Imagine the crowd rushing a college football field after a huge win and taking down the goalposts. Then apply that image to the final table set of a poker tournament and you’ll have a good idea what we witnessed in São Paulo moments after Victor Sbrissa won the 2013 PokerStars.net Latin American Poker Tour Brazil Main Event.
Sbrissa barely had time to shake the hands of his heads-up opponent, Daniel Murta, before he was engulfed by about 15 of his friends and supporters who rushed the set. They had been chanting throughout the final table (“Ole, ole ole ola, Sbrissa, Sbrissa!” and “Vai Coringão!” were the most popular). When the final river card fell, they rushed onto the set to begin the celebration. They shouted, they cheered, they hugged, they bounced up and down like a team that had just won a major professional sports championship. And they destroyed the set in the process.
Sbrissa’s father, who had been the most rambunctious of the supporters throughout the afternoon, threw a Corinthians — a local Paulista football club — flag over the group. Then he began wiping away tears. He pressed his way into the group long enough to wrap his son in a more personal hug. Sbrissa, too, began crying.
Sbrissa made his way to an interview area just off the set to give an interview to ESPN Brasil. Before they could even start, the group engulfed him again, chanting his name and what sounded like the Portuguese word for champion. They got even louder when Sbrissa broke away long enough to favor ESPN Brasil with his thoughts.
For the record, the final table payouts were:
1st: Victor Sbrissa R$512,100
2nd: Daniel Murta R$334,000
3rd: Rafael Pardo R$231,400
4th: Leonardo Brescia R$171,000
5th: André Akkari R$128,900
6th: Marcos Ximenes R$94,700
7th: Leo Fernández R$68,400
8th: Thiago Azevedo Grigoletti R$52,600
Sbrissa’s road to the championship started just past 2pm local time this afternoon with seven other players, and Team PokerStars Pros, all in contention. A long final table bubble last night primed the crowd for early action; the final table did not disappoint. Short stack Thiago Grigoletti was eliminated on the fourth hand of the day.
Team PokerStars Pro Leo Fernandez soon followed Grigoletti to the rail in 7th place. He brought the chip lead to the final table, but doubled up two of his opponents in the early-going, one of them Daniel Murta. Those losses left Fernandez with few enough chips that Murta was able to take him out with a speculative play.
A long pause in eliminations followed. The dam burst when Marcos Paulo Ximines and Team PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari were eliminated almost back to back. The crowd chanted Akkari’s name as he left the set. The Team Pro, always gracious in defeat, favored them with a smile and a wave.
Akkari’s elimination left three Brazilians and a Colombian to battle it out. Leandro Brescia blinked first. He had been biding his time all day but was never able to mount any serious attack on the stacks of the chip leaders. His chips went into the middle on a flip, but went out to Sbrissa when Sbrissa made quads.
Rafael Pardo was the last man standing in the way of a guaranteed Brazilian champion. When he moved all in and was called by Murta, it was the one moment of the day when the crowd was on Murta’s side. They roared in delight when Murta sent Pardo to the rail in 3rd place.
That left Murta up against Sbrissa and the entire room. He gave it his best shot, but on this day it seemed like there was no stopping Sbrissa.
And so ends another delightful week with the Latin American Poker Tour. The Live Events focus will now move east, to the fantastic tropical local of Cebu, Philippines for APPT7 Cebu. Cebu will wrap up just in time for the start of wall-to-wall coverage of EPT Grand Final in Monaco, which itself will lead directly into the beginning of the 2013 Spring Championship of Online Poker.
Until then, you can find us at the bar.
Dave Behr is a freelance contributor to the PokerStars Blog.
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