Summary of the LAPT Season IV Thus Far
We were perusing the PokerStars Program on the LAPT Colombia and came across a well-written summary of the LAPT Season IV thus far. We thought it was worth sharing, so here it is:
The LAPT 2011 began in Sao Paulo, Brazil, a city that had never seen the LAPT on its soil. In February Season 4 opened at the Sheraton World Trade Center. It was a record-breaking tournament. Before the stop in Sao Paulo, no LAPT main event had hoasted more than 400 players. That changed in Brazil when 536 people took their seats for the first event of the season.
The record field on Brazilian soil gave the people of that country their greatest chance yet to win an LAPT Main Event. Joao Neto gave them an even greater chance when he got heads up. It all slipped away and into the hands of Chile’s Alex Manzano. He won nearly $370,000 for his victory.
Brazil, still stung by just missing its chances at a championship, exacted its revenge a few weeks later. The LAPT moved on to Chile, home of the man who had ripped the championship out of Brazilian hands. It had been two years since the LAPT had visited Vina del Mar. In 2010, the catastrophic earthquake forced the cancelation of the Season 3 main event. In Season 4, LAPT Chile became the biggest ever LAPT event. Six hundred twenty-one people showed up. Among them was Brazilian Murilo Figueiredo, the man who would claim victory and $146,000 in prize money for Brazil.
In April, 350 players from 30 different countries showed up in Lima, Peru to battle for the lion’s share of the $774,000 prize pool. In the end, Lima local Kemal Ferri won his first ever major poker tournament for more than $200,000.
In August, the LAPT returned to Punta del Este for the fourth consecutive season. In the first three years, no player from Uruguay managed to snag the top spot. That changed in Season 4 when Alex Komaromi steamrolled the final two days of play and raised the Uruguayan flag over his quarter-million dollar first prize.
Now, it’s time for the fifth event of the season. In what is already an historic year, a Colombian champion on Colombian soil would be the stuff of storybooks.