LAPT San Jose

Today's blog comes to you from somewhere over the Gulf of Mexico, live from the sixth row of a shiny new Continental Airlines 737-800. I am on my way back home from San Jose, Costa Rica, this week's host for the PokerStars.net Latin American Poker Tour. It was the first event of LAPT Season 2, and the second trip the series has made to San Jose.

With a buyin of $3,500, Day 1 saw a field of 219 runners vying for the title, and play progressed at an astoundingly fast pace. The structure was nice and slow for the players, giving them 10,000 starting chips with 60-minute levels, starting at 25/50. By the end of Level 10 though, just 38 players remained to come back for Day 2. Among the notables who fell victim to Day 1 were Victor Ramdin, Alex and Humberto Brenes, Alexandre Gomes, Andre Akkari, Maria “Maridu” Mayrinck, Eddy Sabat, and Liv Boeree.

Rob Woodcock was the overnight chip leader, bagging up more than 181,000 at the conclusion of play. Both he and the second-place stack of Ryan Fee would make it to the final table. The story I was following most closely, though, was that of Carter Gill (right). Gill was struggling to start the day, down to his last 2,800 chips early on with the blinds at 150/300. There was a 10-minute break approaching, and Gill was trying to donate his chips so he didn't have to come back after break. He failed in that effort though, managing to rally back just shy of 70,000 by night's end, a slightly-above-average stack.

Day 2 dawned with those 38 players battling it out at a good clip once again. It took just about eight hours of play to whittle the field down to the final eight, with play slowing noticeably for the last three hours or so. Jon “apestyles” Van Fleet was one of the in-the-money finishers, notching a 17th place cash. Carter Gill busted out in 14th spot, and he was pretty dejected as he walked straight through the door without bothering to stop by the payout desk on his way out of the room.

Another great story I was keeping an eye on during Day 2 was that of the Sterns – Costa Rica's own Max and Maria. The two of them are an adorable older couple, and they are accomplished poker players as well. In 1997, they both managed to win WSOP bracelets, making them one of only two husband-wife duos who both have the gold hardware (the other being Harry and Jeri Thomas). The Sterns have done a great deal for poker in Latin America during the last decade, and the fruits of their efforts are evident with the recent growth of the game in their part of the world. Maria is referred to as the “Godmother of Latin American Poker,” and she is universally adored and respected in those parts. Hubby Max would finish up just short of the money, while Maria would take her chips all the way to the final table.

After working down to our final eight, play concluded for the night. This time, it was young gun Ryan Fee who racked up the most chips, dumping 481,000 of them into the barely-big-enough thick plastic bag. Fee is a twenty-year-old high-stakes heads-up cash player, but he showed he is no slouch in tournament play either. He was second in chips to start Day 2, and he found himself on top of the heap going into the final table. Fee is consistently the most-talkative person at his table, and he was even playing to the crowd with his boisterous sense of hunor during the final two days. On his bio sheet, he lists his occupation as “Baller”, if that tells you anything. Either way, there's no denying his skill on the felt. With Fee in the lead, here's the way the final table set up:

Clockwise, from top-left:
Andrew Chen – 313,000
Jeff Petronack – 122,500
Jesus Bertoli – 265,500
Joel Micka – 336,500
Maria Stern – 151,500
Claus Rasmussen – 254,000
Ryan Fee – 481,000
Brent Sheirbon – 186,500

Before the final table began, there was a press conference with the remaining eight players, covering topics from the development of poker in Latin America to the election in the United States. The Q&A lasted about 45 minutes, and then it was game on. Play progressed pretty deliberately for the first hour, as the players tried to get a feel for each other and the table in general. In fact, there wasn't a flop for about the first 20 minutes of the day. "Just so you guys know," said Tournament Director Mike Ward to the table, "We still play this game with community cards..."

Moving into the second level of play, it was Maria Stern (left) who began to get things rolling. She was working with a short stack, and she had shipped it all in a few times without getting action, just managing to keep her head above water. Finally, with 116,000 chips, she moved in once again, this time holding {Kh} {Jh}. The two players to her left folded, but Jeff Petronack looked down at his cards, smiled, and quickly turned them face-up with a confident, “I call.” Petronack tabled {Qc} {Qh}, and Stern could not improve. The crowd favorite made her exit in 8th place, drawing a heartfelt standing ovation from the spectators and media. She is absolutely adorable.

As if someone had flipped a switch, the pace of the tournament picked up dramatically following her elimination. The average stack was still more than 40 big blinds, but play progressed as if everyone was getting short. Chips began flying around the table, and it would be just about two hours from this point until the tournament ended. Next to exit was Claus Rasmussen, who also picked a spot to make a move with the short stack. He pushed in with {Qd} {7d}, only to run into the {Kh} {Ks} of Joel Micka. Good game, Claus.

The most dramatic hand of the tournament came with six players left. After a preflop raising war, Jeff Petronack ended up all in for 297,000, and he was called down by Ryan Fee, who had his man well covered. The hands were turned up with Petronack showing {Ad} {Kh}, and Fee tabling {As} {Ks}. The two men shook hands and complimented each other's cards, seemingly poised for a chop.

It was not meant to be for Petronack though, as the miracle flop rolled out {Js} {8s} {Ts}, giving Fee the ace-high flush right off the bat. It wasn't over yet, though; the money card, the {Qs} hit the turn, giving Fee the spade Royal Flush! Maybe even more incredibly, the {9s} filled out the community cards, putting a straight flush on board while giving Fee the immortal nuts with the top seven cards in the deck! Despite making that straight flush, Jeff Petronack was eliminated in 6th place.

It was at that moment that everyone knew Ryan Fee simply could not lose. Andrew Chen became his next victim when Chen moved in with {Qc} {Qh}. Fee put him to the test, making the call with {8c} {8h}. The flop was {4h} {5c} {6c}, and Chen backed away from the table, shaking his head. He and everybody in the room knew what was coming. Sure enough, the {7d} peeled off on fourth street, giving Fee his straight. The {6s} on the river was the end of Chen, and he exited in 5th place. As if he weren't running good enough, Fee next targeted Jesus Bertoli, another local crowd favorite. Bertoli made his stand with {Ad} {3s}, and Fee quickly called with {Ks} {Qs} for only a fraction of his stack. The flop was {8d} {Kd} {Qh}, and Chen could do nothing to slow down Fee, making his exit in 4th place. Down to the final three, the chip counts looked like this:

Ryan Fee – 1,428,000
Joel Micka – 582,000
Brent Sheirbon – 122,000





Sheirbon was out in 3rd place when his {Qd} {Td} lost a race to Micka's {2h} {2c}, and it was quickly heads up for the title. The players talked business for a few minutes, orchestrating a near-even chop. Both Fee and Micka (left) consider themselves heads-up specialists, and they played quickly and decisively. There wasn't a single flop for about the first 20 hands of heads-up play, with the two men trading raises and reraises. Micka, who plays online as "JMPRODIGY", had managed to climb back nearly even before getting involved in the first (and last) big confrontation of heads-up play. He and Fee raised each other until all of the chips were in the middle preflop, Fee holding {As} {Th} and Micka racing with {4s} {4c}. The first four cards off the deck were pretty safe for the underpair, coming out {Ks} {7c} {Qc} {8h}. Once again though, nobody was shocked when the {Ah} ripped off on the river, giving the massive pot and the title to Ryan Fee. With a shiny glass trophy in his possession, Fee was handed the obligitory oversized check for more than a quarter-million dollars.

At the risk of blaspheming my beloved UltimateBet, PokerStars puts on fantastic events all over the world, and this one was no exception. The LAPT staff, led by TD Mike Ward, is friendly and knowledgeable, if a little casual on the floor. There were elaborate, open-bar parties to open and close the event, and the entire hotel was decked out in PokerStars regalia. It was torture for a UB guy like myself, but I must admit, PokerStars knows how to put on a tournament. If you spend any time playing on that site, I would highly recommend that you try to satellite into some of the major tournaments that they run. Among them are the Asia Pacific Poker Tour, the European Poker Tour, and this LAPT which is in its second season.

Latin America as a whole is an area that is primed for major tournament poker. The first season of the LAPT was a great success last year, capped off by a fantastic finale in Punta del Este, Uruguay. There were three events in the first season which will double to six this time around. Unfortunately, the 219 players who played in San Jose this past week represents a sharp decline from the 397 who entered last year, but that doesn't necessarily correlate to the level of interest poker is drawing in Central and South America. Throughout the event, there was an enthusiastic and energetic contingent of railbirds, and the tournament was dominated by local and semi-local players.

The drop-off in numbers may be due to a saturation in major tournaments at this moment. Two big series at the Bellagio and the latest installment of the Venetian DSE are joining the WSOP Main Event final table as big draws to Las Vegas. Add to that an EPT event in Budapest that just finished, and the APPT stops in Manila and Sydney that are upcoming, and there may just be too many events for any of them to draw impressive numbers right now. Not to mention the economic situation in the USA and the rising cost of travel, which create the recipe for an unimpressive turnout. That being said, poker is alive and well in Latin America, and I fully expect the LAPT to have continued success for a long time coming.

You can check out my full live update blog from this event right here on PokerNews, if you're so inclined.