10:24pm: Break time
Players have reached the last break of the night, and we’re going to break off and start up a new post to cover the last portion of Day 2 play. Click the Punta del Este link for the whole story thus far — and to come — from LAPT Punte del Este.
10:18pm: A killing for Kiles with KK
Huge one just now between Cassio Kiles and Erik von Buxhoeveden. We came upon the hand on the turn, with the board showing 2♦ 3♦ Q♦ 9♣ and van Buxhoeveden calling a hefty bet by Kiles, thereby creating a pot of about 200,000.
The river brought the 6♣ and Kiles fired 65,000, which after a bit of a think von Buxhoeveden called. Kiles tabled K♥ K♣ and von Buxhoeveden mucked.
Kiles is up around 550,000 now, while von Buxhoeveden has about 300,000. –MH
10:05pm: Monteiro doubles through Belluscio
Rafael Monteiro opened with a raise to 11,500 from middle position and both blinds called, including Julio Belluscio in the small blind. The flop came Q♠5♦ 10♣ . It checked to Monteiro who again bet 11,500, and only Belluscio called. The turn brought the 5♠. And some fireworks.
Belluscio started with a check, and Monteiro fired 30,000. Belluscio made it 80,000 to go, and Monteiro responded by shoving all in. Belluscio quickly called, showing A♠5♦ for trip fives. But Monteiro had 10♠10♥ for tens full. The river came the A♦ , improving Belluscio to a lesser full house, and Monteiro claimed the big pot.
Monteiro is up to 300,000 now, while Belluscio slips to 250,000. –MH
10:00pm: Hard luck for Harfouche
Pablo Harfouche just now pushed his short stack all in from late position with 3♠3♣ , but unfortunately for him ran into an opponent in the blinds holding A♥ A♦ .
The dealer spread the flop, and the first card glimpsed was a trey. But the second was an ace, as the flop came 3♥ Aâ™ 4♦ . The turn was the 2♥ and the river the J♥ , and Harfouche is out in 44th place. –MH
9:49pm: Let the cull begin!
The eliminations are now coming faster than we can write them all down (don’t worry, we’ll catch up). Among those who were first to go are New Zealand PokerStars qualifier Andrew Nicholls, PokerStars qualifier Giedrius Balaisis, Marcio Motta, and Mario Lopez. Lopez was big stacked throughout the day, but took some big punches from Engelberth Moreno during the bubble fight.
In the end, Lopez lost a 200,000 chip pot with ace-king versus queens. He got his last few chips in with ace-eight versus aces. The big clock on the wall says there are 48 players remaining. Expect that number to drop pretty significantly by the end of the night. –BW
9:30pm: Bubble go pop
It was the first hand of Level 16. Down to just 1,000, Carlos Medina watched as an opponent raised from middle position and it folded around to him on the button. He called with his remaining chip — just the one yellow — and it folded to the big blind who called the raise as well.
By the turn the board read J♦ 6♦ 10â™ 5♦ , at which point a bet reduced Medina’s opponents to one. Medina tabled 2♦ 2♣ while his opponent showed Jâ™ 5♥ for two pair. “Diamond,” said Medina quietly, the word representing his only remaining hope. Alas for him, the river brought the 8â™ and Medina is out in 57th, the last to be eliminated without cashing.
Hand-for-hand play thus ends as all remaining 56 will be realizing a profit at this year’s LAPT Punta del Este main event. –MH
9:16pm: Level 16 begins
After playing almost a full extra half-hour of Level 15, the decision has been made to move onto Level 16 (blinds 2,500/5,000, ante 500) while hand-for-hand continues. –MH
9:14pm: “Una mano mas!”
Such has been the call, over and over and over again, as the bubble continues into the night, the directive to dealers to deal one more hand.
There has been some drama here and there, including one memorable hand at Table 1 which saw two players all in, yet both survived. They’ve played approximately 30 hands since hand-for-hand play began back at the start of the level — about 80 minutes ago.
There are many short stacks about, however — including one player with less than 2,000 — so the bursting seems destined to occur soon. –MH
8:45pm: Level 15 extended as hand-for-hand continues
There has been one all-in and call — [A][K] held up versus [5][2] — but still no eliminations since Roman Suarez was knocked out in 58th.
They’ve made it to the end of an hour’s worth of Level 15, and still we’re looking at 57 players — just one away from the money. Thus the tournament clock has been extended for this level (blinds 2,000/4,000, ante 500) as hand-for-hand play continues. –MH
8:21pm: Bubble trouble averted
Play folded around to Cassio Kiles in the cutoff. On his left sat three short-ish stacks in danger of bubbling. Having them all out-chipped, Kiles worked to abuse the bubble and pick up some blinds and antes. In the small blind sat an unafraid Regis Kogler. Early today, he was down to just a few antes, but managed to rebuild his stack to more than 80,000 before dinner. Now down to 54,500, he looked down to see two red jacks. He stood and pronounced, “I call.” The big blind folded. Kiles revealed Q♣ 7♣ .
And the dealer mucked Kogler’s hand facedown.
Screams went up. The tournament director, Mike Ward, called for everyone to stop moving. No one twitched.
“What did you have?” Ward asked.
“Two jacks,” Kogler said.
It’s a tough spot to make a ruling, but Ward did it fast. He easily recovered the J♥ J♦ from the top of the muck. There was never any question Kogler was telling the truth.
In the end, Kogler flopped his jack for a set, and that was that. Still…this has been a crazy bubble. –BW
8:09pm: A Stern river
Max Stern opened with a raise to 11,500 from middle position and got two callers — Marlo Lopez (cutoff) and Oded Minond (big blind). The flop came 8♣ 5♦ 9â™ and it checked around to Lopez who bet 15,500. Minond got out, but Stern called, knocking the table to indicate he was checking the next street in the dark. The turn was the K♥ , and Lopez checked back.
Both again checked the 6♥ river. Stern turned over 6♦ 6♣ for a rivered set and shrugged as Lopez mucked. Stern has 195,000 now, while Lopez sits with 245,000. –MH
8:03pm: Roman Suarez falls in jaw-dropping bubble-of-the-bubble hand
Just two players off the money, Erik Von Buxhoeveden came in for a raise to 8,500. Play folded around to Roman Suarez in the big blind, where he made it 19,000. Von Buxhoeveden made the call to a J♠8♠A♥ flop. Saurez led for 21,000 and Von Buxhoeveden called. When the A♦ hit on the turn, Suarez checked to Von Buxhoeveden. The bet was 27,000. Suarez thought for a moment and then called. The river was the J♥ . Suarez took his time, but eventually moved all-in for 70,000. After Von Buxhoeveden confirmed the count, he thought for less than ten seconds and called.
The hands?
Suarez: 8♦ 5♦
Von Buxhoeveden: K♠7♣ .
As I wandered away wondering when the game of poker passed me by, Von Buxhoeveden stacked up 445,000, almost certainly good for the chip lead at this hour.
Meanwhile, we moved on with hand-for-hand play. Fifty-seven players remain. The next one out gets nothing. After that, it’s money-time. –BW
7:50pm: Mano a mano (play resumes)
The 58 players have returned to their seats, and as we are but two away from the money they will resume playing hand-for-hand until the money bubble bursts. Level 15 has begun (2,000-4,000-500). –MH
6:35pm: Dinner break bubbles
With 58 players remaining and 56 getting paid, everyone left better order their dinner water con gas, because it’s bubble time when we come back at 8pm. See you then. –BW
6:20pm: Von Buxhoeveden tumbles
A change at the top of the counts to report, as two different shorter stacks have doubled through Erik von Buxhoeveden, suddenly moving him down to around 225,000 as we near the dinner break. –MH
6:12pm: Perez picks up knockout, chips
Using pocket aces versus Carlos Gusso’s pocket queens, Juan Jose Perez just scored a knockout of Gusso to reduce the field to 60 players. Perez now has about 240,000. –MH
6:08pm: Tighten up
Play has slowed as we get closer to the bubble. Only one elimination over the last stretch, meaning they’re still five away from the cash. While the short stacks are turtling up, the big stacks are ramping up the pressure. Chip leader Erik von Buxhoeveden is nearing the 500,000-chip mark, while Julio Belluscio now has 432,000 lined up in three rows in front of him. –MH
5:51pm: The bubble approaches
They are already down to 62 players. In other words, more than 120 players have been eliminated during the first five-and-a-half levels of play today.
That also means they are just six eliminations away from the cash. –MH
5:32pm: Level 14 begins
The blinds are now 1,500/3,000, with a big 500 ante to go along with them. One more one-hour level and players will take their dinner break. –MH
5:31pm: Julio jumps up
Julio Belluscio just scored a hefty lengthening to his chip tubes. Would be wrong to call them stacks, as the Argentinian idiosyncratically lines his chips on their sides before him (see below).
The hand ended with Belluscio busting the player to his left, the pair having gotten the latter’s chips all in on a J♥ 2♥ 3♣ flop. Belluscio’s opponent had [K][K], but Belluscio had 2♦ 2â™ for a set of deuces. The turn was the 8♣ and river the 5♣ , and Bulluscio claimed the more than quarter-million-chip pot.
Not such a simple thing to count Belluscio’s chips that way, but he looks to have at least 370,000 at present, possibly more. –MH
5:22pm: Short stack a little shorter for Rios
Francisco Rios has been battling with a short stack most of the day. Just now he had an even shorter stack all in with Rios holding 8♦ 7♥ and his opponent Aâ™ K♣ . The board ran out 9♥ 9♣ 3â™ K♥ 2♥ , and Rios’ opponent survived. Meanwhile, the Mexican sits with about 44,000 at the moment. –MH
5:06pm: Outor over Perez
Juan Jose Perez gave up his chip lead not long ago, tumbling down to about 235,000. He’d chipped back to about 260,000 when he just now opened with a raise to 6,500 from the hijack seat. Vagner Outor then reraised to 13,500 from one seat over, and it folded back around to Perez who called.
The flop came 8♥ 6♣ 7♣ . Perez checked, and Outor quickly announced he was shoving all in. Perez leaned forward to examine how much the bet was for — 126,000. Perez thought about a half-minute, then said he was calling.
Outor showed K♥ K♦ while Perez had a flush draw with K♣ Q♣ . The turn was the Jâ™ and river the 10â™ , and Outor’s hand held. He moves way up to about 290,000, while Perez tumbles further to about 115,000. –MH
5:00pm: Andre Akkari: still not playing
As we mentioned yesterday, Andre Akkari has godfathering responsibilities back home this weekend, so he couldn’t play in the main event. Still, he’s stuck around to show off his new WSOP bracelet and gladhand with the locals. He also took a few minutes to speak to PokerStars.tv. –BW
4:58pm: Two pair for Thuyh
Robert Thuyh raised to 6,000 from the button and got two callers in the blinds. The flop came 10♠A♣ 9♦ , and when it checked to Thuyh he quickly bet 10,000. The small blind folded immediately, and after a long think the big blind let his hand go as well.
Thuyh showed his hand — A♥ 9â™ — before dragging the pot. “Just two pair,” said a player across the table with a grin, and Thuyh returned a smile. He is sitting with 92,000 at the moment. –MH
4:54pm: Another time for Europeans?
The legacy of the LAPT is an interesting one. Its early seasons were beset with a curious lack of Latin American winners. The first five winners of LAPT events came from Europe. Today, with 80 players remaining, Austria’s Erik Von Buxhoeveden holds the chip lead and is looking to put another LAPT notch on the European bed post. We’re still looking to see if he brought a cheering section? –BW
4:33pm: 85 remain
Level 13 is underway with just 85 players left here at LAPT Punta del Este. Of those 85, Erik von Buxhoeveden of Austria currently has the most chips in the room with more than 330,000.
They’ll play two more one-hour levels, then comes a 75-minute dinner break. –MH
Live coverage of LAPT Punta del Este is brought to you by Martin “This Coffee Is Excellent” Harris and Brad “Where’d You Get That Coffee” Willis.
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