Main Event
Day 1a Started
2011 PokerStars.net LAPT Colombia
Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2011 PokerStars.net LAPT Colombia
Entries
681
Level
31
Blinds
75,000 / 150,000
Ante
20,000
Welcome to First-Ever LAPT Stop in Colombia!
The PokerNews crew is here at the Casino Allegre in the city of Medellín, Colombia for the fifth stop of the PokerStars.net Latin America Poker Tour Season IV, also known as the Colombia National Poker Championship.
The first-ever stop in Colombia couldn't have been timed any better as two Colombians, Pablo Gonzalez and Daniel Ospina, currently sit atop the LAPT Player of the Year Leaderboard with 1,125 and 990 points, respectively. It'll be interesting to see if they can distance themselves from the pack here on their home turf, or if a new player will make a name for him or herself.
This is the first of two starting days and officials are expecting quite the turnout, with rumors suggesting 700-plus. The plan for the day is to play ten levels, each lasting one hour.
The venue is superb and the players seem anxious. We're expecting a day full of fast-paced action and eliminations, all of which will get underway in a little less than an hour.
Level: 1
Blinds: 50/100
Ante: 0
A Look Back at Season IV
Leading up to the LAPT Colombia, there were four events already in the books:
Past LAPT Season IV winners
| Event | Entrants | Prize Pool | Winner | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LAPT Brazil | 536 | R$2,391,630 | Alex Manzano (Chile) | R$615,840 |
| LAPT Viña del Mar | 621 | $602,400 | Murilo Figueredo (Brazil) | $146,000 |
| LAPT Lima | 350 | $774,000 | Kemal Ferri (Peru) | $207,400 |
| LAPT Punta del Esta | 422 | $941,480 | Alex Komaromi (Uruguay) | $244,720 |
Who's Here?
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
15,000 | |
|
15,000 | |
|
15,000 | |
|
15,000 | |
|
15,000 | |
|
15,000 | |
|
15,000 |
Where's the Straight Flush?
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
There usually aren't too many notable hands during the first level of any tournaments, but we came across one that we thought may result in straight flush. It began when an early-position player opened for 225, a middle-position player called, and Team PokerStars Pro (Mexico) Angel Guillen came along for the ride from the small blind. The big blind joined the fray and it was four-handed to the 
. It was a pretty board, and even more so after all players checked and the 
hit the turn.
With four suited, connected cards on the board, we waited anxiously to see if anyone woke up with the straight flush. The 
river was fairly uneventful, and all four players checked for a third time. With all that checking, we knew a straight flush was unlikely, but stuck around to see the winning hand nonetheless.
As it turned out, there were no diamonds in play and Guillen's 
took down the nearly 1,000 pot.
A Look at the Current LAPT Player of the Year Leaderboard
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
Current LAPT Player of the Year Leaderboard
| Position | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pablo Gonzalez | 1,125 |
| 2 | Daniel Ospina | 990 |
| 3 | Leandro Csome | 975 |
| 4 | Engelbert Varela | 970 |
| 5 | Luis Alexander Yepez | 870 |
| 6 | Joao Neto | 850 |
| 7 | Miguel Alvarez de Lugo | 830 |
Here's the 411 on Medellin
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
If you're interested in Medellin, the host city for this LAPT stop, you might find the following excerpt from the PokerStars program:
If you had the time to do a little traveling around Colombia's 1.1 million square kilometers of land, you could see both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. The fourth biggest country in South America, Colombia is home to more than 45 million people, also making it the second most populated country.
Medellin is Colombia's second largest city (behind capital Bogota). More than three million people reside in the area and have helped it rise to become the top industrial city in the country. Nestled in the Aburra Valley and cut in half by the Medellin River, the city is also a center for some of the best nightlife (la rumba) in the country. Travel authorities now call Medellin, known as the "City of Eternal Spring," one of Latin America's safest big cities.
If you're looking for things to do during a day or night off, check out Catedral Metropolitana (Calle & Carrera) for some beautiful architecture, Restaurante Hato Viejo (Carrera 47 No 52-17 La Candelaria) for its stellar menu of local fare, or Zona Rosa (Calles 9 and 10A, and Carreras 36 and 42) for its famous nightlife scene.
We've only been in the city for a day, but we can already tell you this is one of the more impressive cities we've been to in South America,
Level: 2
Blinds: 75/150
Ante: 0
Trips No Good For Brenes
Picking up the action on a 
flop, Humberto Brenes' bet of 600 was called by Carlos Watanabe and another opponent.
The 
landed on the turn and Brenes fired again, this time for 1,600. Watanabe got out of the way, but the third player in the hand min-raised to 3,200. Brenes called, then checked the 
river. His opponent checked as well and tabled 
for a flush.
Brenes flashed 
before mucking his hand.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
11,200 | -3,800 |