Over on the far side of the room is a table that caught our eye as particularly tough in this relatively sparse field. There we find two members of Team PokerStars Pro, Costa Rica's Humberto Brenes and Mexico's Angel Guillen. More noteworthy, though, is the fact that Roberto Brenes, son of Humberto, is sitting in the one seat, setting up a father-son dynamic that we'll be keeping a good eye on today.
Dad has position on the boy to start play at the toughest table in the room.
Here's a few more notables from our second lap around the room. You'll note the Latin American wing of Team PokerStars Pro is well represented here in São Paulo, but there are a smattering of other familiar faces from abroad.
Perhaps most notable among them is John Hewitt, the 2011 WSOP Main Event final table bubble boy.
We're going to play six levels here this afternoon, then take a one-hour dinner break. Following supper, we'll play on for another four levels, ending the day around midnight local time with ten levels in the books.
On Day 2, the field will be reduced to 24, then we'll play it down to the final table on Day 3.
The announcements have been made, the coffees have been ordered, and we're ready for some poker. With the dealers commanded into action, the cards have gone flying here on Day 1 of the LAPT Grand Final.
The button begins in Seat 5, if you're scoring at home.
Welcome to the 2012 PokerStars.net Latin American Poker Tour Grand Final Carnival Poker Festival here in São Paulo. Today is the first day of the R$4,000 Main Event and it's set to be a great one. The atmosphere is electric, but that may not totally have everything to do with the tournament itself. You see, outside in the city, the biggest and most exciting party in the world is taking place — Carnival.
Plenty of players have flocked to this LAPT event simply because they know that if they bust out, there's going to be plenty of fun to be had outside of the venues walls. That should make the numbers a bit bigger this time around and some extra liveliness in the air.
Last year, the LAPT São Paulo Main Event was conquered by Alex Manzano. He walked away with the R$615,840 first-place prize after defeating a field of 536 runners. This year, the event is capped at 600 players, but that number could easily be reached given how much poker has grown in Brazil.
Two very, very big names have made the trip down to the lower hemisphere in Daniel Negreanu and Eugene Katchalov. Both are some of the biggest names in the game, sporting the Team PokerStars Pro logo and having won WSOP gold bracelets along with numerous other elite titles around the world. Joining them will be fellow Team Pros Angel Guillen, Humberto Brenes and Andre Akkari.
Play is scheduled to kick off 12:00 PM local time here at the Sheraton WTC São Paulo. Be sure to follow along as PokerNews provides all the updates all day long.
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