Welcome to Day 4 of the 2012 PokerStars.net LAPT Punta del Este. The starting field of 375 players is down just to nine following 21 levels of play and a champion will emerge before day's end.
Leading the way is Francisco Baruffi Neto with 1,346,000. Team PokerStars Pro Angel Guillen is still in the hunt, too, looking to improve upon his third-place finish here back in Season 2, but he'll have a tall mountain to climb as the short stack with 421,000.
Here is how the final table stacks up:
Seat
Player (Country)
Chips
1
Francisco Baruffi Neto (Brazil)
1,346,000
2
Osvaldo Silvio Resquin (Argentina)
802,000
3
Guido Ruffini (Argentina)
1,259,000
4
Vladimir Dobrovolskiy (Russia)
511,000
5
Marcelo Ramos Da Fonseca (Brazil)
460,000
6
Carlos Leoncio Mironiuk (Argentina)
751,000
7
Pablo Joaquin Melogno (Uruguay)
602,000
8
Angel Guillen (Mexico)
421,000
9
Ivan Luca (Argentina)
1,254,000
Play is scheduled to continue at 1pm local time, a little less than an hour from now, so be sure to keep it here at PokerNews throughout the day for as a new LAPT champion will be crowned.
Action folded to Marcelo Ramos Da Fonseca in the small blind who raised to 58,000. Carlos Leoncio Mironiuk peered down at his cards and moved all in for his remaining 510,000. Ramos Da Fonseca.snap called and the hands were turned over:
Fonseca:
Mironiuk:
The board ran out , giving Ramos Da Fonseca queens full of aces. Mironiuk thus became the first casualty of this final table, pocketing $15,390.
Ivan Luca opened to 51,000 and was called by Francisco Baruffi Neto. Guido Ruffini pushed out a three-bet from the cutoff, making it 132,000 total. Action folded back to Luca who thought for over three minutes. The clock was called on Luca and after a full sixty seconds he still had not reached a decision and his hand was forced into the muck. Baruffi Neto, on the other hand, quickly decided to call.
The flop brought the and Baruffi Neto checked. Ruffini continued out for 136,000 and Baruffi Neto called. The turn paired the board, bringing the and Baruffi Neto checked for a second time. Ruffini shoved out 200,000 and Baruffi Neto announced all in. Ruffini quickly called, flipping up only to find he was behind the turned trips of Baruffi Neto who held . The river was of no help to Ruffini and he was sent packing.
Francisco Baruffi Neto raised to 70,000 from the hijack and Vladimir Dobrovolskiy three-bet shoved from the button for 612,000. The blinds folded, Baruffi Neto called, and the cards were on their backs.
Baruffi Neto:
Dobrovolskiy:
Dobrovolskiy maintained the lead through the flop and turn, but the landed on the river to eliminate him in seventh place.
Josh_Cahlik
Angel Guillen scores another dramatic double
Team PokerStars Pro Angel Guillen has been relatively card dead for a majority of the day. In the first pot that we've seen him active, action folded around to his small blind and he moved all in for roughly 250,000. Ivan Luca called from the big blind and the hands were tabled:
Guillen:
Luca:
The flop brought and Guillen was still in the lead. The turn spelled heartbreak for Guillen, however, coming the and pairing Luca. The room gasped and Guillen's head dropped. With one cards to come, Guillen was looking for one of the three remaining tens or the four remaining nines to make a straight.
The dealer rapped the table and burned a card. She grabbed the top card on the deck and flipped it over.
The !
Guillen paired his ten and the room erupted into cheers and applause. This double up keeps up hope for all those adorned with a red spade logo.
Pablo Joaquin Melogno has easily been the most aggressive player at the table since the break, raising eight hands in the last two orbits. That aggression has paid off as he just eliminated Osvaldo Silvio Resquin.
Melogno raised to 60,000 from the hijack and Resquin shoved for 404,000 from the big blind. After about 60 seconds thinking it through, Melogno called and was thrilled to see Resquin table . Melogno showed and scored the knockout when the board ran out .
For his sixth-place showing, Osvaldo Silvio Resquin earned $35,970.
Ivan Luca moved all in from the hijack for his last 401,000. Francisco Baruffi Neto called from the cutoff and the rest of the players got out of the way.
Pablo Joaquin Melogno raised to 110,000 from the button and Angel Guillen replied by popping it up to 225,000 from the small blind. It folded back to Melogno who four-bet all in and Guillen called.
Guillen:
Melogno:
The flop came and Guillen's ace-king high retained the lead. Melogno picked up a ton of outs, however, when the turned. Fortunately for Guillen, however, the river was not a queen, jack, eight, or diamond, instead it was the , sealing Melogno's fate as our fourth place finisher.
Francisco Baruffi Neto raised to 175,000 from the button and Angel Guillen three-bet to 425,000 from the big blind. Baruffi Neto called and a board was spread in front of the two players.
Guillen continued out for 275,000 and Baruffi Neto called. The turned and Guillen bet 400,000. Baruffi Neto moved all in for about 1,260,000 and Guillen called, tabling the which was well ahead of Baruffi's . The river bricked out for Baruffi Neto, coming the and he was knocked down to about 145,000 while Guillen soared into the chip lead.
The next hand Marcelo Ramos Da Fonseca raised from the button, Guillen folded, and Baruffi Neto was all in for his tournament life.
Ramos Da Fonseca:
Baruffi Neto:
The board ran out and Baruffi Neto became the third place finisher, collecting $116,240 as per the deal struck earlier in three-handed play.
Marcelo Ramos Da Fonseca raised to 200,000 on the button and Angel Guillen three-bet all in for about 2,800,000. Ramos Da Fonseca called immediately and tabled , dominating the of Guillen.
The flop came down , giving Guillen a few extra outs to a straight. However, neither the turn nor river saved Guillen, ending his excellent run with a runner-up finish.
, giving Ramos Da Fonseca queens full of aces. Mironiuk thus became the first casualty of this final table, pocketing $15,390.
and Baruffi Neto checked. Ruffini continued out for 136,000 and Baruffi Neto called. The turn paired the board, bringing the 
and Baruffi Neto checked for a second time. Ruffini shoved out 200,000 and Baruffi Neto announced all in. Ruffini quickly called, flipping up 
river was of no help to Ruffini and he was sent packing.
and Guillen was still in the lead. The turn spelled heartbreak for Guillen, however, coming the 
and pairing Luca. The room gasped and Guillen's head dropped. With one cards to come, Guillen was looking for one of the three remaining tens or the four remaining nines to make a straight.
and scored the knockout when the board ran out 
and Guillen's ace-king high retained the lead. Melogno picked up a ton of outs, however, when the 
turned and Guillen bet 400,000. Baruffi Neto moved all in for about 1,260,000 and Guillen called, tabling the 
which was well ahead of Baruffi's 
and Baruffi Neto became the third place finisher, collecting $116,240 as per the deal struck earlier in three-handed play.
turn nor 
river saved Guillen, ending his excellent run with a runner-up finish.