Chileans Dominate Claiming the Top Five End-of-Day 1a Chip Counts
Season 5 of the Latin American Poker Tour kicked off Wednesday at the Enjoy Casino & Resort in Vina del Mar, Chile. This marked the third time the LAPT had visited the “Vineyard by the Sea,” and the second time since 2010 when a tragic earthquake forced the cancellation of the event.
Last year a massive 621 players took to the felt, constituting the largest LAPT event in history up until that point. Brazilian Murilo Figueredo won that event for $146,000 and set the stage for this year’s highly anticipated tournament.
Day 1a ended up drawing players from as far away as the United States, New Zealand and Australia, who combined with the hundreds of players from South America to form a world-class tournament. When registration closed, the official number of players was pegged at 284 players, a number that ought to be eclipsed by Day 1b’s field; in fact, officials and players alike are waiting with bated breath to see if 338 register, which would surpass last year’s total.
Day 1a kicked off with a bang as Daniela Horno, who finished in sixth place in this very event last year, got off to a quick start and established herself as the early chip leader. Horno continued to climb and she ended the day with 122,200. That was a big stack, but not nearly as big as the chip leader, Waldermar Barrientos, who bagged up 140,300. Other players who advanced to Day 2 included twin brothers Luis Perez (59,300) and Carlos Perez (36,700); former LAPT final tablist Brent Sheirbon (56,100), and reigning LAPT Player of the Year Pablo Gonzalez (32,500)
Unfortunately not everyone was so lucky. A plethora of notables hit the rail throughout the ten levels of play including James Honeybone, Jonathan Markovits, Brian Gitter, Stuart McDonald, Rodrigo Arguello, Jamie Atelenoff and Team PokerStars Pros Freddy Torres (Online) and Leo Fernandez (Argentina).
Joining Barrientos and Horno toward the top of the chip counts are Jaime Farriol (128,300), Sebastian Rios (126,200) and Carlos Munoz (124,100). The approximately 89 remaining players will return on Friday for Day 2, while a whole new set of players will take their seats at Noon CLST for Day 1b. Of course you can follow all the action right here on PokerNews as we patrol the floors of the Enjoy Casino & Resort for all the latest and greatest poker action.
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