The sun is shining in the beautiful 'Garden City' of Vina del Mar, Chile at Casino Enjoy Viña del Mar for the PokerStars Festival Chile, making this a fabulous day for poker! Today is just the second of this eight-day festival, packed with 21 events, headlined by the $500,000 guaranteed $1,650 Main Event and the $3,300 High Roller.
Day 1 of the $3,300 High Roller begins at 2:00 p.m ET, where players start out with 50,000 chips and will battle for eight, 60-minute levels before bagging their chips for the night. Late registration will remain open until cards are in the air at 12:00 p.m. at the start of Level 9 on Day 2 of this three-day event.
There will be a 20-minute break every two levels, with an 80-minute dinner break following Level 4 at approximately 6:20 p.m. There are unlimited re-entries allowed in this event.
Here is a look at the structure for Day 1:
Level
Duration
Small Blind
Big Blind
Ante
1
60 min
50
100
-
2
60 min
75
150
-
3
60 min
100
200
25
4
60 min
150
300
50
5
60 min
200
400
50
6
60 min
250
500
75
7
60 min
300
600
100
8
60 min
400
800
100
Day 2 starts back up at noon tomorrow, Monday, May 22nd, where the remaining players will go through another eight levels, with Day 3 playing down to a winner, beginning at noon on Tuesday.
The $500,000 guaranteed Main Event fires up at noon on Tuesday, May 23rd with a buy-in of $1,650, giving everyone plenty of chances for a shot at the big money. There will be two starting days in the Main Event, with the option of unlimited re-entries.
There's plenty of poker to be played here in South America, and plenty of time to get in on the action! Stick around as PokerNews provides all of the live updates from start to finish in these two big events.
Argentinian PokerStars pro, Leo Fernandez, has joined the action early on in the High Roller at Casino Enjoy Viña del Mar.
Fernandez is third all-time on the Argentinian money list with just over $2 million in live tournament cashes. Of that total, Fernandez has won two high roller titles, both in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The first was the R$5,000 2014 BSOP Millions for R$386,000 (USD $150,370) and the second was the R$10,000 2012 LAPT Grand Final for R$124,030 (USD $71,717). Fernandez also came close to another title after finishing second in the 2011 PCA High Roller, which was also his largest career cash for USD$554,925.
Fernandez has cashed twice in Chile, with his best result being a fourth place finish in the the LAPT High Roller for USD$22,960 right here in Viña del Mar. He looks to add to his Chilean totals with a big result in this year's event.
Oscar Alache raised to 500 from early position, and Alex Manzano three-bet to 1,350 from middle position.
Jaoquin Earcena was in the big blind and called. Alache asked to see Earcena's stack and put in a four bet to 4,000.
Manzano wasted no time and five-bet to 11,000. Earcena quickly got out of the way, and Alache went into the tank. After about a minute, he opted to fold.
Manzano scooped the pot and smiled as he turned over just the .
The field is growing, and two more players have entered the field. One of these players is Chile's Amos Ben, who is fourth on the country's all-time money list and holds two Latin America Poker Tour High Roller titles.
Ben's first title was earned in 2013 when he took down the $5,000 event in Panama City for $49,070, and the most recent came in 2016 when he won the $3,000 event in Uruguay for $61,010.
While Ben boasts ten career titles, he has yet to win one on home soil, so look for him to fight his way to the top in this event.
Rodrigo Borquez was under the gun and raised to 775. Joaquin Earcena was in the cutoff and called, and Alan Manuel Mehamed re-raised to 3,000 on the button. Borquez and Earcena both called.
The flop was and both Borquez and Earcena checked to Mehamed. After some thought, Mehamed bet 6,500 and was called quickly by Borquez. Earcena folded.
The turn was the and both players checked to the river, which was the . Both players checked again.
Borquez tabled and Earcena quickly let go of his hand.
Oscar Alache was under the gun and raised to 1,025. Joaquin Earcena was in the small blind and three-bet to 2,700. Alan Manuel Mehamed decided to four-bet to 6,000 from the big blind, and Alache quickly five-bet to 12,500. Earcena snap-folded. Mehamed piled his entire stack of 24,625 chips in the middle and Alache quickly called.
Mehamed:
Alache:
Mehamed was well ahead with two black kings, and had to dodge an ace to stay alive. As it turned out, the flop came , giving Alache a flush draw to add to his lone over card. The turn was the and Alache now picked up extra outs to make a wheel.
The river was the and Mehamed was able to dodge a significant amount of cards to avoid being the first man down in his high roller.
Tadeo Palomares raised to 1,100 from under the gun, and Amos Ben moved all in on the button for 8,125. Action was on Norberto Korn in the big blind and he thought for a moment before four-betting to 16,500. Palomares got out of the way and the hands were tabled.
It was a classic race, with Korn in the lead holding and Ben tabling .
The board ran out and Ben was the first player to be eliminated in this event.
Tadeo Palomares raised to 1,500 from the cutoff and Jorge Postigo three-bet to 4,000 on the button. Palomares called.
The flop came and Palomares checked. Postigo bet 3,900 and Palomares called.
The turn was the , and both players checked to the river, which was the . Palomares slid a stack of black chips forward and announced he was all in. Postigo had 24,200 chips behind and went into the tank. The two conversed in Spanish for about a minute, and Postigo eventually called for his tournament life. Palomares looked back at his cards and only flashed the before mucking his hand. Another player at the table pointed out that since there was an all in and a call, both players had to table their hands.
Postigo turned over while Palomares revealed for a busted flush draw. Postigo secured the doubled up in this last level of the night.
Leo Fernandez and Jorge Postigo were all in preflop with Fernandez at risk.
Fernandez tabled and Postigo showed pocket jacks.
The board ran out jack high and the PokerStars pro was eliminated from the High Roller late in this last level of the night. Postigo now holds the chip lead.
.
and both Borquez and Earcena checked to Mehamed. After some thought, Mehamed bet 6,500 and was called quickly by Borquez. Earcena folded.
and both players checked to the river, which was the 
. Both players checked again.
and Earcena quickly let go of his hand.
, giving Alache a flush draw to add to his lone over card. The turn was the 
and Alache now picked up extra outs to make a wheel. 
and Mehamed was able to dodge a significant amount of cards to avoid being the first man down in his high roller.
and Ben tabling 
and Ben was the first player to be eliminated in this event.
, and both players checked to the river, which was the 
before mucking his hand. Another player at the table pointed out that since there was an all in and a call, both players had to table their hands. 
while Palomares revealed 
