Doubling. In some respects, that’s what it comes down to in no-limit hold’em. Double your count, then double it again. Keep doubling it until you have all the chips. It’s better for your sanity and your tournament survival if you don’t do it all in one hand, but one way or another you need to keep doubling your stack.

Doubling is featuring prominently today in Punta del Este. For that matter, toiling and trouble are as well.

Earlier today you read about the double Komaromis that started Day 2. The younger Komaromi, defending Punta champion Alex Komaromi, is now out. But his father Pedro continues to amass chips.

Season 4 Colombian National Poker Champion Julian Menendez found himself in an unusual double-draw hand a short time ago. On the turn of a 2♣ 9♣ 8♦ Q♦ board, Menendez’s opponent moved all in. Menendez held J♣ 10♣ for the nut straight with a draw to a club flush. Menendez’s opponent also held jack-ten for a straight; Menendez mistakenly announced that he was freerolling the pot. Not so; Menendez’s opponent also had a flush draw, with J♦ 10♦ . It was, in effect, a double freeroll, which really isn’t a freeroll at all (don’t think about it). Regardless, the river blanked 5♠ and the two players chopped the pot.

Julian Menendez

The hand reminded me of a double Big Slick hand from all the way back in Season 2. At the San Jose final table, Americans Ryan Fee and Jeff Petronack got it all in pre-flop, with each man tabling ace-king. Sort of a double freeroll, you see, as Petronack had the red suits covered and Fee showed A♠ K♠ . The board straight flush that came, J♠ 8♠ 10♠ Q♠ 9♠ , also made a royal flush for Fee. Pretty remarkable, as my colleague Martin Harris might say.

Back here in Punta, Menendez may have missed his flush draw, but he faded the straight flush draw against him and has close to 200,000 in chips as he vies for the Day 2 chip lead. If he were to somehow go on and win this event, he would be the LAPT’s second double main event winner. The first one, of course, is Jose “Nacho” Barbero, whose double wins were made even more impressive by the fact that they came back-to-back in Season 3, first here in Punta and then in Lima.

Barbero is also contending for the chip lead. He moved up to 160,000 by doubling off two opponents at the same time, knocking one of them out in the process. He was out of position to both and got his stack of 52,800 in on an all-spade flop, 4♠ 10♠ K♠ . He was called by a player with top pair and the second nut flush draw, K♥ Q♠ , and a player with the nut flush draw, A♠ J♥ . Barbero showed a flopped flush with 8♠ 9♠ and faded all of his opponents’ outs.

Double and double again. It’s a lot of toil but it’s worth the trouble if you’re the one to lift the trophy over your head Sunday night.

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