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

04-16-2009 18:52 UTC-4

We're Back

[user37786]

The players have returned from dinner and cards are back in the air.

Level: 7

Blinds: 300/600

Ante: 50

04-16-2009 18:59 UTC-4

Dinner Break Chip Leaders

[user24788]

Here are the unofficial chip leaders through dinner break:

Charles Sylvestre (PokerStars Online Qualifier) - 50,000
Eduardo Santi - 50,000
Fabiano Batista Lemos - 47,800

Tags: Eduardo Santi

04-16-2009 19:10 UTC-4

How Late are we Playing?

[user24788]

We're scheduled to play ten levels tonight, but as the field thins down the tournament director might suspend play earlier. Stay tuned for more information.

04-16-2009 19:23 UTC-4

There was a bit of commotion as Chris Moneymaker faced an all-in bet from the gentleman sitting directly to his right. Moneymaker counted out enough chips to make the call--carefully stacking them behind the commitment line on the table. The dealer reached out and started to scoop the chips toward the center and Moneymaker said "Whoa!" He hadn't decided whether to call or not and after some contemplation he chose to fold his pocket tens face-up.

His opponent smiled broadly and as the pot was pushed his way he turned over...pocket deuces. He stood up from his seat and gave a friend on a rail a hug as Moneymaker mustered a wry smile and a shrug of the shoulders. People still get a big kick out of taking down the champ.

Tags: Chris Moneymaker

04-16-2009 19:37 UTC-4

66 Players Remaining

[user24788]

More than half of the field has been eliminated on Day 1.

Level: 8

Blinds: 400/800

Ante: 75

04-16-2009 19:59 UTC-4

Moneymaker Pushes Back

[user24788]

"In order to be the man, you gotta beat the man."

Chris Moneymaker has been a target all day long. When he's not getting called down to the river by his opponents, they have been coming over the top and bullying him around. He finally made a stand.

One local player limped for 600 from UTG. Moneymaker raised to 2,300 from the button. The player from UTG reached down and grabbed a handful of 1,000 chips and tossed them across the betting line. Moneymaker asked for an exact account. His opponent had limp/re-raised to 6,600 total. Moneymaker went into the tank for a couple of minutes. He counted out 4,000 in chips from his stack and then paused before he pushed all in for his entire stack with over 15,000. A camera crew rushed over to film the action as a group of media and players from adjacent tables circled the table. The local player sat idle for a few minutes before he shook his head. He flashed a {10-Spades}

before he folded his cards. The dealer pushed the pot towards Moneymaker and he tabled {A-Spades}

as the peanut gallery unleashed a round of "Oooohs!" and "Ahhhhhs!"

Tags: Chris Moneymaker

04-16-2009 20:22 UTC-4

The 9th Hour

[user24788]

Former chipleader Charles Alexander Sylvestre

I took a quick walk around the tournament room at 9 o'clock local time. Here's what I saw....

Former chipleader Charles Alexandre Sylvestre went from 62,000 to 30,000. I didn't see what happened, but the Canadian is no longer all smiles.

Brazilian model Vanessa Machado increased her stack to almost 13,500. She also knocked back a bottle of Stella Artois while Andre Akkari wandered over to chat her up.

Once Akkari finished his pep talk with Vanessa, he sat down next to fellow Team PokerStars Pro Alexandre Gomes at an empty table. The two Brazilians were worked on by two of the more attractive masseuses in the casino.

Brandon 'ih8pp' Demes (the young American from Tempe, Arizona) moved to Chris Moneymaker's table. His stack topped over 30,000 at one point, but he's since slipped to 9,250. "I made the worst call of my life," he said about how he lost most of his stack.

Tags: Charles Alexander Sylvestre

04-16-2009 20:42 UTC-4

Chip Castles, Chip Snakes?

[user37786]

I posted earlier in the day about players who were letting their chips snake around the rail instead of neatly stacking them. I wondered what it would look like if a player did this after picking up more than a handful of chips and, well, this is what Julian De Ventis' "stack" looks like right now.