Thursday, 28th March 2024 16:26
Home / Uncategorized / LAPT7 Peru: There’s no such thing as an unwelcome double-up

Short stacks are always in peril in a poker tournament. Of course, whenever players begin a day’s play in such a state, they are doubly in danger — both from other players and from tourney reporters hovering about like vultures, seemingly eager to report news of their demise.

In truth the happy double is often just as intriguing to witness, delivering an anecdote that possesses similar drama, and with a less unpleasant result.

Daniel Ospina of Colombia is no stranger to tourney travails, having experienced many highs both online (as “DazzleO”) and live including here on the LAPT where among his achievements he lists a seventh-place showing in the LAPT4 Peru Main Event and the LAPT Season 5 Player of the Year.

Ospina’s prospects today couldn’t have been counted as that great, however, positioned as he was exactly 233rd of 233 players at the start of play.

However a double-up during the first minutes brought the Colombian’s stack back out of the extreme danger zone, at least, perhaps to start a more interesting, longer narrative.

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“Why not o-spin this up?” asks Daniel Ospina

Christian de Leon similarly started the day with a shortened stack of just 24,000 or 20 big blinds. After losing a few chips early, de Leon then watched as Fabian Rodriguez to his left limped in from the small blind, and after a check of his cards the Team PokerStars Pro tapped the table.

A 2♦ 9♦ K♥ flop earned a check from Rodriguez, a bet from de Leon, then a check-raise to 3,600 in response. De Leon waved both hands forward while indicating his intention to put all his remaining chips at risk, and after a moment of consideration Rodriguez called.

Rodriguez showed his Kâ™  7♥ , having paired his king. But de Leon had flopped better with Kâ™  2♣ for two pair. Two streets later de Leon’s hand had held, and the Mexican pro, too, keeps his seat.

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Two pair equals twice the stack for Team PokerStars Pro Christian de Leon

Others were less fortunate during the day’s first hour, with more than 30 players hitting the rail as the total field shrinks under 200. But however the stories go, they’re interesting either way.

Photography from LAPT7 Peru by Carlos Monti. Check out the start-to-finish live streaming coverage (in both Spanish and Portuguese) at PokerStars.tv. Click here for live updates in Spanish, and here for live updates in Portuguese.

Martin Harris is Freelance Contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

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