2011 PokerStars.net LAPT Colombia

Main Event
Day: 3
Event Info

2011 PokerStars.net LAPT Colombia

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
44
Prize
$64,710
Event Info
Entries
681
Level Info
Level
31
Blinds
75,000 / 150,000
Ante
20,000

Main Event

Day 3 Completed

Congratulations to Julian Menendez, 2011 LAPT Colombia Main Event Champion ($64,710)!

Level 31 : 75,000/150,000, 20,000 ante
Congratulations to Julian Menendez, 2011 LAPT Colombia Main Event Champion
Congratulations to Julian Menendez, 2011 LAPT Colombia Main Event Champion

The first-ever Latin American Poker Tour stop in the South American country of Colombia proved to be more than anyone could have hoped for. The beautiful Allegre Casino in Medellin played host to what would be the largest LAPT Main Event in history with 681 players, surpassing Chile’s LAPT Vina del Mar back in March (which had 621 entries). After three long days of play, it was Julian Menendez who emerged victorious to claim the $64,710 first-place prize and become the first LAPT Colombia champion!

Usually Day 3’s of an LAPT are reserved for the final table, but given the field size, there were still 28 players remaining on Sunday. The field included an American, an Australian, and many others from throughout South America, including quite a few native Colombians. With the blinds and antes so high, it didn’t talk long for the field to whittle itself down to a final table. Here is a look at the eliminations leading up to the final table:

LAPT Colombia Payouts

PlacePlayerWinnings
10thCarlos Ponce$9,654
11thGilberto Castillo$9,654
12thDavid Garcia$9,654
13thMarta Ramírez$7,162
14thLuis Vayas$7,162
15thFrancisco Corvalan$7,162
16thJason Sudol$5,294
17thCesar Mejia Medina$5,294
18thMiguel Solano$5,294
19thSimon Campo$3,737
20thDaniel Hurtado$3,737
21stCarlos Perez$3,737
22ndFrancisco Cortaza$3,737
23rdNorberto Iglesias$3,737
24thAndres Felipe Corrales Giraldo$3,737
25thErnesto Barros$3,737
26thRafael Velandia$3,737
27thTulio Bertoli$3,737
28thRoxana Azar$2,492

The chip leader headed into the final table was Jonathan Monsalves, who got a good portion of his stack on the final table bubble. It happened when Julian Menendez opened for 80,000 under the gun only to have Carlos Ponce move all in from the button for about 600,000 total. When action was on Monsalves in the blind, he moved all in over the top!

Menendez got out of the way, leaving Ponce and Monsalves to do battle for the approximately 1.3 million pot.

Showdown
Monsalves: {A-Spades}{A-Hearts}
Ponce: {K-Hearts}{K-Clubs}

It was a cooler for Ponce, no doubt about it. All he could do was shake his head as the dealer put out the {4-Hearts}{5-Spades}{10-Hearts} on the flop, followed by the {4-Diamonds} turn. "King," Ponce shouted as if trying to will the river. Unfortunately for him, it was all in vain as the {8-Clubs} bricked. Just like that, we had our final table:

LAPT Colombia Final Table

SeatPlayerChips
1Jhon Jairo415,000
2Stuart McDonald1,235,000
3Jonathan Monsalves2,495,000
4Julian Menendez735,000
5Victor Forero2,045,000
6Rafael Pardo660,000
7Jessica Bedoya290,000
8Alexis Gomez910,000
9Jonathan Markovitz1,150,000

The first elimination came just minutes into the final table when Jhon Jairo ran {A-Diamonds}{J-Clubs} into the pocket aces of Alexis Gomez. Jairo couldn’t crack the pocket rockets and ended up finishing in ninth place. It took a long time for the next elimination to occur, but it came when Jonathan Markovitz’s {J-Hearts}{8-Hearts} failed to get there against Stuart McDonald’s {K-Diamonds}{K-Clubs}. Not long after, Rafael Pardo was eliminated in seventh place at the hands of Alexis Gomez.

At this point in the tournament, the remaining six players opted to strike a deal, each locking up a portion of the prize pool. However, not all was said and done. As part of the deal, $14,666 was set aside, which would be awarded to the winner, and the players continued to battle for the LAPT Colombia Championship.

After the deal was struck, McDonald took an ultra-aggressive approach, one that ended ironically as he was the first to go post-deal even though he had locked up the most prize money. It took some doing, but one by one the rest of the players fell. Gomez fell in fifth, followed by Forero and Bedoya, with the latter notching the best ever LAPT Main Event finish for a woman.

That left just Monsalves (Colombia) and Menendez (Argentina), with the latter taking a 4-1 chip lead into heads-up play. Menendez, who hails from Argentina, had an up-and-down experience at the final table, but he caught the cards when he needed them most, which included heads-up play as he dispatched his Colombian foe.

LAPT Colombia Final Table Payouts

PlacePlayerOriginal PayoutAmount Awarded Through Deal
1stJulian Menendez$151,027$64,710
2ndJonathan Monsalves$86,882$55,256
3rdJessica Bedoya$58,544$67,591
4thVictor Forero$42,663$71,249
5thAlex Gomes$33,321$53,592
6thStuart McDonald$27,093$87,129
7thRafael Pardo$20,864NA
8thJonathan Markovitz$14,636NA
9thJhon Jairo$12,145NA

Congratulations to Julian Menendez, LAPT Colombia Main Event Champion!

LAPT Season IV winners

EventEntrantsPrize PoolWinnerPrize
LAPT Brazil536R$2,391,630Alex Manzano (Chile)R$615,840
LAPT Viña del Mar621$602,400Murilo Figueredo (Brazil)$146,000
LAPT Lima350$774,000Kemal Ferri (Peru)$207,400
LAPT Punta del Esta422$941,480Alex Komaromi (Uruguay)$244,720
LAPT Colombia681$622,813Julian Menendez$64,710*

*Denotes prize was part of a deal.

Tags: Julian Menendez

Jonathan Monsalves Eliminated in 2nd Place ($55,256)

Jonathan Monsalves - 2nd place
Jonathan Monsalves - 2nd place

Julian Menendez limped in on the button and Jonathan Monsalves shoved all in for about 3.2 million. Menendez carefully studied his opponent's stack before opting to call.

Menendez: {4-Spades}{4-Hearts}
Monsalves: {A-Spades}{5-Diamonds}

The flop came down {8-Hearts}{6-Clubs}{2-Spades}, offering little help to Monsalves. The {J-Clubs} turn left him six outs to keep his title hopes alive, but the {10-Diamonds} river ended his run with a second-place finish.

Player Chips Progress
Julian Menendez ar
Julian Menendez
10,215,000 3,315,000
Jonathan Monsalves
Jonathan Monsalves
Busted

Tags: Jonathan MonsalvesJulian Menendez

Level: 31

Blinds: 75,000/150,000

Ante: 20,000

Monsalves Doubles

Jonathan Monsalves is a fighter. He recently shipped his stack of about 1.35 million into the pot on the button with {Q-Clubs}{10-Hearts} and was called by the {5-Hearts}{5-Diamonds} of Julian Menendez. It was a race, but after the flop came down {J-Hearts}{2-Hearts}{9-Hearts}, Monsalves became the favorite with overs, an open-ended straight draw, and a bigger flush draw.

The {Q-Diamonds} turn was one of his outs and gave him a hammerlock on the hand. The {A-Clubs} river changed nothing and Monsalves lived to play another hand.

Player Chips Progress
Julian Menendez ar
Julian Menendez
7,500,000 -600,000
Jonathan Monsalves
Jonathan Monsalves
2,720,000 620,000

Tags: Jonathan MonsalvesJulian Menendez

Jessica Bedoya Eliminated in 3rd Place ($67,591)

Jessica Bedoya - 3rd place
Jessica Bedoya - 3rd place

Julian Menendez raised from the small blind and Jessica Bedoya shoved from the big blind for about 1.1 million. Menendez called and tabled {A-Clubs}{10-Hearts}, slightly ahead of Bedoya's {Q-Spades}{9-Clubs}.

The flop rolled out {A-Diamonds}{J-Clubs}{5-Hearts} to put Menendez well ahead with top pair. Bedoya found a little hope with the {9-Diamonds} turn, but the {2-Spades} river ended Bedoya's Main Event run in third place.

Bedoya's incredible run also earned her the highest finish ever by a woman in a LAPT Main Event.

Player Chips Progress
Julian Menendez ar
Julian Menendez
8,100,000 1,100,000
Jessica Bedoya
Jessica Bedoya
Busted

Tags: Jessica BedoyaJulian Menendez

Menendez Pulling Away

Julian Menendez has been pulling away from the pack ever since Victor Forero's elimination. In a recent hand, he raised to 250,000 on the button and was called by Jonathan Monsalves in the big blind. When the flop came down {5-Spades}{Q-Spades}{K-Clubs}, Monsalves checked, Menendez bet 300K, and Monsalves check-raised to 625,000.

Not to be outdone, Menendez moved all in and pushed Monsalves off the hand.

Player Chips Progress
Julian Menendez ar
Julian Menendez
7,000,000 2,000,000
Jonathan Monsalves
Jonathan Monsalves
2,100,000 -1,500,000
Jessica Bedoya
Jessica Bedoya
900,000 -520,000

Tags: Julian MenendezJonathan Monsalves

Victor Forero Eliminated in 4th Place ($71,249)

Victor Forero - 4th place
Victor Forero - 4th place

Julian Menendez opened to 275,000 on the button and was called by Victor Forero in the small blind.

The flop came down {K-Spades}{6-Spades}{6-Hearts} and Forero check-called 200,000, landing the {10-Clubs} on the turn. Another check from Forero led to a bet of 300,000 from Menendez. Forero instantly re-raised all in for about 1.3 million and Menendez called immediately with {6-Clubs}{4-Spades} for trips. Forero was well behind with {10-Hearts}{7-Diamonds} and found no help from the {A-Diamonds} river to finish in fourth place.

Player Chips Progress
Julian Menendez ar
Julian Menendez
5,000,000 1,400,000
Victor Forero
Victor Forero
Busted

Tags: Julian MenendezVictor Forero

Alexis Gomez Eliminated in 5th Place ($53,592)

Alexis Gomez (5th Place)
Alexis Gomez (5th Place)

Alexis Gomez moved all in from the button for his last 785,000 and was quickly called by Jonathan Monsalves in the small blind.

Showdown
Gomez: {A-Diamonds}{9-Hearts}
Monsalves: {A-Spades}{Q-Diamonds}

Gomez was in big trouble and desperately needed a nine, though one did not appear on the {5-Diamonds}{3-Hearts}{3-Diamonds} flop. The {6-Clubs} turn left Gomez in need of help on the river, but it would not be delivered as the {Q-Clubs} fell. Monsalves won the pot with a pair of queens while Gomez was eliminated in fifth place, for which he will take home $53,592.

Player Chips Progress
Jonathan Monsalves
Jonathan Monsalves
3,600,000 1,940,000
Alexis Gomez
Alexis Gomez
Busted

Tags: Alexis GomezJonathan Monsalves