$2,700 Nuevo Vallarta Main Event | 2008 PokerStars.net LAPT - Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico

12-05-2008 13:33 UTC-6

Meet the Local Celebrities: Tito Fuentes

[user24788]

Poker pros want to be rock stars and rock stars want to play poker for a living. It's one of those oddities where a group of professionals in one genre secretly wishes they were a part of a different subset of celebrities.

At today's event, there's been a lot of buzz around Tito Fuentes' table. He's the lead guitar player for Molotov. They are a popular rock/hiphop band from Mexico City and sing in both English and Spanish. Molotov won two Latin Grammy awards since the band formed in 1995. Most of the members of Molotov are poker enthusiasts and their fearless leader, Tito Fuentes, is holding his own among the biggest sharks in Latin America.

Tags: Tito Fuentes

12-05-2008 13:46 UTC-6

Early Chipleader?

[user24788]

Carlos Ibañes from Mexico has a stack that is over 40,000.

12-05-2008 13:47 UTC-6

Brazilians Lose A Big Dog; Alex Gomes Eliminated

[user24788]

Team PokerStars pro Alex Gomes from Brazil took a hit earlier in Level 2 when he ran into pocket Kings. Gomes was crippled and down to his last 2,200. He was shortstacked and busted out when his Big Slick lost to A-Q.

Gomes is one of the early causalities.

Tags: Alex Gomes

12-05-2008 14:02 UTC-6

Players Take a 10-Minute Break

[user24788]

Level: 3

Blinds: 75/150

Ante: 0

12-05-2008 14:13 UTC-6

Players Return from a Break

[user24788]

There are approximately 228 players remaining. Stay tuned for official numbers.

12-05-2008 14:15 UTC-6

Melina Villegas = 17K

[user24788]

Melina Villegas, from Costa Rica, is up to 17,000 after picking up a couple of pots during Level 2. Melina is a university student, but she's been seriously working on her game.

Tags: Melina Villegas

12-05-2008 14:27 UTC-6

Offical Numbers Released

[user24788]

Official numbers for the LAPT Mexico have been released by PokerStars.

Entrants: 242
Prize Pool: $586,850
Places Paid: 27

The Payouts:
1 - $158,450
2 - $88,028
3 - $58,684
4 - $44,014
5 - $32,277
6 - $26,408
7 - $20,540
8 - $14,671
9 - $11,737
10-12 - $10,270
13-15 - $8,803
16-18 - $7,336
19-27 - $5,869

12-05-2008 14:39 UTC-6

Selected Chip Counts

[user24788]

Those doing good?

J.C. Alvarado - 25,000
Shirley Rosario - 22,500
Melina Villegas - 17,000
Marc Karam - 16,500
David Plastik - 14,200
Ryan Fee - 14,000
Victor Ramdin - 13,000
Humberto Brenes - 11,200

Those who need a little help?

Greg Raymer - 9,500
Tito Fuentes - 7,700
Maria 'Maridu' Maynrick - 7,500
Andre Akkari 6.600

12-05-2008 14:44 UTC-6

Online Young Guns Update

[user24788]

Stephen “Stevie 444” Chidwick is most known for winning 100 seats to the 2008 WSOP Main Event. Since he was not twenty-one years old, he was unable to use any of those seats, so instead, he pocketed a cool $1 million. Stevie444 is currently up to 11,500 chips.

His buddy, Jon "Apestyles" Van Fleet, is faring a little better. The Austin, Texas native is sitting on a stack worth almost 15,000.