Level: 14
Blinds: 1,500/3,000
Ante: 400
2012 PokerStars.net LAPT Grand Final
Main Event
Day: 2
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2012 PokerStars.net LAPT Grand Final
Buy-in
$3,700
Prize Pool
$1,343,100
Entries
367
Level
26
Blinds
25,000 / 50,000
Ante
5,000
Negreanu In the Zone
![[user66118]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Daniel Negreanu is in the zone.
We've seen it before. He'll grab a quick snack of some overly healthy food, then order up a table massage. And get in the zone. The conversation opens up as he gets more smiley and chatty, though you'd be a fool to think he's just playing a friendly game of cards. The darting eyes and intense focus on every pot, the quick actions and the increasing banter — these are all signs that we're watching someone who is in the zone. And his stack is really reaping the benefits.
In the last pot, Negreanu flatted an opening raise from Casio Pisapia, and the two men were heads up to the 
flop. Negreanu called a bet of 7,300 there and another 12,700 after the 
turn, and the 
completed the board. Pisapia was beginning to get a little thin on chips, and he decided a check was in order. Negreanu was acting instantly on every street — he's in the zone, you know — and he quickly stacked up a bet of 22,200.
It took a minute or so for Pisapia to make the call for a good chunk of his remaining stack, and Negreanu showed down 
. "Good hand," Pisapia acknowledged, flashing his inferior 
.
After the hand, Pisapia quizzed Negreanu about what sort of hands he'd value bet there, and Negreanu engaged in a quick conversation where he admitted that he might have called with queen-nine preflop.
"You're flatting me every time I open," Pisapia said with a smirk.
"Well, sorry I have the best hand every time," Negreanu joked back at him. It's easy to keep the mood light when you're among the chip leaders approaching the bubble. We eyeball his stack at 265,000 now — quite likely the biggest in the room.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
265,000
60,000
|
60,000 |
|
||
|
|
36,000
-50,500
|
-50,500 |
Vamos, Ramos!
Felipe Ramos opened the pot with a raise to 5,500, and the player in the small blind shoved in with the covering stack. Ramos had begun the hand with less than 60,000 chips, and 
was plenty good enough to call all in and put himself at risk. His opponent showed up 
off-suit, and the race was on.
Unfortunately for Ramos, the flop brought a queen in the door, and his opponent triumphantly celebrated the 
flop. The turn was a blank, and Ramos was down to his last card needing one of the two-out tens.
Just a moment later, Ramos was running to the rail and trading shouts and high-fives with friends as he indeed managed to spike that lucky and find his double.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
120,000
83,000
|
83,000 |
|
||
Negreanu Busts Miyashiro and Moves Over 300K
Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu just took out Alexandre Hideo Miyashiro to move over the 300,000-chip mark and further extend his lead on the rest of the field. Here's how it went down just moments ago.
Action folded over to Miyashiro in the hijack seat and he took some time before raising all in for 36,600. Negreanu took a few moments and then called. Everyone else folded and the hands were tabled.
Negreanu was dominating Miyashiro's 
with his 
and in good shape to knock the shorter-stacked player out of the tournament. Still, the five community cards had a chance to save Miyashiro.
The flop came down 
and Miyashiro picked up an open-ended straight draw. He also had a backdoor flush draw, but the 
on the turn left he needing just an ace or a nine on the river.
The final card on the board was the 
and gave both players a pair of tens. Twice in this tournament we've seen Negreanu have a second-best kicker, but not this time. His ace was the better was the two kickers and Negreanu sent Miyashiro to the rail.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
305,000
25,000
|
25,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
Busted | |
Fox Getting Hounded
Well, it's been another downward trend for Elio Fox over the past few orbits. Life has been made tougher with the addition of Daniel Negreanu to his table, and we just picked up the tail end of a pot between the two men. We only caught up on the river of the 
board in time to see Negreanu with 27,000 chips out in front of him, and a pot of just more than that in the middle of the table. Fox spent a few minutes in the tank, then called off about a third of his remaining chips to see what was what.
Negreanu turned over , and that was enough to get the job done. Fox mucked, dropping down to about 52,000. That's a big decrease from where he was before, though it's not all Negreanu's fault. Looking across the table, we see Caio Pimenta is up close to 300,000 himself, and we'd suspect that he may be the other half of the reason for Fox's recent slide.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
350,000
45,000
|
45,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
286,000
141,000
|
141,000 |
|
52,000
-138,000
|
-138,000 |
|
||
Bubble Preparations
Level 14
: 1,500/3,000, 400 ante
The clock shows 58 players left, and we'll break another table once we drop two more of those. When we do, the remaining players will be just one table away from the payouts that arrive beginning with the 48th man left standing.
With the bottom cash being worth R$6,320, there's a big difference between 49th and 48th places, and one unlucky soul will go home with nothing but the proverbial wooden spoon to show for two days' work.
Gazes Eliminated by Mahoney
Bill Gazes was just eliminated a the hands of Patrick Mahoney in a blind-versus-blind situation. Mahoney was kind enough to tell us the gist of what happened.
In the small blind, Mahoney made it 7,500 to go and then Gazes reraised from the big blind to 20,000. Mahoney moved all in for "40 big blinds, effectively" and Gazes called off his stack with two jacks. Mahoney held 
.
Mahoney flopped an ace, but had to fade a heart draw that Gazes had. He did so and sent Gazes to the rail. Mahoney's now up to about 325,000 in chips.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
325,000
183,000
|
183,000 |
|
|
Busted |
More Chips for Negreanu
Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu just collected some more chips to pile on top of his mountain. This time he took them off of Caio Cesar Pimenta.
Action folded to Pimenta in the hijack seat and he raised to 7,500. Negreanu made the call on the button and everyone else folded to bring the two players to the 
flop. On the flop, Pimenta bet 8,500 and Negreanu called.
The turn was the 
and Pimenta checked. Negreanu reached for chips and fired out 21,000. Pimenta made the call.
The paired the board on the river and Pimenta checked to Negreanu again. Negreanu bet 56,200 and Pimenta went into the tank. After a minute or two, Pimenta folded and Negreanu won the pot.
After the hand, the two conversed a little bit. Pimenta hinted towards the fact that he held in the hand while Negreanu said he had exactly the .
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
385,000
35,000
|
35,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
265,000
-21,000
|
-21,000 |
Uh-Oh, Elio
Elio Fox has been keeping his composure admirably despite what must be a frustrating day for him. Just a moment ago, we watched him drop another pot, this one at the hands of Humberto Brenes and his rubber, red-tongued shark.
Brenes was the preflop raiser, making it 6,200 under the gun, and Fox three-bet to 12,700 in position. When it came back around to Brenes, he counted down his stack of 38,700 and slid the rest of it all into the middle. Fox snapped, and the cards were on their backs. Aces versus kings, anyone?
Showdown
Brenes: 
Fox: 
There was no sweat for Brenes as the board ran out clean: 
.
Fox's kings were second-best the whole way, and he's going to have to pay off another debt. This one will cost him all but 55,000 chips, and he's got that remainder with which to try and mount a comeback.
Brenes, on the other hand, is up around 85,000 after that much-needed double.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
85,000
34,000
|
34,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
55,000
-35,000
|
-35,000 |
|
|
||
Negreanu and Fox Talk Linsanity
Level 14
: 1,500/3,000, 400 ante
if you've got a pulse, you've probably heard about "Linsanity" or in other words, the buzz that New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin has created over the past couple of weeks in the NBA.
Elio Fox is wearing a New York Knicks hat and seated across from Daniel Negreanu. The two just spent several minutes talking a bit about the basketball star and how he's doing in the league lately, also about all the buzz he's created around the world, even with the not-so-avid NBA fan. They also touched on the recent controversial headline from ESPN that has blown up with over social media outlets.
After the Knicks' recent loss, an article headline read, "Chink In the Armor" with a leading picture of Lin battling for a loose ball after one of his nine turnovers against the New Orleans Hornets. The headline was quickly removed within an hour of its appearance, but the damage had been done. Although Fox didn't know about the headline, he was just as surprised that it was published as Negreanu was when he first got word of it.
Even in poker all the way down in Brazil, Linsanity has made its mark. And who would've thought an undrafted player out of Harvard would've ever made that much of an impact.