$5,200 Mar del Plata Main Event
Day 1b Completed
2009 PokerStars.net LAPT Mar del Plata
$5,200 Mar del Plata Main Event
Day: 1b
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2009 PokerStars.net LAPT Mar del Plata
Buy-in
$5,000
Prize Pool
$1,411,350
Entries
291
Level
21
Blinds
10,000 / 20,000
Ante
2,000
Day 1b Complete
![[user24788]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
The Brenes clan were well represented in Argentina. In addition to Humberto, his brother Alex and his youngest son, Roberto, were among the players on Day 1b. Unfortunately, only Alex Brenes advanced to Day 2.
Early on in the tournament, all eyes were on Zach "Umbrella Man" Hall. He showed up to the tournament wearing an umbrella hat which easily made him the most recognizable person in the tournament (not named Humberto Brenes).
Shortly after the dinner break, Costa Rican player Luis Jaikel emerged as the chipleader and closed in on 100,000. He held the lead for most of the evening until Robin Chesne, Jason Skeans, and Marcelo Giorgetta caught up with him. When play ended, Robin Chesne (an online qualifier from France) finished up with 148,900... good enough to be both the Day 1b chipleader and overall chipleader.
Probably the most impressive feat of the day was the remarkable comeback from Leo Fernandez. The former chess master from Argentina was crippled on one of the first hands of the tournament. He lost almost 90% of his stack and battled back from 1,100 in chips. He was short-stacked for the entire day and made a miraculous triple up late in the evening to give him a bit of breathing room. And when Day 1b ended, Leo Fernandez was among the 35 players remaining when play ended.
A total of 291 entrants participated in the $5,200 buy-in tournament for the grand finale event of the second season of the LAPT. The total prize pool for the final event was over $1.4 million and the top 27 places will pay out. $381,030 will be awarded to the eventual champion.
27 players survived Day 1a and 35 survived Day 1b. A total of 62 players will return on Day 2 as both flights will combine into one field. Those fortunate 62 players will play down to the final table.
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Andre Akkari Eliminated
against 
. He could not come from behind to win and he was eliminated.
The New Chip Leader Is...
. Robin tabled his 
and managed to fade an ace on the 
board. The dealer pushed a huge mass of chips Chesne's way and it took him some time to stack them because they totaled a cool 135,000. Unless something weird happened in the last five minutes, he's our chip leader.
Slow Down
As the remaining 38 players have tightened up their play (since they all want to advance to Day 2), there seems to be more action away from the tables.
Over in an empty area, J.C. Alvarado was displaying several jujitsu moves on Maria "maridu" Mayrinck. He flipped the nimble Maridu on the the floor a couple of times while they channeled their inner UFC fighters.
Top 5 Chip Counts
Luis Jaikel - 102,300
Mark Ioli - 70,000
Alejandro Rodriguez - 48,000
Vincenzo Gianelli - 48,000
We're Back
Level: 11
Blinds: 800/1,600
Ante: 150
On Break
Alex Gomes Eliminated
Normoyle:
Gomes:
Gomes trailed and he failed to improve. His stack was crippled and he was left with 4,000 or so in chips.
On the very next hand, action folded to Gomes on the button. He shoved without looking at his cards. Leo Fernandez called from the big blind.
Fernandez:
Gomes:
The board ran out
. Fernandez won the pot and Gomes was eliminated on the last hand before the break.