, let's race! The crowd of spectators that had been mulling about the room stopped their conversations and pressed in toward the stage as the dealer burned a card. One at a time, she ran out the flop: {J-Diamonds}

.....

! The gallery erupted in response to Caicedo's flopped straight, and he paced around the stage pumping his fists above his head.

It wasn't quite over just yet though. The turn brought the {K-Spades}

to keep Dias in the game, drawing to four live outs for the winning full house. The river was painted, but it was the {Q-Diamonds}

, a miss.

Caicedo has tallied the double up, moving close to 700,000. That knocks Dias down to about 330,000 as the two men essentially trade stacks.

Tags: Bernardo Dias Marco Caicedo

02-26-2010 11:16 UTC-12

Cardyn Clocked Again

[user66118]

It's awfully hard to gather the action as our access to the final table is nonexistent. We're relying on a whispering announcer who is trying his best to announce in his second language -- English. We're doing our best, but it's very difficult for the time being.

On the last hand, it appears that Nicolas Cardyn raised to 60,000 and Daniela de Lima Zapiello called. They both checked the flop of {9-Hearts}

, and they did the same when the {2-Spades}

hit the turn. On the river, the {K-Spades}

drew a leading bet of 70,000 from Cardyn. After a moment, Zapiello stuck in a raise to 170,000. That sent Cardyn into the tank, and once again he was clocked rather quickly by someone at the table.

This time about 30 seconds of the countdown expired before Cardyn decided to make the call, turning up {3-Hearts}

. It was a good call. Zapiello was on a bluff with {A-?}

, and Cardyn will take some of her chips as a reward for his solid decision.

Tags: Daniela de Lima Zapiello Nicolas Cardyn

02-26-2010 10:59 UTC-12

Ludger Leaping Forward

[user66118]

With about 320,000 chips stacked in the middle of the table, four players saw a flop of {J-Clubs}

. Nicolas Cardyn made a bet of 200,000, enough to fold two of the meddlers in the pot. Norbert Ludger was not so easily deterred, though, and he eventually made the call.

The turn was the {7-Spades}

, and Ludger took control of the betting. He led out with 270,000 chips, sending Cardyn into the tank. He took his time making a decision, but someone called the clock a bit quicker than we're used to seeing in such a high-pressure situation. In any event, the clock ticked all the way down on Cardyn's decision, and his hand was killed when the count reached zero.

Ludger takes the first big bite out of this last table, increasing his chip lead significantly. He flashed the {J-Diamonds}

as the chips were pushed to him, moving up over 1.5 million while Cardyn slips back to about 535,000.