Normally the post-dinner period is marked by a torpor, the dreaded "food coma". That's not the case today. In the first twenty minutes, as I was making the rounds looking for fresh chip counts, I saw five different all-in hands play out. LAPT Brazil champion Alex Manzano was among the first out when he made a late-position steal with a short stack of 3,500 and ran into another player's pocket queens. He sheepishly turned over and did not get there.
At a different table pocket tens beat ace-queen with a ten on the flop; pocket kings went down to pocket sevens and [ack] on a board of ; and chip leader Mario Lopez took a small hit with pocket jacks against a short stack's pocket queens.
We're guesstimating the field will be trimmed in half, to about 120, by the end of the day. But the remaining players seem not to want to waste any time getting there.
After doubling up early with a flopped set of 8s, the sledding has been much tougher for American Shirley Rosario. She raised pre-flop under the gun, then found herself involved in a five-way raised flop of . Both blinds checked to Rosario. She tossed 5,000 into the pot and was called only by small blind (and PokerStars Team Online player) Karlo Lopez. Lopez and Rosario both checked the turn. On the river Lopez bet 7,275. Rosario snap-mucked and seemed slightly frustrated.
Lopez is up to about 49,000, while Rosario is down to about 30,000.
Things continue to go great for most of our leaders in Level 6. Angel Guillen's stack has jumped all the way to 60,000 after taking down a small pot against the big blind. Guillen raised pre-flop and continued on the . Both players checked the turn, but when the river fell the big blind lost his desire to continue. He checked and folded to a bet of 2,400
A few tables over, Mario Lopez is closing in on 100,000 in chips. At the river of a board, his lone opponent made a small bet of 2,500 (with 10,000 more behind) into the 6,000-chip pot. Lopez raised that bet to 6,500, which was enough to end the hand. He now has 98,000.
Holding their relative positions are Francisco Rios (70,000), Humberto Brenes (65,000) and Fredy Torres (55,000). None of those men seem to be running over his table but are playing comfortable poker from stacks that are 100 big blinds deep.
It's a different tale for Francisco Picasso (35,000) and Nicasio Toranzo (25,000). Both men rocketed to the top of the counts a few levels ago but seem to have peaked too early. It will be interesting to see if they make it to the end of the day.
In contrast to LAPT Brazil, which at times felt like both a manic tournament and a manic event overall, things here in Peru continue to run quietly. Nobody is standing and shouting "Filha do rei!" or, really, much of anything. Colorful characters are in short supply (if you don't count the man decked head to toe in bright orange University of Miami gear and the man decked head to tie in a rose sweatsuit -- not rose-colored, but rose). It's one of those tournaments where the poker is front and center, as it should be.
With Level 6 approaching we expect to see lots of movement in the field. The blinds will be 200/400 with an ante of 75. The large ante (37.5% of the small blind) will create pots of 1,275 chips before a card is even dealt. There won't be a stampede of eliminations but things should definitely pick up pace.
Conventional wisdom says you never win a four-day poker tournament on Day 1. (Incidentally, conventional wisdom also says you never fold on the first leg of a two-legged game.) But certainly it helps to have a big stack. Mario Lopez has among the biggest stacks in the room with 91,000 in chips. He recently extracted 5,300 of river value against one opponent by betting on an ace-high board. His opponent called but mucked when he saw Lopez's Big Slick.
Our latest count of "Da Chark", Team PokerStars Pro Humberto Brenes, found him at 56,000 in chips. A player at Brenes' table recounted that Brenes was the beneficiary of a gifted stack by an opponent who opened to 1,800 pre-flop, then moved all in after Brenes re-raised to 5,200. Brenes made an easy call with pocket aces and found himself up against a surprising . Aces held.
![[user75032]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
and did not get there.
on a board of 
; and chip leader Mario Lopez took a small hit with pocket jacks against a short stack's pocket queens.
. Both blinds checked to Rosario. She tossed 5,000 into the pot and was called only by small blind (and PokerStars Team Online player) Karlo Lopez. Lopez and Rosario both checked the 
turn. On the 
river Lopez bet 7,275. Rosario snap-mucked and seemed slightly frustrated.
. Both players checked the 
turn, but when the river fell 
the big blind lost his desire to continue. He checked and folded to a bet of 2,400
on an ace-high board. His opponent called but mucked when he saw Lopez's Big Slick.
. Aces held.