Congratulations to Julian Menendez, 2011 LAPT Colombia Main Event Champion ($64,710)!
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
| Place | Player | Winnings |
|---|---|---|
| 10th | Carlos Ponce | $9,654 |
| 11th | Gilberto Castillo | $9,654 |
| 12th | David Garcia | $9,654 |
| 13th | Marta Ramírez | $7,162 |
| 14th | Luis Vayas | $7,162 |
| 15th | Francisco Corvalan | $7,162 |
| 16th | Jason Sudol | $5,294 |
| 17th | Cesar Mejia Medina | $5,294 |
| 18th | Miguel Solano | $5,294 |
| 19th | Simon Campo | $3,737 |
| 20th | Daniel Hurtado | $3,737 |
| 21st | Carlos Perez | $3,737 |
| 22nd | Francisco Cortaza | $3,737 |
| 23rd | Norberto Iglesias | $3,737 |
| 24th | Andres Felipe Corrales Giraldo | $3,737 |
| 25th | Ernesto Barros | $3,737 |
| 26th | Rafael Velandia | $3,737 |
| 27th | Tulio Bertoli | $3,737 |
| 28th | Roxana 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: 
Ponce: 
It was a cooler for Ponce, no doubt about it. All he could do was shake his head as the dealer put out the 
on the flop, followed by the 
turn. "King," Ponce shouted as if trying to will the river. Unfortunately for him, it was all in vain as the 
bricked. Just like that, we had our final table:
LAPT Colombia Final Table
| Seat | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jhon Jairo | 415,000 |
| 2 | Stuart McDonald | 1,235,000 |
| 3 | Jonathan Monsalves | 2,495,000 |
| 4 | Julian Menendez | 735,000 |
| 5 | Victor Forero | 2,045,000 |
| 6 | Rafael Pardo | 660,000 |
| 7 | Jessica Bedoya | 290,000 |
| 8 | Alexis Gomez | 910,000 |
| 9 | Jonathan Markovitz | 1,150,000 |
The first elimination came just minutes into the final table when Jhon Jairo ran 
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 
failed to get there against Stuart McDonald’s 
. 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
| Place | Player | Original Payout | Amount Awarded Through Deal |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Julian Menendez | $151,027 | $64,710 |
| 2nd | Jonathan Monsalves | $86,882 | $55,256 |
| 3rd | Jessica Bedoya | $58,544 | $67,591 |
| 4th | Victor Forero | $42,663 | $71,249 |
| 5th | Alex Gomes | $33,321 | $53,592 |
| 6th | Stuart McDonald | $27,093 | $87,129 |
| 7th | Rafael Pardo | $20,864 | NA |
| 8th | Jonathan Markovitz | $14,636 | NA |
| 9th | Jhon Jairo | $12,145 | NA |
Congratulations to Julian Menendez, LAPT Colombia Main Event Champion!
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 |
| LAPT Colombia | 681 | $622,813 | Julian Menendez | $64,710* |
*Denotes prize was part of a deal.