Friday, 29th March 2024 05:43
Home / Uncategorized / LAPT8 Uruguay: Mario Lopez wins second LAPT Main Event title

Our final two players technically made it to the dinner break.

With about a minute left in the level, Hilario Quijada raised to 300,000 and Mario Lopez three-bet to 600,000.

The tournament clock ticked into the dinner break and Quijada moved all-in. Lopez quickly called and showed J♣ Jâ™  to Quijada’s 6♣ 6♦ .

Quijada exploded in celebration after the 5♥ 2♦ 6♠ flop gave him a set of sixes but, as the old saying goes, you should never celebrate your sets before the river.

The 4♥ on the turn kept the celebration in Quijada’s camp going, but then a J♦ came on the river to flip things around.

Quijada fell silent while Lopez screamed and jumped in the air.

He had just won another LAPT.

Quijada won $103,580 for his runner-up finish while Lopez took his second LAPT trophy and $155,730.

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LAPT8 Uruguay champion, Mario Lopez

“I’ve been playing poker for a while but I’ve really been trying to win some big tournaments recently,” Lopez said. “I got a few this year.”

In fact, Lopez won one of the biggest.

Just last month, Lopez won the largest-ever Estrellas Poker Tour Main Event in Barcelona for $451,107. And a few months before that, Lopez finished 2nd in the $1,111 Little One for One Drop at the WSOP for $399,455.

“I’ve been very concentrated and I’ve been running well and playing well,” Lopez said. “I’m on a good streak and I hope it doesn’t end.”

Lopez has been on a good run for a while. Last year, Lopez won LAPT7 Chile and he’s now the fourth player to win two LAPT titles.

This won’t be the last we’ll see of Lopez either.

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“I just want to keep playing poker and have fun at big tournaments,” Lopez said.

Lopez certainly had fun this tournament.

The champion picked up the chip lead in Day 2 and held on to it for most of Day 3. Then, towards the end of the short day, LAPT8 Peru runner-up, Chadi Moustapha, took it over.

Moustapha started the final table with the chip lead but would eventually fall in 4th.

While we had two short stacks to start the day, Ruben Barros was the first to fall.

Barros had pocket aces but Quijada cracked them with pocket nines when he hit a set on the flop.

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Ruben Barros – 8th place

Soon after that, our start-of-day short stack, Jorge Alberto Cantos, followed him out.

Moustapha was on the small blind and bet enough to put Cantos all-in. Much to Moustapha’s surprise, Cantos called with 10-8 offsuit.

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Jorge Alberto Cantos – 7th place

Then Patricio Rojas was left with just a pair of big blinds after his ace-king ran into Ariel Eghi’s pocket aces. Rojas, a former LAPT champion, fell in 6th following hand.

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Patricio Rojas – 6th place

Despite doubling up against Rojas, Eghi didn’t last much longer. After players came back from break, Eghi ran his ace-jack into Quijada’s pocket queens and was eliminated in 5th place.

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Ariel Eghi – 5th place

There was a slight slowdown when we got to four players, but then Moustapha ran his pocket sixes into Quijada’s pocket jacks to finish 4th.

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Chadi Moustapha – 4th place

Three-handed play went by much quicker and it was Quijada, again, who dealt the elimination.

German Christiansen moved all-in with pocket sevens and Quijada called with pocket kings.

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German Christiansen – 3rd place

Despite Quijada’s numerous eliminations, Lopez was the one who started the heads-up match with the lead.

Quijada took the lead over momentarily but Lopez quickly recovered and dealt the final blow just as players were scheduled to take a 75-minute dinner break.

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Hilario Quijada – 2nd place

LAPT8 Uruguay Main Event final table results
Entries: 267
Prize pool: $776,970
Places paid: 39
1. Mario Lopez (Argentina) — $155,730
2. Hilario Quijada (Argentina) — $103,580
3. German Christiansen (Argentina) — $75,760
4. Chadi Moustapha (Lebanon) — $61,140
5. Ariel Eghi (Argentina) — $47,940
6. Patricio Rojas (Chile) — $36,280
7. Jorge Alberto Cantos (Argentina) — $26,660
8. Ruben Barros (Argentina) — $19,580

That’s it for LAPT8 Uruguay, thanks for joining us. If you’re still want some LAPT action, there’s one stop left.

Join us November 25-29 as we finish the season off with the LAPT8 Grand Final in São Paulo.

While you wait, you can check out our coverage from Day 3, Day 2, Day 1b and Day 1a.

Photography from LAPT8 Uruguay by Carlos Monti. You can also follow the action in Spanish and in Portuguese.

Alexander Villegas is a freelance contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

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