$5,200 Mar del Plata Main Event Day 1a | 2009 PokerStars.net LAPT Mar del Plata

04-16-2009 04:01 UTC-4

Buenos dias y bienvenidos a la 2009 PokerStars.net LAPT Grand Final in Mar del Plata, Argentina!

[user38449]

Hola poker fans, and welcome to PokerNews' live coverage of the 2009 PokerStars.net LAPT Grand Final from picturesque Mar del Plata, Argentina. Over the next four days, the city often referred to as "Happy City" will play host to hundreds of poker players from around the world, each competing for their share of what is expected to be the largest prizepool ever awarded in South America.

Action gets underway this afternoon at 12:00 p.m. local time (GMT -3) as the players registered for Day 1a take to the felt for ten levels of poker revelry. We expect a handful of Team PokerStars Pros to be here, along with tennis legend Boris Becker who has confirmed his appearance.

Our crack team of live reporters will be scouring the tournament floor throughout the event, sniffing out stories, collecting chip counts, snapping photos and conducting player interviews until the final pot is pushed and a winner declared. Best of all, our coverage of the LAPT Grand Final will be available in English, Spanish and Portuguese!

Stay tuned... we'll soon be live from Casino Central in Mar del Plata, Argentina!

Tags: Mar del Plata PokerStars

04-16-2009 10:38 UTC-4

Team PokerStars Press Conference

[user24788]

The LAPT Mar del Plata kicked off with a press conference featuring LAPT President Glenn Cademartori and Team PokerStars Pros such as Boris Becker, Chris Moneymaker, Andre Akkari, and Leo Fernandez. The players fielded questions from a bevy of international media. Although Leo Fernandez is Argentina's native son, most of the questions were directed at Chris Moneymaker. Six years after his monumental victory at the 2003 WSOP Main Event, his victory continues to make ripples as far as South America. Behold the powers of the Chris Moneymaker Effect.

Tags: Andre Akkari Chris Moneymaker

04-16-2009 11:02 UTC-4

Cards in the Air!

[user24788]

Day 1a of the $5,000 + $200 Main Event at the LAPT Mar del Plata in Argentina is underway. Starting stacks are 10,000 in chips. Blinds will begin at 25/50.

There will be somewhere around 400 players in the Main Event. Stay tuned for official numbers.

Level: 1

Blinds: 25/50

Ante: 0

04-16-2009 11:17 UTC-4

Mr. Popularity

[user37786]

There are currently...let me see...two video crews filming Boris Becker's table and two more waiting their turn just a few feet away. Add a quartet of photographers, a smattering of journalists, and about 50 spectators pressed tight against the rail and you start to get the idea that Boris has made a bit of a splash here in Argentina.

04-16-2009 11:19 UTC-4

Fear the Black Nails

[user24788]

Team PokerStars Pro Maria 'Maridu' Mayrinck from Brazil has a secret weapon at the LAPT Mar del Plata; she painted her fingernails and toenails black. The always chatty and jovial Maridu jumped out as the early chipleader. On the first hand of the tournament, she flopped the nuts. Holding {A-?}

she was involved in a three way pot. The flop was {K-?}

. She bet 300. One player called and the other folded. The turn was the {3-Diamonds}

. She fired out 500 and her opponent called. The {7-Spades}

fell on the river. She bet 750 and her opponent called. She tabled {A-?}

for the Broadway straight, while her opponent held {K-?}

. Maridu dragged the pot and her stack is over 13,000.

"Be afraid of the black nails," said Maridu.

Tags: Maridu

04-16-2009 11:33 UTC-4

SCOOP Champion in the House

[user24788]

Team PokerStars Pro J.C. Alavardo from Mexico is among the players on Day 1b, but he stopped by the tournament area to wish a few friends good luck.

If you are an online poker junkie, then you might already know that J.C. Alvarado won the SCOOP $1,000 + $50 buy-in event on PokerStars a few days ago. Alvarado bested a field of 3,198 of the premier online players in the world. He collected a nifty $502,086 for his victory. He's been "running good" and he hopes that his rush continues when he takes his seat tomorrow.

Tags: J.C. Alvarado

04-16-2009 11:48 UTC-4

Here Come the Burros!

[user24788]

In the first forty-five minutes of action, two tables have already broken. Approximately twenty players have been eliminated.

Level: 2

Blinds: 50/100

Ante: 0

04-16-2009 12:03 UTC-4

Auto-Fold

[user24788]

Team Pokerstars Pro Chris Moneymaker was caught up under the stampede of media at the start of the tournament. His table was located right next to Boris Becker's table and the media concentrated on that part of the room. Moneymaker breathed a sigh of relief when was moved to a new table and quickly ordered a massage. While a local Argentinian beauty works on his upper back and shoulders, he's been in auto-fold mode. Moneymaker hasn't played a significant sized pot since cards went in the air. His stack is around 9,800.

Tags: Chris Moneymaker