April 2009 Archives

By Howard Swains

Today the EPT debuted its season six structure -- rather like a sports team running out for the final game of the year wearing their all-new strip. After one-hour levels through days 1a and 1b, we went to 75 minutes and a whole new selection of blind levels. With a 30,000 stack at the tournament start, plus all this additional play, the best deep-stacked tournament players in the world had finally got what they wanted. And they duly stepped up to show their gratitude.

The day two chip leaderboard features 138 survivors and has the names Marc Naalden, Annette Obrestad, Johannes Strassmann and Joe Ebanks in its top bundle, jockeying for the ultimate chip lead. The Dutchman, Naalden, edged it at the very end with 777,000. But they will all sleep soundly in Monaco tonight.

Scroll down the page for the very latest, complete count

Naalden made a final table in Copenhagen on season two of the EPT, finishing third for the Danish equivalent of $116,281. And since then, the former tournament chess player has put together a string of major poker results, including four World Series cashes (and one final table), victory in a side event at the Amsterdam Master Classics, and just last month another first place in a $1,500 buy-in tournament in Austria.

As for Obrestad, we may not have heard much from her on the EPT this season, but form is temporary and class permanent, and the Norwegian sensation is among the classiest of all acts. How she got there was simply owing to that spectacular tournament nous. Whenever a reporter passed her table, she was in a pot. Moments later she had won it, usually without showing her hand. This pattern changed towards the end when a pot did go to showdown. Obrestad had a mere royal flush - her first in live play - and she bagged up about 670,000.

For the final levels of the day, Obrestad shared a table with Strassmann, the PokerStars ShootingStar, who is now shining the brightest among a continuing constellation of German talent. He won a monster pot late on - turning a straight with his mighty 7-8 - and kept his stack at the half-million mark until the bagging and tagging process began.

Ebanks, or ender555 as he is known in cyberspace, has been working in recent months on translating his devastating online tournament game to the live arena. He made a final table on the LAPT in Costa Rica last year, cashed in a side event at the PCA in January, and took down the €1,000 supplementary tournament in San Remo only last week. Ebanks bagged up around 500,000 too - and is on form, online or off.

This man, Vadim Shlez, from New York, also hasn't finished having his say.

Shlez finished off the serial EPT casher, Joao Barbosa, at around about the mid-point of today's action - and went on an amazing run since then. He also has more than 500,000 and is hotly in the mix.

For Team PokerStars Pro, it was a day of consolidation. Lee Nelson began the day as chip leader and although he no longer wears that crown, he still has plenty of chips - 305,000 to be precise, which translates as a very sold day's work. Luca Pagano is unlikely to hand over his title as the most solid, however, and he seems on course for another record-breaking cash on the EPT, finishing today with 400,000 and change.

They are joined in tomorrow's redraw by Joe Hachem, Andre Akkari, Isabelle Mercier and Alex Kravchenko - their presence more than compensating for the loss of many of the others searching for glory. They'll line up alongside others such as Michael Tureniec, Phil Laak and Sami Kelopuro in a glittering field.

And it's some glory: tournament officials announced today that the total prize pool was €9,350,000, with the champion set to take €2,300,000 of that.

The money bubble will burst sometime tomorrow. We reconvene at noon, and need to lose 60 players before we enter the slowdown preceding the elimination of our last non-casher. That, as ever, will be described in all its anxious majesty here, accompanied - as ever - by photography by Neil Stoddart.

That, then, is that. We leave you with Paul Testud on a bicycle.

Goodnight!

With only one level and 120 players left on day 1A of the PokerStars.net ANZPT Sydney Main Event, there's some serious all-in action popping up left, right and centre.

Notables still in contention include PokerStars.net Team Australia player Eric Assadourian (69,700), Billy "The Croc" Argyros (86,500) and Jeff Lisandro (74,500), who is clearly the boss on table 24, constantly pushing his stack in post-flop having hit either top pair or two pair and busting opponents.

On the other hand, there are some minnows eating the sharks, with Mike Mantan and Bruce Nguyen striding out to the chip lead with 135,000 and 120,000 respectively. Joseph Moussa is nipping at their heels on 103,000, Yue Wang has recovered from a hiccup to be back above 100,000 followed by Thorsten Schaefer (98,600) and Ben Barclay (74,500).

Some of those still hanging in there include Max Veenhuyzen (14,300), Andrew Scott (52,000), 2009 APL Wild Turkey Poker Classic runner-up Majed Haddad (14,500), Kimberley Manning (15,100) and Niro Peer who, after moving up to 90,000 before the dinner break, took a serious hit to his stack from another player. Peer is now dwindling on 24,800 in chips.

The players are now on their final 10-minute break before returning to playing one more level. The blinds will recommence at 500/1000 with a 100 ante, after which the chips will be bagged and tagged.

"It was a tough steak": that was the reply from Bruce Nguyen when we inquired to his whereabouts during the first 20 minutes of level seven on day 1A of the PokerStars.net ANZPT Sydney Main Event.

But his extended absence over the dinner break did little to dent his stack of 114,000, easily the biggest in the room as we enter the latter stages of the opening day here at Star City.

Close behind Nguyen is one of only five Australians to have won a WSOP bracelet, Jeff Lisandro. Born in Perth but now best described as a resident of the world, Lisandro just claimed another victim when his [jc] [4s] made two-pair on a flop of [js] [4h] [kh] against his opponent's [as] [kd], with the turn [7c] and river [6c] bringing no change. Lisandro, who also finished 17th in the 2006 WSOP Main Event, is now up to 75,000.

Likewise, Michael Guzzardi's stack has headed north since the dinner break, with his latest pot taking his stack above 40,000. Max Veenhuyzen also dropped by tell us his delight that A-K didn't suck out on his 7-3, which leaves the affable Sandgroper just below his starting stack of 20,000.

In contrast, the hopes of securing the ANZPT Sydney title have ended for Melbourne cult poker figure Steve "The Big Show" Topakas. Tired of Thorsten Schafer's constant bluffing, Topakas made a stand with pocket fives, only to find Schafer waiting with pocket aces. The board ran out [4s] [jd] [7d] [3c] [10d], and the curtain had fallen on "The Big Show".

Likewise, Sydney bookmaker Stewart Davidson has been eliminated after his pocket threes were smashed by a set of fours.

PokerStars.net Team Australia player Eric Assadourian delivered the KO blow in his verbal stoush with Martin Comer when the money went in on a board showing [ks] [8s] [ad] [js[. Comer showed [kd] [jh] for two-pair, while Assadourian's [as] [2s] needed help, which duly arrived in the shape of the 2s on the river.

More than 100 of the 233 starters have now been sent to the rail, and with two hours remaining, that figure is sure to increase. Blinds will soon be at 400/800 with a 100 ante for the penultimate level of the day's play.

By Landon Blackhall

We're fast approaching the dinner break here at Star City Casino in Sydney and as the tournament directors hand out complimentary dinner vouchers, some unfortunates who've been eliminated late in level six face the humiliation of having to actually pay for their dinner at the Michelin three-star Garden Buffet.

Damon Lum was responsible for the elimination of one opponent and crippling another after they all found their money in the middle. Lum was well ahead with pocket queens, the female opponent was holding [ah] [kh] and the other opponent held pocket jacks. The flop of [7h] [qh] [as] saw Lum leap from his seat and pump his fist in the air.

The turn of [ad] filled up Lum and by the time the meaningless [3h] fell on the river, the male opponent was letting himself out through the velvet rope while the female opponent could only sit there and watch Lum stack his newly won chips.

Meanwhile Australian Poker Hall of Fame Inductee Billy 'The Croc' Argyros and APL Wild Turkey Poker Classic runner-up Majed Haddad have been having at it on table 14. We caught the action on the river as the board read [8s] [3d] [6h] [7d] [qd]. Haddad called Argyros' all-in bet and turned over [8c] [6c] for two pair.

"Sorry mate, I've got the nuts," Argyros said as he turned over his [kd] [jd] for the diamond flush. Haddad pounded the table in frustration as 'The Croc' snapped up his 52,000 pot. However Haddad managed to secure a pot from another unknown opponent in the very next hand. He's now sitting comfortably on 26,300 in chips.

In other action around the room, Michael Guzzardi is looking despondent as he nurses a very short stack of 5100. Joseph Moussa is looking stylish as his stack has rocketed up to 78,000 and Yue Wang is now the chip leader with 87,300. A total of 145 players still remain in today's flight as the tournament director announces the dinner break.

On that note, we are now heading off to grab ourselves a bite to eat - join us when we return at 8pm AEST to bring you the conclusion of Day 1A of the ANZPT Sydney Main Event!

Thursday afternoon, midway through day 1A in the PokerStars.net ANZPT - most of the field is grinding away and it's generally pretty quiet. Except for table 13.

PokerStars.net Team Australia's sole representative today, Eric Assadourian, has been engaged in some energetic and entertaining banter with fellow Sydneysider and Aussie poker larrikin Martin Comer.

The latest chapter played out when Assadourian raised from middle position, Comer called and they saw a flop of [as] [10s] [2s]. Assadourian pushed all-in, with Comer making the call and showing pocket twos. "What?" Comer shrieked when he saw Assadourian's [js] [5s]. "Ship it," Eric countered as Comer continued his tirade.

Earlier, Comer folded (he claims) pocket aces on a flop of three jacks after another player had pushed all-in.

"That would have to be the worst fold in history," Assadourian quipped, with Warwick Mirzikinian adding he'd folded the remaining jack. Then the all-in player claimed he was holding aces.

The plot thickened when Assadourian countered that Comer had pocket eights at best. "Actually, I had eights," the all-in player said. "So you had nines?" Assadourian fired back at Comer. This was all too much for Comer, whose antics had players on the surrounding tables in stiches.

That riotous period at table 13 ended with Assadourian ascending the top of the chip count with 65,000. Other prominent stacks in the room include Soren Eriksen and Jeff Lisandro, each holding around 45,000.

Players to have been eliminated in the early going include Saidal Wardak, 2008 APPT Grand Final winner Martin Rowe and 2009 NZ Champs runner-up David Borg.

There's just over an hour until the dinner break, with blinds about to increase to level 5 (150/300 with an ante of 25). There are 179 of the 233 players that started day 1A still in the hunt.

By Landon Blackhall

When a poker tournament is in its early stages, we tend write items to describe the ambience and atmosphere of the room, the general action on the tables; even the odd weird and wonderful hands we witness, as long as we're in the right place at the right time. These are what we call "colour pieces", however, this piece is literally about colours!

Perth's Max s0stndrd Veenhuyzen (trivia: he was the first Aussie to win the Sunday Million on PokerStars) was involved in a big pot earlier with Ravindran Maravar, finding himself calling down an all-in player holding pocket aces. "I don't feel so bad now," Maravar said as he turned over his pocket jacks.

However, Veenhuyzen found himself behind after the [Js] [5h] [8h] appeared on the flop! The turn of [4s] and river of [ks] were of no help to Veenhuyzen, leaving Maravar to double up while he was left to stack up his remaining 6625 in chips - one of every colour of the rainbow.

The colourful chips used at Star City are just one of the many quirks of playing poker at Sydney's only casino. Those who've followed our reporting from previous events here will know that dealers use a cutdown version of a blackjack shoe from which to deal the cards, players are penalised for acting out of turn and iPods are a no-no (the ANZPT receives a special exemption on this rule, that is until the bubble bursts).

Meanwhile the remaining 197 entrants have entered the fourth level of the day (100/200 blinds with a 25 ante). This has seen the rate of eliminations increase slightly, but given the generous tournament structure, we predict that by the end of the day's play there will still be a approximately 100 players progressing to day two from today's field.

It has been announced by the tournament director that there will be a 50-minute dinner break at 7pm AEST. Did I hear someone say Garden Buffet?

By Landon Blackhall

As the players take the opportunity to stretch their legs during the first break of the day, we grabbed a quick chat with Karl Krautschneider.

He'll always hold a special place in ANZPT history as the tour's inaugural champion after a three-day battle at SKYCITY Adelaide back in January.

"After the win in Adelaide I had a month's holiday over in Thailand," he said. "And I only managed to get here after winning a last chance satellite!"

It would appear at first glance that Krautschneider would be a marked man after his win at the inaugural event of the ANZPT, however he's not worried - in fact, he thinks the win in Adelaide earned him a lot more respect at the tables.

He went on to tell us about his start to the ANZPT Sydney Main Event. "I've had a tough table so far; there are a number of young kids on my table who are pretty aggressive. I've had 10s, Jacks, Queens, a good run of cards, but not too many chances to take down some of the bigger pots. I'm sitting on 22,000 but there's plenty of time to build that up."

Of course, one of the hot topics when it comes to poker here at Star City is the rivalry between players from Sydney and Melbourne. Krautschneider was quick to point out Sydney's weaknesses and reckons they're more fearful when a Melbourne player is sitting at their table.

"There's always been a big competition between us. Melbourne players are a lot more patient, educated and know when to pick their spots. Sydney players are more 'cowboyish'; they're gung-ho and raise with pretty much anything, but they lose their money faster!"

Watch it Karl, the numbers are in favour of the home town here at Star City.

In a room full of Aussies, the Scandinavian accent of Soren Eriksen stands out dramatically. One of the few internationals in today's PokerStars.net ANZPT field, Eriksen is originally from Denmark but now resides in New Zealand.

Earlier this month, he won his adopted nation's national title when he took out the NZD $100k first prize in the 2009 New Zealand Poker Championships Main Event.

Eriksen's style matches that made famous by many of his countrymen - aggressive, relentless and successful. He's already built a stack above 35,000 and as the winner of the region's last major event, we wouldn't be surprised to see him again go deep here at Star City.

Speaking of travellers, the most relaxed man in the room is the sun-tanned and recently married Rob Galluzzo. The executive producer of Joe Hachem's new reality series The Poker Star, Galluzzo is back home (after an all-too-short honeymoon in Bali) to see the first contestant confirmed for the TV show via a single-table tournament here at Star City on Sunday.

Supported by PokerStars.net, The Poker Star will feature 11 Australians of different ages, from all walks of life, who will live together in a house in Melbourne, where they will be filmed around the clock. They'll take part in a series of poker games, challenges and eliminations - until one player is crowned The Poker Star.

The winner of The Poker Star will take home AUD $100,000. They will also live a poker players dream, playing in four of the biggest poker tournaments in the world with Hachem working with them as mentor and sounding board.

But let's hope Rob misses that audition, as it will mean he's poised to reach the final table of the ANZPT Sydney Main Event!

Already 12 of the 233 day 1A players have been KOed, and Andrew Scott could consider himself fortunate not to have joined them.

With five players seeing a flop of [as] [7s] [8s], Saidal Wardak bet 500, Bill Jordanou made it 1700 and Scott popped it to 4000.

Wardak, who won the $1500 NLHE Feature Event at the 2009 Aussie Millions, wasted no time getting his chips into the middle. Jordanou folded, as did an agonised Scott.

He showed [4s] [5s] for a flopped flush, but it proved an astute fold as Wardak was holding [10s] [9s]. "Imagine if I'd called and hit the [6s]," Scott mused. He's down to 15k, but lives to fight another level, three that is, with the blinds up to 100/200.

Who better than Sydney's own Eric Assadourian to issue the order to shuffle up and deal in the PokerStars.net ANZPT Sydney Main Event here at Star City.

The PokerStars.net Team Australia player, who won the 2007 APPT Macau High Roller event, heads an impressive list of players who've joined the day 1A field of 230.

For the first time since winning the 2008 PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final, Martin Rowe is making a welcome return to the felt - appropriately, at the venue where he won AUD $1 million late last year.

Others in action today include Jason Gray, who finished runner-up to Rowe, 2007 WSOP $2k Seven-card Stud bracelet winner Jeff Lisandro, 2008 APPT Macau High Roller runner-up Andrew Scott, the top two finishers in the recent NZ Championships Main Event Soren Eriksen and David Borg and ANZPT Adelaide winner Karl Krautschneider.

Australian Poker Hall of Fame inductee Billy "The Croc" Argyros (a late arrival, who welcomed everyone at table 18 with a piece of chocolate), "Kiwi G" Graeme Putt, Martin Comer (seated on the same table as Assadourian), Saidal Wardak, Steve "The Big Show" Topakas, "Toothpick Tony" Kambouris are playing today, as are some of Australia's top online players such as Michael Guzzardi, Daniel Neilson, Joel Dodds, Tyron Krost, Jarrad Dale and Daniel Kochan.

It hasn't taken long for the chips to start flying with a handful of players already on the rail. Karib Karib became an early victim when he ran 8c-7c into Ks-10s pre-flop, and the board ran out 9s-7s-8s-Kd-Ac, sending his opponent to 44,500 and the early chip lead.

ANZPT tournament director Danny McDonagh just dropped past to mention that 50 seats are still up for grabs tomorrow, which would take the field soaring towards 500. Did someone mention a global financial crisis? Blinds are about to pop up to level two (75/150).

Half a world away from the spring sunshine radiating down on the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo, the Australasian poker spotlight returns to Sydney for the second event in the inaugural season of the PokerStars.net Australia New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT).

We're at Star City Casino in Sydney, home of the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final. It's one of the most spectacular settings for a poker tournament anywhere in the world, with players overlooking the Sydney CBD, the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Darling Harbour precinct, home to scores of waterside restaurants and bars.

For players who may have experienced Sydney in December for the finale of the APPT in either of the past two years, let's hope they left the board shorts and zinc cream at home this time around.

It's late autumn in Sydney and a far cry from the images of sunseekers lounging on Bondi Beach or catching a wave at Manly or Dee Why. Indeed, the first day of the PokerStars.net ANZPT will kick-off under a grey sky and steady drizzle.

It might be gloomy outside, but things couldn't be brighter indoors where Aussie poker players have been flying in from around the country in recent days, packing the Star City poker room to overflow.

Preliminary events have been capped, huge numbers have been turning out for the nightly mega satellites and we're expecting a 400-plus field for the AUD $2200 ANZPT Sydney Main Event.

Considering this is a new event on an increasingly packed local tournament schedule and amid the economic gloom that Australia has not escaped, it's a staggering achievement for the ANZPT to attract such healthy numbers - underlining the strength of the poker scene Down Under.

Our two highest profile players - Team PokerStars Pros Joe Hachem and Lee "Final Table" Nelson - may be waving the Antipodean flag in Monte Carlo, but that's not to say the field for the ANZPT Sydney Main Event is lacking for quality.

There are APPT event winners Grant Levy and Eric Assadourian, their PokerStars' Team Australia teammates Emad Tahtouh, Tony Hachem and Celina Lin, ANZPT Adelaide champ Karl Krautschneider (who won his way to Sydney in the final online qualifier on PokerStars), 2009 Aussie Millions winner Stewart Scott plus scores of PokerStars qualifiers; most Australians and New Zealanders but several have made the long trek from the US and Europe.

The structure for today's play (starting stack 20,000) will be nine 60-minute levels:

Level 1: 50/100
Level 2: 75/150
Level 3 100/200
Level 4: 100/200 (25 ante)
Level 5: 150/300 (25 ante)
Level 6: 200/400 (50 ante)
Level 7: 300/600 (75 ante)
Level 8: 400/800 (100 ante)
Level 9: 500/1000 (100 ante)

The first players are starting to file into the room to collect their credentials, and we'll be underway at 12.30pm AEST (3.30am GMT) with the opening hand of the 2009 PokerStars.net ANZPT Sydney Main Event.

By Stephen Bartley

Yesterday it was Bertrand Grospellier, today it was the European Poker Tour itself setting the records. While yesterday "ElkY" played more than 60 tables at the same time online, the EPT nearly did the same in the real world - 54 tables, packed into the tournament area and beyond, and all playing at once - the biggest Grand Final field ever.

As the queues formed at the registration desks it became obvious the turnout would be big, but few predicted 935 players, complete with a €10,000 buy-in and change to play the side events, would arrive in Monaco for a shot at glory. But they did, and the story of their first day is now complete.

Of that 935, day 1b hosted 539 of them. Their mission was the same as those here yesterday - eight one hour levels played ten handed at the start, with a 30,000 starting stack. By the close of play, after 227 had fallen to the rail and into the consolation of Monegasque sunshine, two players were poised at the top of the chip lists; Ami Barer and Steeve Berdah, each hovering around 200,000.

Ami Barer

It was always a big ask for Team PokerStars Pro to match the performances of Lee Nelson and Luca Pagano yesterday, each of whom ended day 1a on mighty stacks of around 200,000. But still, a good few had a bash.

Ivan Demidov was chief among them, carrying the flag the highest, finishing on around 73,000. But the Riviera does something to the German ShootingStars. Johannes Strassmann again finished at the northern end of the chip count list, as did Johannes Steindl and EPT Dortmund winner Sandra Naujoks, each of them finishing on more than 100,000.

There was a flip side to that. Gavin Griffin was among the early eliminations, followed by Katja Thater. It was late in the day when Ylon Schwartz busted, but that still left a solid force of Team Pros. The names Grospellier, Boeken, Rousso, Hachem, Eastgate, Demidov, Ramdin, Mercier, Kravchenko and Khan will return to action tomorrow.

Still high profile after all these years, tennis legend Boris Becker, fresh from a cash in the WPT last week, picked up where he left off, surviving a tricky table of Florian Langmann and Nuno Coelho to finish the day on close to 60,000.

From the celebrity ranks fans of hip hop artist Nelly found he was unable to transfer his musical talent to the poker table, busting in the first level. All of which happened before Gus Hansen had even turned up. But while the great Dane arrived late he left early, as did French rugby star Sebastian Chabal. American David Williams fared better, bagging up 125,000 at the close.

Sebastian Chabal

Still, there are worst places to be stuck with no table to go, and even if an evening saunter around Monte Carlo doesn't stir the soul there is always a €500 shoot out tournament starting tomorrow, not to mention the high roller event the day after.

That's all ahead of us but for now we focus on day two of the Grand Final starting at high noon tomorrow.

By Howard Swains

As the seconds ticked down this afternoon to the start of the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo, the vast roof atop the Sporting Club conference centre cracked in the middle and gradually slid open, bathing the tournament arena in glorious sunlight and revealing a place that most people had already forgotten: the outside world. This cruel exposure to the elements, so soon after we had filed into our bunker, was part of the welcome to the tournament room for the numerous members of Team PokerStars Pro playing on the opening day of this massive poker jamboree.

While most of the denizens of media row spent the next ten minutes blinking and squinting, their eyes perhaps permanently damaged by this rude awakening, such an entrance was only fitting at the beginning of the end of the most spectacular poker season ever hosted in Europe. Team PokerStars Pro led a total of 396 players into the room, each paying €10,000 for their seat on the first day of the grand finale of the tour. And after the roof slid shut again, and the curtains drew closed, they hunkered down for eight one-hour levels of typically cutthroat and breakneck play.

But wouldn't you just know it: when the 223 remaining players filed out of the door at the end of the day, there were Team PokerStars Pros once more at the front. Lee Nelson bagged close to 300,000 chips and is a probable day 1a chip leader; Luca Pagano has more than 100,000 and is also well in the hunt, having put paid to Greg Raymer's chances early in the day.

Pagano's Italian teammate Dario Minieri has more than 100,000. Similarly Dennis Phillips, who accounted for his teammate Alexandre Gomes at the midpoint of today's action, will find himself comfortably placed at around 90,000 in the overnight counts.

Add to that Johnny Lodden, Humberto Brenes, Marcin Horecki, Chad Brown, Daniel Negreanu and Raymond Rahme, all of whom survived, and there's been an awful lot of taking for the team going on in Monte Carlo today.

That's not to say that they're the only sharks surviving through day 1a. Annette Obrestad has had a relatively fallow time of it on the EPT this season, but the Norwegian sensation has been on fire today and will be another player close to the summit. Arnaud Mattern, who won in Prague on season four, has also been troubling those counting the chip leaders today, as has the PokerStars qualifier Faraz Jaka, who passed 150,000 some time this afternoon.

All of the above outlasted the likes of Phil Ivey, Mike McDonald, Chris Moneymaker, Patrik Antonius and Stephen Chidwick, as well as Constant Rijkenberg, who tasted the bitterness of early elimination here, so soon after victory in San Remo last week.

These, though, are very early days in this tournament. Tomorrow, we expect at least another 400 players to enter the fray, bringing us close to 800 for the tournament, which is a whole lot of cash to refocus for on day two. They will start tomorrow at noon, with the likes of Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Ylon Schwartz, Joe Hachem, Isabelle Mercier, Noah Boeken, Hevad Khan, Ivan Demidov and Peter Eastgate taking their seats.

That's it for day 1a in Monte Carlo. More of the same tomorrow.

The EPT main event in San Remo has been a triumph from the start, and the final table - one of tension, high-wire hands and enough unpredictable aggression to keep everyone guessing - gave the Italian Riviera the send off it deserved.

The principal reason was a 20-year-old student from Amsterdam, named Constant Rijkenberg, who tonight beat Finland's Kalle Niemi heads-up to claim a check for €1,508,000 and the title of EPT champion. Add his name to your list of young European poker stars taking the game by storm.

In hindsight Rijkenberg's win seemed obvious. His natural feel for the game, developed not online but in the live tournaments of casinos in Amsterdam, showed in almost every hand he played. And he wasn't short of confidence:

"I expected it," he said in the moments immediately after the final hand. "I said three weeks ago that I was going to win this tournament and it was true."

Constant Rijkenberg

Rijkenberg's style was certainly unconventional - his roller-coaster week was filled with big bluffs and hero calls, only some of which came off - but even those setbacks were counterbalanced by some raw aggression and excellent play that ultimately sent him to the top of the heap and to the centre of a mob of celebrating Dutchmen. His aces beat Niemi's top pair of tens late on Thursday night, bringing the tournament to a close.

Niemi can also hold his head high. The Finn was playing his first live event and now the first-year law student will fly back north, way north, with €862,000.

Kalle Niemi

It took five levels of play to get there.

The lone Italian representative at the final table, Danilo D'Ettoris, was first to go when play started this afternoon; Rijkenberg seeing to it that the Italian would watch the rest of the day from the rail when the Dutchman's pocket fours held against the Italian's ace-queen.

Alex Fitzgerald busted in seventh, but not before some on-table antics had players and onlookers shaking their heads and rubbing their eyes. Steady hands became sudden nightmares with a stormy spell of hyper-aggressive seven figure re-raises. Fitzgerald could only watch. Cursed with a short stack the American played only about five hands all day; each of them involving him getting all his chips in the middle. The fifth time was his last when Galic made top pair tens, to the American's king-queen.

Alex Fitzgerald

Ovi Balaj's plan was almost identical to Fitzgerald's. The only difference between them was one place and an extra €58,000. Balaj was eliminated when William Reynolds caught a break, calling the Romanian's pocket nines with his own pocket sixes that struck a set on the flop.

Ovi Belaj

Readers of the blog will by now be familiar with the story of Dragan Galic. The Croatian led this tournament almost start to finish and only fell short by five places. His week-long display of dominance, unchecked aggression and often unmistakable good fortune, came to an end when he moved all in with [9d][9h] against Rijkenberg's [ah][qc]. It was all over when Rijkenberg flopped the nut straight, ending one of the tournament's most engaging rivalries.

Dragan Galic

The two had tangled frequently. Their often unconventional playing style was at times like watching an unsupervised fireworks display. It looked spectacular, but at the back of your mind you knew it could turn nasty any second. Any hands between the two usually featured instant re-raising, contemptuous calling, and reckless bluffing, then ended with an inevitable rubdown of the loser. Mercifully it ended with a handshake as Galic departed in fifth.

That left four.

William Reynolds

William Reynolds was many commentators' pick as the man to watch at the final table. He had little of the hellfire that fuelled Rijkenberg and Galic's rampages and instead played a more measured - if no less ruthlessly agressive - game. He too took an up and down path through the day, and at a low ebb was forced to shove all in with [kd][jd]. Rijkenberg called with an ace and hit a second on the flop. That was that. With Reynolds gone Rijkenberg didn't look back.

Gustav Sundell

Gustav Sundell assumed duties as the short stack, his options little better than Reynolds'. He found ace-six and hoped for the best, but Niemi called with ace-jack. Sundell's chips armed Niemi better for the heads up duel to come, but the momentum was clearly with the young Dutchman. There were only six more hands to come. The rest will now be written as EPT history.

"I really don't know what to feel right now." Said Rijkenberg, shortly after the final hand. "My first dream was to play an EPT, my second to play on the featured TV table, my third was to make the final table and my fourth dream was to win. It's the biggest dream you can have apart from the WSOP main event - and I'm too young to play that right now."

It brings an end to a great week of poker in San Remo, one that broke records for attendance and prize pool. But this is just a precursor to an even greater event starting next week. The EPT rolls out of Italy tonight and heads to its next destination just a few kilometres away, across the border, into Monaco, where the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo starts on Tuesday.

That's all from San Remo. Join us next week in Monte Carlo when the season five grand final will cap off another fantastic season on the world's best poker tour. See you then.

If you'd have blinked any time over the past couple of days on the Italian Riviera, you would have missed anything between 10 and 25 eliminations from the largest European Poker Tour event in its five-year history. More than a thousand started and now more than a thousand have departed. They flew out the door in record-quick time, and now, after another spectacularly swift day of poker, there are only eight players remaining. That, folks, means a final table - and another day in the books.

Tomorrow in the Casino Municipal, San Remo, the following players will be attempting to secure the €1,508,000 first prize that goes with the title of EPT champion:

Dragan Galic (Croatia) - 3,098,000
Gustav Sundell (Sweden) - 2,625,000
William Reynolds (USA) - 2,531,000
Constant Rijkenberg (Holland) - 932,000
Alexander Fitzgerald (USA) - 721,000
Danilo D'ettoris (Italy) - 686,000
Kalle Niemi (Finland) - 641,000
Ovi Balaj (Romania) - 625,000

The number beside their names is their chip stack heading into the final, and the more observant among you will notice that the biggest number has locked itself to the name Dragan Galic for the fourth consecutive day.

The Croatian has led the tournament ever since day 1a and although he took some early hits today, temporarily surrendering the lead to the likes of Constant Rijkenberg and William Reynolds, he hit back late in the evening to win huge pots from Danilo D'Ettoris, Gianni Giaroni and then an absolute monster against Rijkenberg, to regain his position of dominance.

But Reynolds and Rijkenberg also remain, both with sizeable stacks themselves and both demonstrably in the knowledge of how to use them. Rijkenberg also took some massive hits early in the day, but then managed to make pocket fours beat pocket queens, all in pre-flop, and went flying up the ladder and passed two million. It was only when he flew too close to the sun -- a massive bluff gone awry that cost him about 900,000 with nine players remaining -- that Rijkenberg was hauled back to the pack.

Reynolds, for his part, managed simply to adhere to one of the hard and fast rules of successful tournament poker: win the big pots. Sitting on the featured table for much of the day, he seemed always to have the goods when it went to showdown, and took the small pots without showing his cards. That's how you win these things.

The other major force tomorrow will be Gustav Sundell, from Sweden, who has been in the top three almost all day but has seemingly avoided all fireworks. Even our Swedish colleague at PokerStars blog, who has been following him closely, was at a loss to recall a single major pot that went to showdown. He just got himself some chips, got some more, and kept going upward until he too is in a great chance of taking this down.

The relative short stacks tomorrow are Ovi Balaj, who has the chance to turn in the most successful performance from a Romanian on the EPT; Alex "Assassinato" Fitzgerald, an American who has made his home in Europe; Kalle Niemi, one of two Finns starting today, but the only one remaining after Sami "LarsLuzak" Kelopuro busted; and Danilo D'Ettoris, who took the lions' share of Kelopuro's stack late in the day and will be the lone Italian around the final table.

The fact that only those remain means we lost all others. Notable mentions must go to the familiar names of Ben Kang and Malte Strothman, who flew the flag for Germany alongside Pietro Sibione and Doron Tourgman.

Katalin Jerney, from Hungary, was the highest-finishing woman, while Pierre Neuville, who narrowly avoided being the bubble boy on day two, clung on all the way to become the final table bubble instead. That's also not an enviable spot, but it's €78,800 sweeter than the other option.

There'll be more of all this tomorrow -- text from us, photography from Neil Stoddart -- when we reconvene at 2pm for the final table.

Until then, good night from San Remo.

When players reconvened this afternoon tournament organisers were undecided about how many levels to play. Thomas Kremser ultimately opted for playing down to 32, regardless of how long that took. But it soon became apparent that "long" was the wrong word. In less than five hours 124 players became 32. We didn't even have a dinner break.

It was like this from the off. As the bubble approached, the unfortunates - those who had played this long, falling within a table of the money but leaving empty handed - began to make themselves known. Bill Chen was one of them, calling an all-in with ace-queen only for his opponent's nine-seven to make a straight.

Then the bubble.

As Pierre Neuville moved in, getting called on one table, Joakin Hill did the same across the room. After pauses for all hands to finish Hill's pocket kings looked likely to double him up until his vocal Italian foe, armed with a killer ace, hit a second on the river, sending the room into thunderous rapture. Hill's last hope was for the shorter stacked Neuville to bust too. But the Frenchman's pocket tens were good, casting the role of bubble boy on to the Swede.

That opened the floodgates. Tom McEvoy had clung on long enough, managing to cash along with Team PokerStars Pro Alex Kravchenko. Marcin Horecki, who looked like a player with a mission yesterday, couldn't turn around the mis-fortune he'd crashed into and exited soon after.

Team PokerStars Pro Marcin Horecki

Amid the carnage there were still records to be set. EPT Warsaw winner Joao Barbosa added a seventh cash to his season five, an astonishing record despite his reluctant admission that he had no choice but to be blinded away in those tense few hands before the bubble.

But as some players hung on the big stacks began to dominate like poker goliaths.

Chief among them was Dragan Galic. Chip leader since day one, the Croatian enjoyed a golden run of cards at times, not simply catching them himself but capitalising when opponents were cursed with the second best hand. His play was solid though, solid enough to finish the day with the lead on a massive 1,386,000. As far as we can recall the EPT has never had a pillar to post winner. Could Galic be the first?

Heading the pursuit was American Steve Silverman, who saw off several rivals on his way to a stack of 865,000 at the close. David Eldar finished third on 829,000 while Holland's Constant Rijkenberg, who confesses to never playing online, bludgeoned his way to a stack measuring up to his eyeballs - 814,000 worth of firepower that for much of the day almost blocked out the sun. There is talent left in this field - Ben Kang on 363,000, Malte Strothmann on 228,000 and Finland's Sami Kelopuro on 173,000, but they will each have to cross these giants if they are to lift EPT silverware.

Steven Silverman

Constant Rijkenberg

Last to go before dinner was PokerStars qualifier Dominik Palte of Germany. His departure closed off the day, leaving just four tables.

Those remaining will return tomorrow to play down to eight. That's when the excitement is ratcheted up even more as the first prize €1.5 million comes into view.

That's for tomorrow.

Chip leader for the third day, Dragan Galic

That's it for today though. All photos are (c) Neil Stoddart and more of those and some words to go with them will be back tomorrow afternoon. See you then.

At the start of the day, we made a prediction. We said that day two of EPT San Remo would be utter carnage, citing a few years of experience as evidence, coupled with numerous relative short stacks among the 400-plus remaining players, plus an innate tendency among the indigenous to gamble.

And you know what? We were right. By the time the bagging and tagging started at the end of seven levels today -- the tournament's 15th level -- we had a mere 124 players still in the hunt. That means we had lost nearly 90 percent of the biggest field in European Poker Tour history inside of two days, with the cash bubble already floating ominously into sight.

Phew.

Naturally there were some very familiar patterns adhered to. Small stacks shoved with any ace and were busted by big stacks making mandatory calls. As those drifted away, others managed to go through that remarkable succession of double ups to keep them with something tangible to chase. And those blessed with obscene mountains of chips played bully: none more so than our overnight chip leader Dragan Galic, who will need a suitcase to store his 560,000 chips.

Galic, from Croatia, started the day with 30,000 more than his closest rival, and was the first player through the 100,000 barrier. He did that on day one. Today he was seemingly in every single pot and won them all, bursting past half a million at around about the dinner break. Most EPT final tables feature three or four players with that much, and many of them go on to win the tournament. Galic has got there with three days to spare. Now we need to see if he can keep hold of them, or whether anyone is brave enough to mount a serious challenge.

If anyone is, it could be Constant Rejkenberg, the Dutch player who has amassed close to 400,000 at day's end. His countrymen on the rail were encouraging media representatives to write simply: "He's lucky," but there's been something, well, constant, about Rejkenberg's progress through this tournament. Yesterday he had a more than healthy 70,000; today he's right up there with the leaders again. That type of consistency takes skill.

It was a day of mixed fortunes for Team PokerStars Pro. Luca Pagano, who this week has reassured everyone that he has a prosperous career in event management should this crazy poker dream of his ever go sour, was one of a number of players who couldn't make it through the day. He went down, he doubled up, he went down, he went out. That's the way things go. It was a similar story for Katja Thater and Isabelle Mercier, who vanished into the night, leaving the eastern European duo of Marcin Horecki and Alexander Kravchenko in the team's livery at close of play.

We all need friends and PokerStars has some good ones. For instance, it has Bill Chen and Tom McEvoy, both of whom are also still in the hunt. They have both gone about matters with their characteristic integrity and according to their pre-determined game plans.

Chen analyses, plots and figures before making the precise and perfect mathematical play. McEvoy remains patient and subdued, drawing on World Series winning experience and 30 years at the top of the game before feeling out his correct play. There is more than one way to skin a cat, and here are perfect exponents of two of them.

As the day progressed, the action became so heated that some of our wires at Casino Sanremo melted away, leaving us with some distinct difficulty in accessing the internet. We couldn't post, but we were still writing. Here are a few nuggets from late in the date:

• Elimination is bad for everyone but Florian Langmann seemed to feel it most when his all in with pocket tens was called by the EPT London runner-up Michael Tureniec with [kd][4d]. "How could you call?" asked Langmann, helpless as a four hit the flop and turn. While Langmann gathered his things and went for he door Tureniec then busted James Akenhead, queens against fives sending the Englishman home empty handed.


• Joe Elpayaa went deep today, but he couldn't make it to the money. He had Ramzi Jelassi to thank for sending him to the rail, the Swede's king-queen the responsible hand.


• The Team PokerStars Pro Marcin Horecki's mood has gone from one that measured 101,000 to a 30,000 one, three bad hands responsible for the fall. And it could have been much worse for Horecki. He made a disciplined fold to an all-in four bet from Malte Strothmann sometime in the penultimate level, and then rallied late in the day back to 64,500.


• Several players were forced to shove many times as the day progressed but remained at the end of the day. Joao Barbosa was one of them, looking to make his seventh cash of the season and still clinging on with about 35,000.

Big things are promised for tomorrow - importantly, the money bubble will burst when another 12 players bust tomorrow, then we'll be looking at getting down to 32 players.

Get it here first, in almost real time, as it progresses through the day. Until then, goodnight.

It's hard to say the story of day 1b in San Remo was any different to yesterday. Just when you thought a tournament field couldn't get in any bigger, a new crowd arrived equally charged, enthused and ready to disregard the hopes and dreams of another for the sake of their own ruthless advancement.

That's part of the game's attraction - anyone can play. Like Mr and Mrs Patrik Antonius for example, who were drawn on the same table before they headed their separate ways - Patrik to early elimination, Maya to a short but workable closing stack of 7,500.

Maya Antonius

The family Antonius were part of what was a stellar cast for day 1b, one that starred Team PokerStars Pros Minieri, Pagano, Nelson, Boeken, Thater, Nelson, Khan and Lodden and co-starred the likes of Marcel Luske, Jens Kyllonen, Moritz Kranich and Lex Veldhuis, ready to sit for the eight hours it takes to make it through an EPT day one.

Of the 600 (the absolute maximum) who arrived up at Casino San Remo today and made a total field of 1,178 - 263 did just that. The leaders were a mixed bunch with the top dog on today's pile being Austrian Ljubmir Josipovic on 83,200. Behind him is Italian Vicenzo Spinelli on roughly 79,100, pursued by internet trail blazer Sami "LarsLuzak" Kelopuro with 55,900. They come back tomorrow ahead, but behind yesterday's top dog Dragan Galic on 107,800.

To the defeated though, today was a story of agony and what you'd call forgivable bitterness at having missed out on a prize pool in excess of €5 million.

Minieri and Thater started the day together but didn't end it that way. While Minieri busted within minutes of his dinner break return Thater fought on, ending the day bagging up a short stack of 10,000.

Dario Minieri

Tournament host Luca Pagano took a day off from the duties of logistics to take on the duties of player. As if to thank him for the great job he'd already done the deck conspired not only to give him quads, but to give an opponent a tasty looking full house. Naturally the money went in giving Pagano an early double up.

Luca Pagano

Pagano was up but then down again, finishing the day on 25,000 after an all or nothing move two hands from the end with king-queen, only to run into ace-queen. But what were we saying about a touch of card karma? The king hit the flop ensuring he'll be kept away from the desk job at least for another afternoon.

It was a mixed day for his team mates. New arrival Johnny Lodden was rail bound early, as was World Champion Peter Eastgate. Noah Boeken went later, along with Hevad Khan and Lee Nelson. Isabelle Mercier went on a late surge, closing on around 30,000 while Friend of PokerStars Bill Chen did something the same, a Phoenix-like final burst, going from 1,000 to 35,000 in the space of a level.

Isabelle Mercier

Day 1b often proves to be the more heavyweight day, and San Remo is no exception. Big names fell as quickly as the new guys getting their baptism of EPT fire. We said farewell to Illari Sahamies, former WSOPE runner-up John Tabatabai, Julian Thew and Peter Jepsen. Marcel Luske fared better, ending the day on 26,000.

That's all for tonight. Play resumes tomorrow afternoon at 2pm.

All photos (c) Neil Stoddart.

by Change100 and Brad Willis

For this Nitsche, God is not dead.

Dominic Nitsche is 18 years old. He is still in high school. Heck, he may have some homework to finish after this. And after playing in his first ever live tournament, he's an LAPT champion. After he knocked out fellow big stack Mark Ioli late on Day 2 to give him a massive chip lead, some of us joked that he could do away with this final table like a one-man wrecking ball. He didn't end up taking out every player, but he did win the most critical hand at the final table, ending up with two-thirds of the chips in play by the time we reached four-handed play. Clocking in at less than four hours of play, it was the fastest final table in LAPT history and perhaps the fastest televised final table we've ever seen.

291 players bought in to the LAPT's Grand Final in Mar del Plata, Argentina. 27 of them came away with a nice chunk of change, the majority of the prize pool handed out to the final nine this afternoon. Here's how they stacked up as the cards went in the air:

Seat 1: Jason Skean (338,000)
Seat 2: Rodolfo Awad (170,000)
Seat 3: Alfons Fenijn (65,000)
Seat 4: Sergio Farias (474,000)
Seat 5: Jose Barbero (181,000)
Seat 6: Dominik Nitsche (817,000)
Seat 7: Jorge Landazuri (428,000)
Seat 8: Leo Fernandez (329,000)
Seat 9: Derek Lerner (151,000)

First to hit the rail was Argentinian native Jose Barbero. On the third hand of play, Sergio Farias opened for 65,000 from the small blind, Jose Barbero moved all in from the big blind and Farias made the call.

Barbero [Ad][Kc]

Farias [5d][5h]

The flop came down [Qs][Td][5c], Farias hitting a set of fives, but Barbero still had a ray of hope with an inside straight draw. The [6d] on the turn made him frown a bit as his supporters cried for a "jota" on the river. It was the [9s], though sending Barbero home in ninth place.

After Barbero's elimination, Sergio Farias began to turn up the aggression and take control of the table, winning several small pots with well-timed reraises. He'd also end up taking out table short-stack Alfons Fenijn in eighth place. After Fenijn moved all in for 52,000 from under the gun, Farias, seated to his immediate left, made it 130,000 to go and the rest of the table got out of the way. It was [Qs][Th] for Fenijn and [Jc][Jh] for Farias, the board running out [Ah][Kh][3d][5c][Td] to send him to the rail in eighth place. After the hand, Farias was up to 750,000 in chips, enough to challenge Dominik Nitsche for the lead.

Derek Lerner created no small amount of controversy at the end of Day 1B. Greatly upset by a ruling made by Tournament Director Mike Ward, Lerner called it the "greatest travesty of his career" and on Day 2 was often found recounting his side of the story to anyone who would listen. Lerner ended up making the final table as the second-shortest stack and would end his run in seventh place. With the action folded to him on the button, Lerner moved all in for his remaining 100,000 and Rodolfo Awad snap-called from the big blind.

Lerner [As][8s]

Awad [Qs][Qd]

The [8d][7s][2h] flop paired up Lerner, but the [Qc] on the turn left him drawing dead, Awad hitting top set. As the [5h] landed on the river, Lerner shook his opponent's hand and departed the stage in an (uncharacteristically) quiet manner.

If that wasn't enough rapid-fire action for one level, well, how about a three-way all in?

Dominik Nitsche came in for a standard raise to 42,000. And let's be honest, Nitsche could have just about anything here. He's been known to raise light in the past. Leo Fernandez put on a pretty good show of thinking for an age before announcing he was all-in for 230,000.

So, maybe we'd see a good heads-up all-in battle. That's what we were thinking, anyway, until Segio Farias went deep in the tank. And let's be honest. We've seen Farias over-call with some pretty light hands. Five minutes later, Farias decided....despite his second place chip stack and the chip leader still in the pot...to move all-in for 515,000. Just to make it clear, Nitsche announced, he was all-in--not that he needed to. He had everybody covered. The hands turned over and this is what we saw.

Nitsche: [Ah][As]
Fernandez: [Ks][Kh]
Farias: [Ts][Th]

The board gave them a good sweat, but in the end the best hand held up on a [8d][4h] [Js][Qs][6c] board. After losing 90% of his 10,000 starting stack within the first five minutes of Day 1B, Fernandez remained patient, channelling his inner chess master to come away with a sixth place finish. Having Fernandez out-chipped on the hand, local favorite Sergio Farias took fifth place honors.

It took an unscheduled break to color up and organize Nitsche's mountain of chips after that hand, the German high school student now controlling two-thirds of the chips in play with close to 2 million in his stack. By comparison, Jorge Landazuri, his closest competitor at that point, held 413,000.

Jason Skeans was on the short stack and in need of some chips. The blinds and antes would do, as far as he was concerned.

He moved all-in and got snap-called by Rodolfo Awad's [Ac][7s]. Skeans only held [2h] [6d]. The board barely gave them a sweat: [4h][9d][Kd][3s][Td]. Awad's hand held up unimproved and Skeans was out in fourth place for $105,840.

It didn't take long before the two shorter stacks at the table tangled in one of the more dramatic hands of the final table. Jorge Landazuri came in for a raise and Rodolfo Awad moved all-in. Landazuri called to see he was way ahead.

Awad: [4s][4c]
Landazuri [9d][9h]

The flop was hard to look at [4d][8c][2h]. The turn, the [Ac], wasn't any better.

Landazuri put his thumbnail to his teeth and looked like he might just cry.

Then the room exploded as the dealer put the [9s] on the river.

Landazuri jumped into a crowd of supporters, high-fiving the entire rail as they chanted "Mexico, Mexico, Mexico!" Even in defeat, Awad couldn't help but smile at the 19-year old's good fortune as he departed in third place.

We were prepared for a rumble in the high school cafeteria when it came to our heads-up battle between 18-year old Nitsche and 19-year old Landazuri, but just like our last stop on the LAPT in Punta del Este, Uruguay, heads-up play lasted all of one hand.

On a flop of [Kh][8h][9d], Dominik Nitsche bet out 50,000 and Jorge Landazuri raised to 140,000. Nitsche called. On the [Ts] turn, Landazuri bet out 150,000 and Nitsche again called. The river drew ooohs and ahhhhs from the crowd. The [Kd] drew an all-in from Landazuri and an instant call from Nitsche. It wasn't hard to see why.

Nitsche: [Ks][Jh]
Landazuri: [Jc][5c]

Landazuri, here on a PokerStars.net freeroll, won $211,760.

Nitsche picks up both the title and distinction as youngest ever LAPT champion, but also $387,030.

In his post-game interviews, Nitsche said that he's planning on playing in next week's EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo, Monaco. He'll also be postponing his college education for at least two or three years to concentrate on poker. With his win here, it's fair to say he has his tuition covered.

Congratulations to Dominik Nitsche on his stunning victory.

For Season 2 of the Latin American Poker Tour, that's a wrap. Good night from Mar del Plata and we hope to see you again next fall when Season 3 kicks off.

All photos © Joe Giron, IMPDI

We don't know what to say. This hardly ever happens to us. We don't know how to react when it happens this fast. It usually lasts a lot longer. We promise.

Somehow we managed to dispatch 52 players in less than seven hours of playing time. Using the word "somehow" there may be a bit disingenuous, because we know exactly "how." His name is Dominik Nitsche and he crushed more dreams today than American Idol and Britain's Got Talent combined.

We could tell you all about the 18-year-old high school student from Germany, how he called a player's all-in with [2h][5h] because he could "read his soul," or we could just tell you about the only hand that really matters from the day.

Table consolidation played with the fates and put the two chip leaders right next to each other at the outer table. Dominik Nitsche and Mark Ioli had already shown they were gamblers, but we had no idea how much they'd try to prove it.

With the blinds at 4,000-8,000/500, Nitsche came in for a standard raise from the button. Ioli almost immediately announced raise from the small blind and nearly tripled Nitsche's bet. With barely a second of hesitation, Nitsche announced all-in. Ioli didn't even ask how much it was. He only asked, "You're all-in?" When confirmed half a second later, Ioli declared, "I call!"

He jumped from his seat and slammed [Kc] [Qs] down on the table like it was pocket aces. Keep in mind, these two guys were the chip leaders. Nitsche had pushed for 352,000. He casually turned over [Kh] [Th].

"Whooooo!" Ioli shouted. He jumped toward the ceiling, shoved his fist in the air and proclaimed, "I knew it!"

"Good call," someone said. Who said it, we don't know. We were busy snorting a whole bottle of smelling salts. And it was certainly--by definition!--a good call, but no one could help but be startled by the strength (or lack thereof) of the two hands tangling in an all-in pre-flop battle.

Despite the fact Ioli was well ahead, there was still the matter of the board running out.

The flop: [Ah] [6h] [Jc].

"Oh, God," someone said.

Two hearts and a gutshot draw for the young German. How could it happen? How could any fate be so cruel? Friedrich Nietzsche might have said, "God is dead," but Dominik Nitsche had some higher power on his side, we're sure of that.

Turn: [5h]

Ioli was suddenly drawing dead. He looked like someone had just burned down his house. And threw toilet paper in his trees. And shaved his dog. And painted it pink.

The final pot totaled more than 720,000 and slid over to Nitsche.

Ioli, for his part, was left with less than 200,000 and busted shortly thereafter.

By the time Nitsche's day was over, he was over the 800,000 mark, nearly twice what second place local boy, Segio Farias, had in his stack. Nitsche now holds 28% of the chips in play.

We can't dedicate this entire day-end wrap to Nitsche, however, because Team PokerStars Pro Leo Fernandez has defied all the odds and proven he is probably immortal. We're not sure what Friedrich Nietzsche would say about Fernandez, but we're starting to think pretty highly of the guy.

Within the first few minutes of Day 1, Fernandez had been bad beat for 90% of his stack. Tonight, the newest member of Team PokerStars Pro has made the final table. How's he do it? Quietly. There were no huge swings, no ostentatious screaming, no pleading, "one time." He just did it. Like a pro.

Seven other folks from around the world will be joining those two men tomorrow for the final table. Here's how they stack up.

Dominik Nitsche -- Germany -- PokerStars qualifier --817,000
Sergio Farias -- Argentina -- 474,000
Jorge Landazuri -- Mexico --PokerStars qualifier -- 428,000
Jason Skeans -- United States --PokerStars qualifier -- 338,000
Leo Fernandez -- Argentina -- Team PokerStars Pro -- 329,000
Jose Ignacio Barbero -- Argentina -- PokerStars player -- 181,000
Rodolfo Awad -- Chile -- PokerStars qualifier -- 170.000
Derek Lerner -- Canada -- PokerStars qualifier -- 151.000
Alfons Fenjin -- Netherlands -- PokerStars qualifier -- 65,000

You can find full chip counts on the remaining nine players at the LAPT Chip Counts page. Also be sure to check out the PokerStars Blog Media Gallery and the video blogs over at PokerStars.tv.

Final table play begins at 2pm local time (ET + 1 hour) on Sunday. Join us here for live coverage from the first flop to the last river.

Our colleagues working for the EPT website recently came by to ask what were the biggest news stories from day 1a at EPT San Remo. It was a fair question -- there were no huge world superstars at the top of the chip ladder, no Team PokerStars Pro thrashing their way through the field. But at the same time it was also something of a no brainer: today we began the largest-ever European Poker Tour event of its five-year history, and if that's not newsworthy, I don't know what is.

Looking at the figures is even more impressive. Yesterday Luca Pagano, who has been heavily involved with the organisation of his home EPT, suggested that we would probably get close to 1,200 players, way more than the "official" cap of 800. We knew poker was booming in Italy, but to get 1,200 players was a full third more than the supposed maximum permitted, 500 more players than the same event last year, and 350 more than even the Grand Final of last April. We would believe it when we saw it.

But as 2pm approached today, the proof was very much there for our own eyes to see. Even if we hadn't had to battle our way through swarms upon swarms of hopefuls loitering nervously in the lobby, the full scale of his achievement was visible in the look of weary pride on Pagano's face. He had clearly worked his fingers to the bone to put the tournament together, but the proof of the pudding was in the list of 578 players' names that made its way to us. There are inevitably more players on day 1b, so we really are looking at very close to 1,200. Amazing.

When the poker began, there was instantly a familiar feel to proceedings. A player was knocked out on the first hand, over-rating his top pair against an opponent's nut straight. And that set the torrents flowing: the esteemed likes of Greg Raymer, William Thorson, Magnus Petersson, Chad Brown, Annette Obrestad and Sandra Naujoks were all swept away. In total, 356 players went from a starting stack of 10,000 to a finishing stack of zero within eight levels. Arivaderce and then some.

Even so, that still left 222 others to bag and tag their chips tonight, including the Team PokerStars Pros Marcin Horecki (36,500) and Alex Kravchenko (24,000), and the Friend of PokerStars Tom McEvoy (24,000).

At the absolute summit is the Croatian player Dragan Galic, who won a huge pot on the final hand of the day, when his 5-7 had an opponent's A-K crushed on a board of 5-6-7, boosting his stack to 108,000. Somewhere also near the very top are Greger Larsson, from Sweden, who has something like 70,000, the Canadian (with a suspiciously Italian-sounding name) Gianni Giaroni, with 60,000.

Also there or thereabouts is the American Tyler Cornell and the Dutchman Constant Rykenberg.

With a field of this size, accurate counts at this stage are difficult to come by, and we'll have to wait until the morning before they are passed onto us from the tournament officials. They'll be here for all to see as soon as we get them. Other names to look out for on that list are Joao Barbosa, Arnaud Mattern, Joe Elpayaa and the defending champion Jason Mercier, all of whom made it through today.

Good night.

This is a live blog of the LAPT Mar del Plata Grand Final, brought to you by bloggers Brad Willis and Change100. This post will updated on a regular basis. Click refresh for the latest information.

Blinds 1,500-3,000/300

Last updated: 3:48pm

3:48pm--Mark Ioli seizes the chip lead

With a [Kh][Jh][7c] flop already spread out, Mark Ioli led out for 20,000 only to be met with an all in raise from Angel Guillen. Ioli called, tabling [Kd][Tc] for top pair, but Guillen had outflopped him with [Jd][7d]. That's when things got really ugly. The [As] on the turn gave Ioli more outs with an inside straight draw and his gin card, the [Qd] arrived on the river, making Ioli an ace-high straight and eliminating Guillen, who (clearly) was none too pleased with the result of the hand.

With that monster pot, Ioli seized the chip lead with over 250,000 in his stack.

3:46pm--Ten off the money

Expect things to slow down a bit here as we approach the money bubble. Thirty-seven players remain. Twenty-seven get paid.

3:44pm--Three tales of running good

Sometimes you just have to come from behind. Take the last three all-in confrontations we witnessed.

Lautaro Curi was all-in with [Ad] [Kh] against rising star Mark Ioli's [As] [9c] The only thing that changed on the [Ks] [9h] [6h] flop was Ioli now had fewer outs with which to get there. That made the [9d] all the more painful for Curi.

Just seconds later, Diego Maggiolo got it all-in with [Qd] [9h] versus Dominik Nitsche's [Js] [8c]. Maggiolo went as far as to flop the [9c] to take a formidable lead in the hand. It didn't matter. Nitsche hit his three-outer on the river to send Maggiolo packing.

Had enough? Well, there's more. Andres Felipe Carrillo got his [Qc] [Qd] in against Pat Van Dijk [Ad] [Tc]. Van Dijk ended up making the straight by the river on the [7d] [9s] [4h] [Jc] [8h] board.

3:32pm-- Alex Brenes continues to roll

It was a three-way all in before the flop, short-stack Vadim Thelin moving in from under the gun, Diego Maggiolo moving all in behind him and when the action folded to Alex Brenes, he shipped his stack into the middle as well. Maggiolo had both of his opponents covered. The hands?

Thelin [Ad][3h]
Maggiolo [As][Qd]
Brenes [Ah][Kd]

The rail surged around the table, calling out for various cards en espanol. Brenes kept his lead on the [Jh][9c][4c] flop and himself began calling for a "dos."

The turn was the [4s] and the river the [Ts]. Thelin was eliminated while Brenes more than doubled up, continuing his miraculous run after being crippled to only 400 in chips only a couple of hours ago.

Here's a look at how Brenes rode the emotional rollercoaster.

3:23pm-- Maria Stern Eliminated

The first lady of Costa Rican poker just went out over on the TV featured table. All in on a flop of [Qh][6d][4c], Stern held [Ad][Qd] but her hand was no match for Jose Nadal's set of sixes. The turn was the [5c], the river was the [Jh] and Stern made a gracious exit with 44 players remaining in the tournament.

3:15pm-- No victory lap for Gualter Salles

Gualter Salles got the last of his chips in before the flop with [Ac][7s] and Derek Lerner made the call from the button with [As][Qs]. Salles was looking for a seven, but couldn't conjure one up on the [Kc][Ts][6d][5c][Jh] board, Lerner claiming his stack and sending him to the rail.

3:04pm--Any black card!

Short-stacked and all-in with [3c] [3s] against [Qh] [Th], Spain's Raul Paez neither loved nor hated the [Ah] [3d] [7h] flop. After the [6d] turn, Paez implored the dealer, "Any black card."

The dealer must have been listening to something else. He laid out the [9h] on the river and Paez was out.

2:53pm-- Blinds up

After an extended break where many of the the 100-denomination chips were colored up and the blue 5,000-denomination chips were introduced we're back, with blinds up to 1,500-3,000 with a 300 ante.

2:29pm--Break time

Players are on a 15 minute break while we color up.

2:28pm-- More details on the Alex Brenes comeback

It really was a sight to see. Down to only 400 in chips, Alex Brenes mounted a stunning comeback, rocketing up to 35,000 in chips in the space of six hands. Here's how the action unfolded.

1. Brenes was crippled when he got all-in preflop against Juan Pablo Reverter holding [Ac][Js] against Reveter's [As][Kh]. Though Brenes paired his kicker on the [Qc][Jc][6s] flop, the [Ks] spiked on the turn giving the lead back to Reverter. The river was the [4h] and Brenes was crippled to only 400 in chips.

2. 200 of Brenes' 400 chips were posted in the ante, the rest going in before the flop. Brenes' [Js][4s] was up against Dominik Nitsche's [Ad][6s] and with the board running out [Tc][4h][3h][8c][2d], he raked in 2,700 in chips.

3. Brenes was all in again on the next hand with [Qh][Jd] against the big blind's [Kh][Ts].

"Thank God!" Brenes cried as the flop came down [As][Qd][5c]. The [9h] and [9d] arrived on the turn and river and Brenes more than doubled again, this time to about 9,500.

4. Another hand, another all-in from Brenes. This time, however, the rest of the table folded and he picked up 6,000 in blinds and antes to bring his chip count up to 15,500.

5. Brenes folded.

6. Dominik Nitsche opened for 5,800, Brenes moved all in and Nitsche called. Things looked grim when Nitsche turned up [Jc][Jh] and Brenes the [Kc][Jd]. The flop came down [Qh][8s][4c], Nitsche's jacks still holding.

"Rey!" cried Brenes, looking for a king.

Instead the turn fell the [9h], opening up a few more outs for Brenes with a gutshot straight draw. Then, like magic, the [Ts] appeared on the river, the entire table gasping in disbelief, then applauding Brenes' comeback.

The hand took Brenes up to 34,000 in chips, where he remains as we go to the break.

2:24pm--Herrera eliminated, Brenes bouncing

Our friend Martha Herrera has been eliminated short of the money. All in with [Ac][Th] she ran into Hugo Spangerburg's [Js][Jh]. Unable to improve on the [Kd][6s][2h][2d][Qd] board, she hit the rail.

Meanwhile, a crippled Alex Brenes proving something about the old chip and chair thing. Just a few minutes ago, he thought he was out of the tournament and was even shaking his opponent's hand. When the counts came in, Brenes still had 600 chips left (half a small blind, if you're keeping score at home). Within the last few minutes, Brenes has done nothing but doubled up again and again. He now has 20,000 chips.

2:21pm--A gift to Santi Claus

Eduardo Santi couldn't look less like ol' St. Nick. He's cue-ball bald, clean-shaven, and not sporting a big belly. Nonetheless, his short-stack just got a real gift in the form of a cooler. Maria Stern held [As] [Kd] to Santi's [Ah] [Ad]. The case ace on the flop sealed the deal and Santi doubled up.

2:09pm--Day 2 through a lens

2:04pm--Getting closer...

Only 27 players will make the money, but we're edging ever closer to that number. Fifty-one players remain.

1:51pm--Mario Lopez not saved by the bell

Somebody call Principal Belding.

Mario Lopez (no, not the Mario Lopez) just managed to win a race and then lose it again within a matter of seconds.He got it all in-preflop with Mark Ioli. Lopez held [As] [Kh] to Ioli's [Qs] [Qh].

Lopez looked like he might make the headline to this post different when the flop came out [Ac] [2s] [8c]. But then the turn looked a lot like the [Qd]. Ioli's reaction pretty much confirmed that for us.

Lopez is out short of the money, while Ioli hangs on to fight another day.

1:43pm--Leo Fernandez=short-stack ninja

Leo Fernandez continues to work magic with the short stack he's been riding since early on Day 1B. Fernandez got the rest of his chips in on a [Qc][8c][4d] flop against Eduardo Santi, his [As][Ad] miles ahead of Santi's [Qs][Jc]. The turn and river blanked out with the [9h] and the [4c], Fernandez earning a much-needed double-up. Finally sporting a comfortable stack, he's currently sitting on about 65,000 in chips.

1:35pm--Blinds up!

After moving to Level 13, we're on to 1,200-2,400/300 blinds.

This is a live blog of the LAPT Mar del Plata Grand Final, brought to you by bloggers Brad Willis and Change100. This post will updated on a regular basis. Click refresh for the latest information.

Blinds 1,000-2,000/150

Last updated: 1:20pm

1:34pm-- Adios, Senor Rosenkrantz

Costa Rican poker legend Jose Rosenkrantz was on the short stack coming into Day 2 and unfortunately just met his end. All in with [3h][3s] against Horacio Courdin's [Kc][Qh], the flop came down [Ks][Qc][9h], leaving Rosenkrantz drawing only to two outs. The turn was the [7c], the river the [4s] and Rosenkrantz hit the rail.

1:20pm--Jorge Landazuri tumbles

Lautaro Curi and Jorge Landazuri went to war before the flop, Curi ending up all in for his tournament life with [4s][4d] against Landazuri's [Ac]7d]. Landazuri couldn't improve and shipped a significant chunk of his once-mighty stack across the table, leaving him with about 58,000.

1:19pm--Mario Lopez doubles through Damian Salas

Damian Salas opened with a raise to 5,600 and Mario Lopez moved all in for 26,800 total. Salas made the call turning up [8h][8c] to Lopez's [Ac][Jc]. Though the [Qs][Th][7d] flop looked promising for Salas, the [Ah] arrived on the turn and the [Js] on the river, doubling him up to better than 55,000. Salas was down but certainly not out with 35,000 remaining.

1:17pm--Nitsche contemplates chip lead

It probably goes without saying, but we feel comfortable pointing it out here. After doubling up with his 107,100, Germany's Dominik Nitsche is the runaway chip leader at this hour. He now has nearly 220,000.

1:10pm--Mormoyle's timing slips...so does his chip count

Maybe he was feeling a bit froggy after his big double up, but David Mormoyle just made what we'll call...a mistake. Frankly, we missed the action up until the point he was all-in with Dominik Nitsche but here were the hands.

Mormoyle: [7d] [8d]
Nitsche: [Td] [Th]

What makes this hand amazing is not so much that they were all-in, but how much they were all-in for. See, not surprisingly, Nitsche came out on top. The board ran out [Qh] [Jc] [4c] [4c] [3d].

When they counted up the stacks, Nitsche had 107,100. Mormoyle had 107,200.

Mormoyle was left with a single 100 chip...not even enough to pay the ante.

1:00pm--David Mormoyle runs like the Irish

PokerStars qualifier from Ireland, David Mormoyle, started the day with a little more than 50,000 chips. It was good for an average stack. He probably didn't imagine he would nearly double up almost immediately, but that's what happened when Dutch qualifier Daniel Reijmer (pronounced Raymer, oddly enough) picked up pocket kings. They got it in pre-flop with Reijmer's kings up against Mormoyle's aces. Nothing silly happened and Mormoyle is up over 100,000.

12:50pm-- Jose Cassarro eliminated by Angel Guillen

Jose Cassano was all in for his remaining 20,000 or so and Angel Guillen made the call, turning up [Ah][Jc] to Cassarro's [Ad][3d]. There was no love for Cassarro on the [Kd][5c][2s][Qc][Tc] board and his day came to an early end.

12:45pm-- Gustavo Serra doubles through Jamie Ateneloff

Gustavo Serra pushed his remaining 12,000 into the middle with [Kc][Kh] and Jamie Ateneloff looked him up with [5c][5h]. The board ran out queen high, doubling Serra to 27,000 but hardly put a dent in Ateneloff's stack, still near the top of the pack at 96,000.

12:24pm--Shuffle up and deal

After a short delay getting set up for their time under the television lights, the players are back in action. They will finish off a couple hands in Level 11 before moving up to Level 12.

Outside the Casino Central, it was a sparkling, sunny day. Cool ocean breezes announced the arrival of fall. Couples walked hand in hand down the Avenida Peralta Ramos, enjoying their Friday afternoon. Sea lions barked a few meters offshore. But inside the poker room, a man sat with an umbrella on his head. Sharks, turtles, pirates, and at least one plastic Jesus served as card cappers. Grown men wailed as the turn of a card spelled their fate. The poker circus has arrived in South America, amigos. Let's shuffle up and deal.

It's fair to say that Day 1B was a family affair. Two of Costa Rica's premiere poker-playing clans were represented in today's field-- the husband and wife duo of Max and Maria Stern, and a trio of Breneses spanning two generations. 18-year old Roberto was the first to fall, his top pair, top kicker falling to a flopped flush while his father, Humberto hung on until the late evening hours. Only Alex would survive to see Day 2. Max Stern was out before the dinner break, but Maria survived to Day 2 with 38,000 in chips after earning a key late-night double-up.

Most of the Team PokerStars Pro family that made the trek to Argentina took to the felt today. Joe Hachem, Andre Akkari, Alexandre Gomes, Leo Fernandez, Dennis Phillips and J.C. Alvarado all started their tournament this afternoon but unfortunately only one of them would survive to play Day 2.

Dennis Phillips was eliminated on a cooler of a hand. In a multi-way pot, Phillips and his two opponents all checked the [Kh][Qh][4c] flop. The [Td] came on the turn and after the first player checked, the second put out a 2,000 bet. Phillips slid his entire stack into the middle in response, and though the first player folded, the initial bettor called. It was quite the cooler, with Phillips holding [Jc][9c] for a king-high straight and his opponent with [As][Js] for the ace-high straight. Despite the ugly result, Phillips was gracious as ever and shook his opponent's hand before heading to the rail.

Joe Hachem just couldn't seem to get off the short stack today,but anytime we were about to count him out, he'd manage to double up or chop out a decent pot to keep himself alive.

Things looked grim for the Melbourne native when he got his stack in with A-3 only to run into A-K. However, the board ended up pairing nines and tens to give him a lucky chop. Saved by the river.

Hachem's tournament, though, would come to an end only a few hands later. Moving in with [Kh][Qd], Hachem again ran into [As][Kd]. This time there was no miracle, no lucky chop, no river save, the board running out [9c][2s][2d][Ts][5h] to send the world champion to the rail.

Though Akkari, Gomes, and Alvarado would all fall by night's end, Leo Fernandez was still alive and kicking despite losing over 90% of his stack on one of the very first hands.

On a [Qh][Ts][6s] flop, the pot raised and reraised pre-flop judging by the amount of chips already in the middle, Fernandez bet 1,300 and his opponent came in for a min-raise to 2,600. Fernandez stacked up the rest of his chips and slid them into the middle, earning an insta-call. Fernandez turned up [Qc][Tc], having cracked his opponent's [Ac][Ad] by flopping top two pair. Alas, his hand wouldn't hold up for long, the [6h] falling on the turn to make his opponent aces up. The [Ks] hit the river and after the stacks were counted down, Fernandez was left with two chips and a chair, a scant 1,100 fichas to his name.

Fernandez, though, would mount a stunning comeback, eventually tripling up with pocket jacks against A-K and A-9 to take him up to 12,000 in chips. Remaining patient all night, the former chess champion worked his stack up to the 23,200 he'll take into play tomorrow.

When the dust cleared Robin Chesne emerged as the Day 1B chip leader with 148,900. The online qualifier from France vaulted to the front of the pack after winning a better than 60,000 pot in the last level of the night when his pocket queens held up against A-J. Right behind him are Jason Skeans with 123,400 and Luis Jaikel with 113,600. Other notables surviving to Day 2 include Alex Brenes, Jose Rosenkrantz, Vincenzo Giannelli, Mark Ioli, David Flusfeder, and Gualter Salles.

Join us again tomorrow at 12 p.m. local time (EDT+1) as our 62 remaining hopefuls play down to a final table of nine.

All photos © Joe Giron, IMPDI

We're getting close to the end and the evening is paralleling last night pretty well. There was post-supper craziness followed by a food come lull followed by a dramatic lock-down by the people looking to make Day 2.

A few minutes ago, we saw two nearly identical hands with quite different results.

The first came when LAPT Vina del Mar runner-up Vincenzo Giannelli got [Ks] [Kc] all-in against [Ah] [Jd]. A jack on the flop brought a bit of drama, but in the end Giannelli was shouting something that sounded a lot like, "Ship it to papa!"

Just a couple of table away, Alex Gomes had been working to build his stack back up to a respectable level. Within just a few minutes, he'd been all in a couple of times without getting called. Finally, he got a short-stack all-in. Gomes held [Kh] [Ks] to his opponent's [As] [Js].This time, things went in a dramatic different direction. There wasn't just one jack on the flop. There were two. Gomes couldn't catch a king and less than half an hour on life support later, he was out.

Finally, a quick note about Mark Ioli. Since dinner--since dinner!--he has picked up queens three times and aces once. It's getting to the point that people simply assume he has a big pair and folded to every one of his raises.

About one hour of play remains before we break for the night. Forty-five players remain.

It seemed like hours ago when Chris Moneymaker sidled up to Joe Hachem's table, joking that he needed to bust quickly because they needed three more players for a satellite out in the poker room. Oh wait... it was. Hachem was short-stacked then, but managed to survive for several levels. Anytime we were about to count him out, he'd manage to double up or chop out a decent pot to keep himself alive.

Things looked grim for the Melbourne native when he got his stack in with A-3 only to run into A-K. However, the board ended up pairing nines and tens to give him a lucky chop. Saved by the river.

Hachem's tournament, though, would come to an end only a few hands later. Moving in with [Kh][Qd], Hachem again ran into [As][Kd]. This time there was no miracle, no lucky chop, no river save, the board running out [9c][2s][2d][Ts][5h] to send the world champion to the rail.

One table over, Alexandre Gomes had put his opponent to a huge decision on the river. With the board reading [9d][7s][3d][4d][Ad], Gomes set his opponent all in for 25,700. Ultimately he made the call, turning over not another diamond for the flush, but [Ac][9c] for top two pair. Gomes could only sigh and muck after his failed bluff, left with only a bit over 20,000 in his stack.

Over at the table Humberto Brenes had vacated only moments ago, his executioner David Schechter fell to Marcelo Giorgetta in what was perhaps the tournament's largest pot thus far. The board reading [9s][9d][8s][7d] on the turn, the two got their (pretty darn substantial) stacks in the middle, Schechter's [7s][8s] in dire shape against Giorgetta's made straight with [Js][Ts]. The [As] hit the river, eliminating Schechter and sending Giorgetta to the top of the pack with over 105,000 in chips. He's easily the current chip leader, with Luis Jaikel right behind him with 96,000.

Alas, there is now but one Brenes remaining in the field. Short-stacked for some time now, Humberto Brenes moved all in for roughly 12,000 and the action was folded to David Schechter on the button, who went into a lengthy think.

"I have a good hand, Humberto" he said.

"Please call! I need to double up," Brenes replied.

After a few more moments of thought, Schechter slid his chips in the middle, making the call. Brenes turned up [Ac][5c] only to find his hand dominated by Schechter's [As][Js]. No help for Brenes on the [Ad][Ks][Qc][7d][2s] board offering his executioner both a handshake and a hug on his way to the rail.

Humberto's elimination leaves Alex as the only surviving Brenes. He's still on about 24,000 in chips.

Also making her exit after surviving for hours on a micro-stack was Dennis Phillips' significant other, Maura Harris. With the action folded to her in the small blind, Harris committed her remaining 3,600 to the pot and the big blind obliged with a call, her [8s][9h] up against [Jh][Ts]. The board didn't improve either player's hand and with Phillips watching from the rail, Harris departed the table with a warm smile and a cordial "good game."

There are 53 players remaining in the field as the remaining moments of Level 9 tick down.

So, Team PokerStars Pro Maria "maridu" Mayrinck busted yesterday during Day 1A, but that doesn't mean she is forgotten. In fact, she's pretty easy to remember, what with her playing a side tournament right in front of us.

Since she wasn't able to stick around for long yesterday, the PokerStars video blog team took an opportunity today to chat her up about her experiences here in Mar del Plata.

Alexandre Gomes didn't exactly get the easiest table draw today. He started the day with Veronica Dabul and Leo Fernandez on his immediate left and though Dabul busted a few hours ago on the baddest of beats, Fernandez is still well in this thing with over 31,000 in chips. The former corporate attorney turned poker pro has been flying slightly under the radar today, but in the post-dinner hours has slapped his foot firmly on the gas.

With his stack approaching the 60,000 mark, Gomes got all in with [Qc][Qd] against his opponent's [Js][Jh]. Though the flop was a safe [Ad][9s][3s], the [8s] on the turn meant he had to avoid a spade on the river. When the [3s] fell, Gomes turned away from the table in disgust, having to ship more than half his stack across the table.

A few moments later, "Allingomes" was once again living up to his screen name. On a flop of [8s][6s][8c], Gomes faced an all in from an opponent who had him covered and decided to go for it, committing his remaining 26,000. Holding [9s][9d] he was in excellent shape against 6-4 offsuit and with no shenanigans on the [Kc] turn and the [Js] river, he doubled right back up to 54,000.

Also departing during this level was our beloved Umbrella Man, Zachary Hall. Though we didn't witness the hand, it was impossible not to notice the absence of his multi-colored weather gear. At present, 59 players remain in the Day 1B field.

Greatness is not simply a matter of survival. Greatness comes from prospering while others merely struggle to stay afloat. While your countrymen tiptoe around expandiing sinkholes, you build high rises. It's not necessarily the Art of War, but we're only talking about poker, so it'll do.

That is simply a prelude to introducing our new chip leader, Luis Jaikel. Just a bit ago, Jaikel came out on the good end of a sickly little cooler. His opponent held a king and ten on a board with two kings and a rivered six. Jaikel's pocket sixes looked pretty damned good by the end and he raked a chip leader's pot worth 90,000.

Costa Rica's Jaikel has been around for longer than a lot of these kids have been out of diapers. His first recorded tournament cash came in 1994 at the Queens Poker Classic. Since then, he's finished in the money dozens of times with showings on the EPT, WPT, and LAPT. His last recorded cash was an 11th place finish in San Jose during LAPT's first season.

Not too far away sits a much younger Mark Ioli. Decked out in a Semi-Pro headband, Versace shades, Bose QC2s, and a pair of silver Nike kicks, Ioli knows that merely struggling on to Day 2 isn't going to do him much good if he plans to win. Hence, he's been playing a little fast. About 20 minutes ago, he'd worked his stack up north of 60,000. All things were going his way until he go moved to Table 1.

There sat Andre Akkari. The Team PokerStars Pro has been biding his time today and hadn't found a way to build a huge stack. He was a little below average when Ioli arrived at the table. That's when things started to get interesting.

Almost right off the bat, they got Akkari all-in for around 15,000. The Team Pro held [Ah] [Kc] to Ioli's [Qc] [Qs]. The board ran out [7s] [7c] [8c] [Kd] [4c] and Akkari doubled to more than 30,000.

Over the course of the next few minutes, Akkari went nuts and built his stack to more than 60,000, while Ioli fell all the way back to less than 10,000. Wanna guess what happened next? No. Fine, then we'll tell you. They played the exact same hand as before.

Akkari: [Ad] [Kd]
Iloi: [Qh] [Qd]

This time, Ioli came out on top when the board ran out [8s] [Jd] [4s] [8h] [7d].

Still, Ioli had only worked his way back up to 20,000 after just minutes before being on 60,000.

Akkari, for his part, has done the move-big or go home thing again. When this level began, he was headed toward life support time. Now, he has more than double the chip average.

With three and half levels left to play and 62 players remaining in Day 1B, we're putting our money on Akkari finishing strong. He's built himself a high rise and it's doubtful he lets it slide into a hole.

If there's one thing we've learned about Leo Fernandez today, it's this. The man is a short-stack ninja. Crippled to only 1,100 in chips only moments after cards went in the air when his flopped two pair were outdrawn on the turn, Fernandez didn't allow that early beat to shake him and has been hanging on ever since. As we passed by his table throughout the afternoon, his stack kept inching up. First to 2,000. Then 3,000. Then 5,000. He wasn't playing a ton of hands but the ones he did apparently paid off.

In the post-dinner hour, however, blinds were up to 300/600 with a 75 ante. It was moving day for Fernandez and the media knew it, gathering around his table to make sure they witnessed what might be his final move.

A short-stacked player in middle position open-shoved for his remaining 5,800. A second middle position player (a Phil Galfond doppleganger if we've ever seen one) flat-called the all in. The action folded around to Fernandez in the big blind, who looked down at his cards, sighed, and covered them with the little clay pirate figurine he's been using as a card capper. Resignedly, he tossed his remaining 4,275 into the pot, not looking thrilled he'd have to fade two hands.

Fernandez turned up pocket jacks, while his opponents showed [Ah][9s] and [Ac][Kh]. Everyone craned their necks as the dealer ran out the board-- [7d][Qc][8c][3h][Qs]. While the initial raiser holding the A-9 was eliminated and the Galfond look-alike won the small side pot with his A-K, Fernandez made two pair queens and jacks to more than triple up to 15,000.

"Vamo Leo!" cried one railbird as the Argentinian chess master raked in the most chips he's seen all day.

Earlier today, we brought you the story of Zach Hall, the man with the umbrella on his head.

Frankly, simply having an umbrella-headed kid in the house is reason enough to come to these things.

Still, we like having a bit of an explanation for the sartorial decision.

With that, we give you an interview with the Umbrella Man.

Incidentally, players have just returned from dinner and are sitting down to 300/600/75 blinds. Eighty-eight of the initial 151 Day 1B starters remain. We will be playing nearly all of eleven levels (that's five more) before bedding down for the night.

We can't pinpoint exactly what's happened, but the Central Casino's matrix just went loopy. In the past 15 minutes, the word "hot-blooded' as been uttered more than a couple times. After one and half days of play, this room is finally coming unglued.

People are screaming, cursing, and trying to restrain themselves from going over the edge. If you have seasoned ears and a riot shield, it's a lot of fun to watch.

We won't list every detail of the craziness. Instead, we'll stick to a couple of hands that need no translation.

We walked up on Costa Rican Jose Rosenkrantz in a hand with one-time chip leader Aurel Bogean of Romania. Bogean had just bet 2,000 into a [7s] [Jc] [2c] [7h] board. Rosenkrantz raised to 6,000. Bogean, as he has been known to do, went into the tank. Finally, he called the 4,000 extra.

The river paired the board again, this time with the [2s].

Bogean asked how much Rosenkratz had left. It was a little less than 4,000. Bogean pondered for a moment before picking up four 1,000 denomination chips and tossing them in the middle. Rosenkrantz had quite a bit invested, but seemed a bit troubled. Finally, he pushed the rest of chips in the middle.

"Bluff," Bogean said.

Rosenkrantz didn't turn over his hand.

"Bluff!" Bogean repeated and turned over [Kc] [5c], a busted flush, and sure enough, a bluff.

Rosenkrantz didn't smile, didn't celebrate, didn't even move with any great speed. He simply turned over [3s] [3d].

We're not sure how Romanian's say it, but the aftermath of the hand involved a word that sounded a lot like "fish." Bogean stormed off and didn't reappear for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, Veronica Dabul is suffering from what our blogger friend BadBlood refers to as a "You can't lose!" moment.

Short-stacked and in need of a double-up, Dabul pushed all-in. Team PokerStars Pro Alex Gomes felt obliged to call in the big blind with [3s] [7h] (to be fair, Dabul was really short). Dabul turned over two black jacks. Then came the flop: [Jd] [Th] [Kc]. Around the table, people congratualted Dabul for her excellent flopping skills and certain double-up.

"Wait!" said one player. "Runner-runner straight draw."

The turn was the [9c]. A sick feeling settled in. It was almost a certainty that the [8h] would fall on the river to give Gomes the straight.

Dabul took it as well as possible. Compared the the insanity going on around her, Dabul was downright poised.

Frankly, we see it as a good thing that dinner begins in a few minutes. Maybe some food will settle everybody down. Otherwise, we're going to need more than a riot shield to make it to Day 2.

The dinner break runs until 8:00pm local time (ET + 1 hour). We'll be back then...if we survive that long.

Roberto Brenes is the smallest, youngest, and by far the quietest member of the Brenes clan. Though he picked up the family last-longer honors in his last LAPT appearance in Vina del Mar, Chile, he unfortunately will not be able to claim that title again here at the LAPT Grand Final in Mar del Plata.

Brenes opened from under-the-gun with a raise to 600 and got three callers including both blinds. The quartet saw a flop of [Ac][9c][8c]. The small blind led out for 3,000, chasing away the big blind, but Brenes wasn't going anywhere, moving all in for his remaining 7,000 or so. However, the button over-shoved for his entire 25,000 stack, putting the action back on the small blind who tanked for an eternity before making the call. The cards went on their backs:

Small blind [Ah][9h]
Roberto Brenes [As][Kd]
Button [Qc][Jc]

Brenes was drawing nearly dead to the button's flush and needed running cards for any hope of survival. He couldn't hit the miracle, though the turn falling the [3h] and the river the [3d], sending Roberto to the rail.

Two Breneses still remain in the field. Though Humberto is growing a bit short-stacked with 6,700, Alex is quite comfortable with 26,000 in chips.

Dennis Phillips did not look like a happy man. Standing behind his chair with his head slightly bowed, the slice of felt in front of him now devoid of chips, Phillips showed all the signs of a man who had just been busted on some sort of horrible beat. With a bit of investigation, we discovered how his final hand played out.

Phillips and his two opponents all checked the [Kh][Qh][4c] flop. The [Td] came on the turn and after the first player checked, the second put out a 2,000 bet. Phillips slid his entire stack into the middle in response, and though the first player folded, the initial bettor callled. It was quite the cooler, with Phillips holding [Jc][9c] for a king-high straight and his opponent with [As][Js] for the ace-high straight. Despite the ugly result, Phillips was gracious as ever and shook his opponent's hand before heading to the rail.

"I'm gonna go relax and then play the 10K tomorrow" Phillips said as he headed off into the casino, perhaps in search of a serving of his beloved South American energy drink "Speed Unlimited" (aka speed in a can).

Across the room, Phillips' girlfriend Maura Harris was still hanging on with 4,000 in chips. Busy concentrating on her own game, she didn't even know her significant other had been eliminated until we recounted the hand to her.

"Oh well. As long as he runs hot in June and July!" she laughed, referring to the upcoming WSOP.

Also hitting the rail in this level was APPT champion Eddy Sabat, who had been short-stacked for quite some time. 108 players still remain in the Day 1B field.

We have just received the final numbers for the Latin American Poker Tour Grand Final in Argentina.

The $5,200 buy-in drew 291 players for a total prize pool of $1,411,350. Those who make the money are guaranteed more than $14,000. First prize will pick up $387,030.

The top 27 players in this week's event will walk away with cash. Here's how they'll get paid.

LAPT Mar del Plata: Prize pool and payouts

1. $387,030
2. $211,030
3. $141,140
4. $105, 840
5. $77,620
6. $63,520
7. $49,400
8. $35,280
9. $28,200
10. $24,700
11. $24,700
12. $24,700
13. $21,160
14. $21,160
15. $21,160
16. $17,640
17. $17,640
18. $17,640
19. $14,120
20. $14,120
21. $14,120
22. $14,120
23. $14,120
24. $14,120
25. $14,120
26. $14,120
27. $14,120

Presently it's clear and sunny over the beaches of Mar del Plata, but should clouds move in we know one man who has come prepared for a sudden downpour. Meet PokerStars online qualifier Zach Hall, a young American who traveled over 6,500 miles from his New Hampshire home to play in the LAPT Grand Final.

Hall bought in into this event with W$ and is currently sitting with a healthy stack of 13,000. Though his shrewd satellite play translated into an entry into the LAPT Grand Final, we're a bit divided on the merits of his choice in headwear. Attention-getting? Absolutely. A fashion statement? Not so much.

In the first level of play, the forecast was looking grim for several of Team PokerStars Pro's finest. Joe Hachem was on shaky ground before the first break, but recently earned a double up when his pocket jacks held against ace-king.

After that disastrous first hand that sent his stack plummeting from 10,000 to 1,100, Leo Fernandez is still miraculously hanging on, having tripled up to 3,400. The always-aggressive Andre Akkari saw his stack slip to 3,500 by the end of the second level, but he's scratched and clawed his way up to a well-above average stack. Just moments ago, Akkari made quads, severely denting the stack of David Flusfeder to take him up to 22,000.

136 players still remain of our Day 1B starting field of 151.

It took a couple guys with a high-tech abacus, but the final number of entrants are in.

Day 1A saw 140 players belly up for the eleven levels of play. Today, 151 will play the exact same amount of time. If you take the time to do the addition, you'll see that puts us at a very respectable 291 players for this $5,200 buy-in event. Twenty-seven players made it through Day 1A. We expect a similar number coming out of Day 1B.

"But, wait!" you say. "There are more people in Day 1B! How can you expect to have the same number as yesterday?"

Well, there is no real science to it. There's a bit of witchcraft and no small amount of anecdotal evidence. That is, things are playing a bit fast today. Witness the hand below.

Disclaimer: The names of the players have been changed to protect integrity, pride, and a general sense of decency,

We're sitting at the 75-150 blind level, so a raise to 600 might have been a tad big, but nothing really extraoridinary. That's what Max Middle Position did to start the action. Sammy Small-Blind made the call from, well yes, the small blind. Still fairly par for the course, having not seen the cards. Billy Big Blind was down a bit from his starting stack but in no real danger of going out any time soon. In came his raise to 2,000.

Well, now we're talking about a poker hand. Max gave up his initial 600 without too much thought, but Sammy seemed perplexed. He tanked and hard. From the rail, it seemed as if he might have gotten himself in a bit of a bind. Maybe he was thinking he should've re-raised with his monster out of the small blind. Maybe he was just transferring his trap from Max to Billy. Either way, it took having the clock called on him before he tossed in the additional 1,400.

When the flop came out [Th] [6s] [2c], Sammy checked. Maybe his big slick had missed. Maybe he was still trapping. Either way, the action was on Billy.

Billy counted out his chips and saw he had around 6,000 left. He cut out 3,000 and put it in front of him. Without a second of hesitation, Sammy waved his hand forward. All-in. Billy snap-called.

Ouch, we thought. What a cooler. Two big pairs? A set versus an over-pair? What could it be?

The hands:

Sammy Small Blind: [Ts] [8d]
Billy Big Blind: [Jh] [Td]

The turn and river didn't help Sammy, and Billy Big Blind scooped the pot.

So, anyway, we feel like the tourney is playing a bit fast.

Here's a look at the start of Day 1B from the fine folks on the PokerStars video blog team.

It's that time again, folks where we chronicle the adventures of Costa Rica's royal family of poker. One is a boisterous, camera-loving shark aficionado. Another is a quiet WPT champion. And another yet is already traveling the LAPT at the tender age of eighteen. Behold, the return of BrenesWatch!

Situated at three adjoining tables the Breneses are positioned well to keep an eye on one another for any potential family last-longers. Humberto is already settling into the role of entertainer-in-chief at his table, singing along to his iPod, his throaty baritone and perpetual smile so infectious that some of his opponents have begun singing along with him.

We approached Alex's table mid-hand, the board reading [5h][7s][3s][Qc] on the turn. Brenes checked from the big blind, his opponent in the cutoff bet 550, and Brenes came in with a check-raise to 3,000. The cutoff called and off to the river they went... the [7d]. Brenes put out a 2,850 bet, leaving himself 3,000 behind. The cutoff stacked and re-stacked his chips, hemmed and hawed and re-checked his hole cards several times before giving up his hand and conceding the pot.

With a sly smile, Brenes slapped the [8s][9s] on the table for nothing but a busted draw.

"I knew it! I've played with you in so many countries, Alex!" exclaimed Derek Lerner, the man seated on his left and one half of a poker-playing set of twins himself.

"I played it like I had a set," explained Brenes before turning around to tell his brother about his bluff.

With that pot, Alex currently leads the family with 12,250 in chips. Roberto has chopped out a few small pots to take him up to 11,300 while Humberto is just above his starting stack with 10,400.

Cards went in the air moments ago here on Day 1B of the LAPT Grand Final and though there isn't quite the media circus that we witnessed 24 hours ago when Boris Becker sat down to play, the room is filled nearly to capacity with Latin American poker's best and brightest. Though yesterday Becker was the target of nearly every lens in the room, today those honors go to newly minted Team PokerStars Pro Leo Fernandez, but for a very different reason.

We caught up with this hand on the [Qh][Ts][6s] flop, the pot raised and reraised pre-flop judging by the amount of chips already in the middle. Fernandez bet 1,300 and his opponent came in for a min-raise to 2,600. Fernandez stacked up the rest of his chips and slid them into the middle, earning an insta-call. Fernandez turned up [Qc][Tc], having cracked his opponent's [Ac][Ad] by flopping top two pair. Alas,his hand wouldn't hold up for long, the [6h] falling on the turn to make his opponent aces up. The [Ks] hit the river and after the stacks were counted down, Fernandez was left with two chips and a chair, a scant 1,100 fichas to his name.

Sitting to Fernandez's left is another familiar face on the LAPT, Argentinian native Veronica Dabul. The always boisterous Vincenzo Giannelli is a few tables down, the LAPT Vina del Mar runner-up chatting away to his tablemates and celebrating even the small pots with outbursts of rapid-fire Spanish.

Gualter Salles, the legendary race car driver and Friend of PokerStars is stifling a few yawns today and for good reason. Last night, he made the final table of the turbo NLHE side event, finishing fifth in a final table that went on long after the Day 1A players bagged and tagged their chips.

Team PokerStars Pro is out in force on Day 1B, with Andre Akkari, Alexandre Gomes, Dennis Phillips, J.C. Alvarado, Joe Hachem, and Humberto Brenes flying the red spade high and mighty today. Joining the Costa Rican "Chark" are his brother Alex, himself a World Poker Tour champion, and his 18-year old son Roberto, whom we last saw making a deep run at the LAPT Vina del Mar.

Another poker-playing family in attendance today are Max and Maria Stern, WSOP bracelet winners both and the only married couple ever to do so. We've also spotted Jose Rosenkrantz, Carter Gill, Felipe Ramos, Ibuki Fukui, and APPT-Macau champion Eddy Sabat.

It's going to be a long day, folks. We'll be playing nearly eleven full levels today, the exact amount of time that ticked off the clock yesterday, leaving us with 27 Day 1A survivors. With roughly the same amount of starters today, we'll likely reach a similar number when play concludes at about 1 a.m. local time.

It was awkward. We'll admit that from the outset.

A couple nights ago, we saw a man dressed in all black standing on the periphery of the PokerStars welcome party. He wore a black fedora that seemed a little too familiar.

Who was that man in the chapeau? We'd seen him before, but our tired and addled brains couldn't remember if we'd shared a pint with him or bowed before him as he led the free world. Frankly, either was as likely. Nevertheless, we were stumped and too embarrassed to probe further.

We labored under the lapse for more than 24 hours before finally coming to our senses.

David Flusfeder!

We actually met the novelist nearly three years ago at the World Series of Poker. Born in the U.S. and living in the U.K., Flusfeder is a notable writer who actually wrote a bit for us back in the day. He told a story of future Team PokerStars Pro William Thorson suffering a bad beat near the day's end.

He couldn't stop himself from playing the next pot, got outdrawn, and shouted 'F***!' For a moment there was silence around us. The so-called 'F-bomb' rule with its 10-minute suspension for any swearer had been vigilently enforced throughout the day. There was no floor person around, so Wilson called for one himself. 'I just said "f***". I said it twice now. Do I get suspended?' The suspension was enforced, and a relieved Wilson would come back a few minutes later to bag his chips and not have to play another hand.

Flusfeder's writing chops are usually evidenced more by his novels, Man Kills Woman, Like Plastic, Morocco, The Gift, and, The Pagan House. Today, though, the story is poker. He's seated on the far end of the room and collecting material for his always entertaining blog.

The novelist has some work to do if he wants to turn this event into more than a blog post. He's seated with Andre Akkari, Gualter Salles, and Max Stern, none of them players with which to trifle.

For our part, we'd love to see Flusfeder do some good work today, if only to see how he ends up writing about it. Then again, some of the best artists come from the ranks of the depressed and tortured, so either way, it's probably a win for us.

If you go to the southern tip of Argentina, you can see the end of the world. If you go to Mar del Plata, you can see the end of the Latin Americann Poker Tour's second season. If you go to the end of this day, however, it's a long, long way to Day 2 of the LAPT Grand Final.

For the first time this season, we're enjoying a bifurcated Day 1. One hundred and forty players started this $5,200 LAPT Grand Final. When the tournament director finally called play to a halt, 27 players remained. When the casino smoke cleared, our chip leader was a familiar face.

Jaime Ateneloff is known across this region as the godfather of Uruguayan poker. The PokerStars Blog first took note of him when he made the final table of this season's event in Vina del Mar, Chile. Ateneloff's biggest move of the day came in a giant double up against Canadian PokerStars qualifier Charles-Alexandre Sylvestre. That hand moved Ateneloff over the 80,000 mark. Sylvestre busted justed before the end of the day.

Ateneloff, a 77-year-old businessman, only learned to play hold'em seven years ago during a visit to Costa Rica. The former director of a casino spent most of his life playing five-card draw, but in recent months has proven he's pretty adept at hold'em.

By tonight's end, Ateneloff sat at 108,400 chips, good for the Day 1A chip lead and a decent shot at another final table.

The bulk of Team PokerStars Pro will be represented on Day 1B, but two tough card slingers stepped in on Day 1A. Their days were very different, but ended with the same result.

Maria "maridu" Mayrinck started her day by flopping the stone cold nuts and getting paid. From there, it was cooler city. The worst of her day came when, on a K-T-T flop, Maridu held K-T. When her opponent three-bet her river raise, she could already sense a sick cooler coming, but made the call. Sure enough, her opponent turned up K-K for the bigger boat and raked in the 12,000 chip pot, sending her stack down to 7,400.

On a subsequent hand, she raised it up pre-flop with [Ac] [Tc] and got four callers. She checked as the flop came down J-7-3 with two clubs. One opponent led out, the other three called, and she moved all in with her nut flush draw. The move got three of her opponents to fold but the fourth called, tabling 3-3 for a set. The hand was over on the turn, however, the case three falling to give her opponent quads and leave her drawing dead.

Chris Moneymaker's day was just as frustrating, but for much different reasons. If he had a big hand, people got out of his way. If he three-barreled, people called him down. It was a mess. After struggling to gain a foothold all day long, he finally got a chance to double up with pocket tens versus big slick. An ace on the flop and Moneymaker was crippled. He was gone soon thereafter.

"I just couldn't get anything going," he said as he walked out tonight. "Seeya in Monte Carlo."

The couple dozen people left with chips tonight come from all over and each have a story of their own. Among the best is that of Jorge Landazuri, the PokerStars.net freeroll qualifier who made it through two massive online freerolls to win his seat in Argentina. Now, he's got a big stack of chips to take him into Day 2. If our counts are correct, Landazuri is sitting in second place on 97,000 chips.

There are more stories, of course, but there will be time for those when we reach Day 2. For now, we have rest and Day 1B to think about.

Day 1B kicks off at noon local time (ET +1 hour) on Friday. Join us here as we settle who will meet up with the Day 1A players on Day 2.

All photos © Joe Giron/IMPDI

Vanessa Machado is used to being stared at. It comes with the territory in front of the camera and on the runway, where she's built a successful career. Cutting a striking figure at the table, the raven-haired Brazilian model/actress has been fighting on a short stack for some time now. However, the she recently busted two players to give her chip count a nice infusion.

After an opponent open-shoved for his remaining 4,000 in chips, Machado flat-called on the button and turned up [5h][5s]. She was in a race situation with [Qh][9h] and though her opponent flopped both a flush draw and a gutshot straight draw to go with his overcards, "Presto" held up for Machado. A short time later, another shortie made his last stand and he got two callers including Machado. The two checked down the [Jh][7s][2c][Kh][Th] board, Machado turning up [Qh][Qd] to claim another scalp.

"Bien jugado" said her eliminated opponent, shaking her hand as he departed the table.

Unfortunately for her many admirers, Machado went out a short time later. Moving all in pre-flop, Jose Barbero and one other opponent looked her up. The two men got the rest of their stacks in the middle on the [Ac][Th][5h] flop, Barbero with [Ah][Tc] for top two pair and his opponent unlucky enough to have flopped an inferior two pair with A-5. Machado tabled [Kh][Td], drawing nearly dead. The turn was the [7s], the river fell the [Qc] and Machado was eliminated with four tables remaining here on Day 1A.

Two tables down, Chris Moneymaker's frustration continued to mount. After raising to 3,300 from middle position, the button popped it to 10,400. Moneymaker banged his fist on the table in frustration, utterly sick and tired of the perpetual reraises he's been facing today.

"Kings. I know you have kings," he said as he mucked his hand.

"Aces, actually" replied his opponent.

"I folded jacks," sighed Moneymaker. "If I had 10,000 less I'd have probably moved in" he said as he counted down his remaining 34,500 in chips.

A short time later, he did move in, his pocket tens up against A-K. An ace on the flop left him crippled, with less than 5,000 remaining. The rest of those chips went in a few hands later with [8c][9c], the button making the call with [Ac][Qd].

The flop came down [Jc][Td][3h], giving Moneymaker an open-ended straight draw.

"Queen-ball!" he pleaded, but the turn came down the [4d]. Practically resigned to his fate, he turned away from the table as the dealer put out the [Kd].

With a rough day on the felt behind him, Moneymaker exited without a word.

Jorge Landazuri doesn't do things the easy way. Consider his journey to Argentina.

The young man from Matlazan, Mexico did not pay a peso to enter this $5,200 event. Instead, he qualified on a PokerStars.net freeroll. Know what he got when he won that? Yep, an entry into another PokerStars.net freeroll. That tournament had a pretty good prize. When Landazuri won, he got his buy-in and trip to Argentina for nothing at all.

That's all well and good, but after getting here, he had to do some work. Work, he has. In just the last little bit, he managed to bust a sort-stack with ace-queen versus ace-jack. Then came the hand that made him blush.

Hernan Villa was starting to get a little short and announced all-in. Landazuri must have been thinking about the girls of Matlazan or the price of tea in Boston, because when he peeked at his cards, he, too announced all-in. He seemed really, really surprised when he looked up to see Villa all-in.

There was no taking it back. Even though Landazuri did not want to play his [As] [Th], he'd already made the declaration. In a home game, somebody might let him take his chips back. Here, the toothpaste was way, way out of the tube. What's more, Landazuri was way, way behind Villa's big slick.

So, in went the chips and out came the flop with two hearts. There fell the turn with another heart. The river, of course, was another heart. Four-flushed and down the drain, Villa shook his head, shook a hand or two, and disappeared into the smoke. Landazuri shook his head, too. Even so, no amount of embarrassment is going to give the chips back to Villa.

Landazuri now sits at around 70,000 in chips.

At the very next table, Puerto Vallarta's Martha Herrerra defines life support. Though we haven't been sweating her all day long, we haven't see her stack much above the starting 10,000 all day. So came the time she got her last 7,000 or so in the middle. We were busy counting Landazuri's chips, so we didn't see the hand play out, but the result was clear. Herrerra pounded the table with joy, hugged Landazuri, and then, for lack of something else to grab, hugged us.

"I do not want to lose," she said with a giant smile. "I hate to lose!"

We'd hate to see her lose, too. She's always good for a smile and a hug, so good luck to you, Martha.

Though not in action until tomorrow, there yet another successful Mexican in the crowd. Team PokerStars Pro J.C. Alvarado will be playing Day 1B fresh off his big win in the PokerStars Spring Championshipi of Online Poker. Here about that and more below.

There has not yet been anyone from Mexico win an LAPT event, but if tonight is any indication, that could change soon.

Normally, we'd call this rundown, but for reasons that will soon become very obvious, we've chosen another title.

Here's a quick chop-chop massage version of what's happening in the room at this hour.

Players are on break as we head into Level 9. Fifty-two out of the initial 140 players remain. Tournament Director Mike Ward says there is no reason to believe we won't play ten or eleven levels tonight. That would likely put us somewhere in the neighborhood of 27 players coming back for Day 2. Those players will be joined by whoever makes it through Day1B.

When we last joined you, Canadian PokerStars qualifier Charles-Alexandre Sylvestre was the runaway chip leader. It seemed nothing could stop him from finishing the day near the top. That's when one Jaime Ateneloff. Known across this region as the godfather of Uruguayan poker (think Costa Rica's Humberto Brenes), Atenelof made the final table of this season's event in Vina del Mar, Chile. Sometime within the last hour, Atenelof managed to take around 40,000 chips away from Sylvestre. No doubt you've guessed, that makes Atenelof the chip leader with more than 80,000 chips.

The 77-year-old businessman only learned to play hold'em seven years ago during a visit to Costa Rica. The former director of a casino spent most of his life playing five-card draw, but in recent months has proven he's ready to play this hold'em thing.

Elsewhere in the room, things aren't necessarily as exciting, unless you're Team PokerStars Pros Andre Akkari and Alex Gomes. The two Brazilians aren't playing until tomorrow, so they've been finding other ways to kill time. We spied them shooting craps a bit ago. That must have been a bit tough on their muscles, because this is what they're doing right now.

Indeed, it is a hard-knock life being a Team Pro, and don't let anyone tell you different.

In the course of covering Season 2 of the LAPT, we've run into Team PokerStars Pro Dennis Phillips in some odd places. A passport control line at Santiago airport. The business class lounge at Montevideo International. And most recently, a shuttle bus in Mar del Plata. Phillips is an LAPT veteran, having traveled to this season's stops in Vina del Mar, Punta del Este, and now the Grand Final in Argentina.

Though he's quiet by nature, Phillips is one of the most genuine guys you'll meet on the circuit and today he took the time out to chat with our video blog team to offer up some tips for adjusting your play to these often unpredictable South American fields.

David Wagener is another PokerStars qualifier that finds himself a long way from home. A LONG way. Wagener hails from Germany, and by qualifying for events on PokerStars, has been able to travel the world. Last winter, he found himself in Sydney, Australia, where he first met Chris Moneymaker. Now he's in Argentina, rubbing elbows with one of his home country's greatest sports heroes-- Boris Becker.

A frequent player in rebuy tournaments from $3 to $100 on PokerStars, Wagener sat down with our video blog team to give his thoughts on the tournament so far. Check it out below.

Four days ago, Brandon Demes was home in Arizona, grinding his way through a capped field of 256 in the SCOOP $2,600 Heads-Up NLHE event. Demes ended up finishing third, good for a $51,200 infusion to his bankroll and today finds himself in Argentina-- 6,000 miles away from home, seated across the table from Chris Moneymaker.

Brandon Demes

Demes has made the long trek to the Southern Hemisphere before-- he and his roommate, fellow online pro Brian Tate, have been traveling to LAPT events all season. Though Tate went out in the early going, Demes is well-stacked with about 30,000 in chips.

Moneymaker and Demes are the only two English-speaking players at their table. Naturally, they've become fast friends, chatting to each other between hands. Moneymaker has had to contend with having a target on his back all day. If players aren't calling him down to the river, they're reraising him with abandon. Here's one example.

With the blinds at 300/600, everyone folded to the player on the button, who limped in. Moneymaker popped it to 2,600 straight from the small blind. The big blind gave up his hand, but the button immediately moved all in for about 15,000 or so.

"Seriously?" asked Moneymaker, a puzzled expression on his face.

He returned to his stack and counted out the amount the call would cost him, cutting out his orange 1,000-denomination chips into three neat piles of five chips each, a small pile of hundreds and quarters atop the center stack. Though Moneymaker had not declared a call or placed the chips over the betting line, the dealer swooped in and started pulling his stack into the middle.

"Whoa!" cried Moneymaker, putting his hands over his chips. "I haven't called yet!"

Ultimately, Moneymaker folded pocket tens face-up. The button flashed a pair of deuces and as soon as the pot was pushed his way, ran over to a friend on the rail, babbling in Spanish about how he bluffed a world champion.

"I got played. Not the first time, won't be the last," Moneymaker sighed.

"You know, I would have called with nines. Nines flop more sets than any other cards in the deck. They're heavier," he joked.

You tryin' to bluff me, buddy?

A few hands later, Moneymaker made a stand. The UTG player limped in for 600 and Moneymaker made it 2,300 to go from the button. The blinds folded, but the UTG player grabbed a handful of chips and threw them toward the middle of the table, 6,600 in total. Moneymaker considered for several minutes, asking his opponent for a count. In a similar fashion to the previous hand, Moneymaker counted out the amount of a call, but then turned around and pushed his entire stack in. The UTG player tanked for an eternity before he flashed a ten and mucked his hand.

This time, he had aces.

It really didn't look good for Damian Salas. Though the man we call Jude Law has a third place finish on the LAPT, he didn't look good for a long day. We can only guess, he avoided the superpancho at dinner and got some run-good fuel (or, the local energy drink favorite, Speed in a can).

Just moments after we came back from dinner break, Salas managed to flop a set of fours against pocket aces. His opponent couldn't get away from the rockets and Salas climbed north of 60,000.

Just a few hands later, Vanessa Machado sent Christian de Leon to the rail when her [Qs] [Qh] held up against de Leon's [As] [Jh]. Though we're big fans of de Leon's (you could hardly ask for a nicer guy), Machado is currently in the running for Most Stunning Poker Player in the room, so we're not going to complain about her sticking around.

Across the way, Charles-Alexandre Sylvestre is having a hard time. He's running out of room to stack his chips. The latest blood-letting happened like this. Sylvestre, an online qualifier from Canada, came in for a raise to 2,200 at the 300/600/75 level. He got a call from the player in the big blind. They watched the flop come out [Kd] [Kh] [7s]. The big blind bet into the Canadian for 3,900. Sylvestre made the call. What happened next was a car wreck. The [As] popped out on the turn and the big blind couldn't push in his stack (more than 10,000) into the middle fast enough. Sylvestre almost seemed sad. It might have been pity. Hard to say. Half a second later, he called and flipped over [Ah] [Ks]. Second nuts ain't so bad. The big blind was lost in the crowd before the dealer finally turned over his hand [Qh] [Jd]. Sylvestre, meanwhile, did his best to stack nearly 80,000 in chips.

Meanwhile, another player moved into the seat vacated by Christian de Leon. He lasted all of five minutes. He got [Ac] [Ts] all-in against...you guessed it...Damian Salas. Salas held [As] [Jh]. The best hand held and Salas climbed another rung toward the chip lead.

Around 60 players remain out of the 140 who started Day 1A.

It's dinner time. Actually, for Argentinians, we think this is more like lunch, but we're not going to parse eating traditions. As far as Tournament Director Mike Ward is concerned, this is the time at which we dine.

Fewer than 80 people remain in Day 1A. Because of the vagaries of a bifurcated Day 1, its not really possible to say how long we'll play tonight, but figure we'll have around 27 players left when we close up shop for the night.

With the chip average sitting around 18,000, we have three people with a damned good shot of making it to Day 2. These three souls are currently at the top of the leader board.

While there are no guarantees about will happen later tonight, one thing is for sure. We're going to find some meat.

Play resumes around 8pm local time (ET + 1 hour).

Travis Pettey is a long way from San Diego. After bubbling several satellites to the LAPT Grand Final, Pettey decided to bite the bullet and buy in... with the plethora of Frequent Player Points he had accumulated from playing some of the highest buy-in cash games on PokerStars. With 87 players remaining in the field as we approach the dinner break, Pettey is a bit short-stacked, but still hanging on with around 8,000 in chips.

Earlier today, Pettey gave an interview to our crack video blog team at PokerStars.tv. Check out what he had to say about his first tournament in South America:

Twenty-two minutes remained on the clock before the break. Chris Moneymaker sat stone-faced his table, sandwiched in the nine-seat between the dealer and Boris Becker's significant other, Lilly Kerssenberg.

Moneymaker wasn't even supposed to be here today. He was initially signed up for Day 1B. He was on our flight from Atlanta and got in at the same time we did. Then, he got a good night's sleep and decided he felt good enough to play Day 1A.

With just a little more than 20 minutes in the last level, it seemed like as good a time as any to stop and watch.

Hand 1: At the 100/200/25 level, Moneymaker came in for a raise to 500 and got a call from the player in the one-seat. The flop came down [9d] [6d] [9h]. Moneymaker bet 700 and his opponent called. On the turn, [Td], Moneymaker bet out 1,300 and picked up the hand. Without saying a word, Moneymaker tilted his head and flashed a black ace. Then he scooped his pot.

Hand 2: Moneymaker folded pre-flop.

Hand 3: Action! With his hand folded pre-flop again, Moneymaker flipped his chair around backward.

Hand 4: Moneymaker folded again pre-flop, making us seriously reconsider this whole "22 minutes with..." idea

Hand 5: But wait! Real action! Under the gun, Moneymaker limped in for 200. Play folded around to the blinds, who both decided to play. The flop came out [Th] [Td] [9c]. The small blind checked and Kerssenberg moved all-in for less than 2,000. Moneymaker folded and waited for his time in the blinds.

Hand 6: With Moneymaker in the big blind, a player in middle position came in for a raise to 600. Kerssenberg called on the button and Moneymaker called in the big blind. The flop fell [Qc] [Jd] [6h]. Moneymaker checked and then folded to a 2,000 bet.

Hand 7: Perhaps uncomfortable with the way the chair-flip was treating his back, Moneymaker took some time to flip his chair back the other way. It was around this time we started noticing how tight (and let's be honest... passive) his table was playing. Play folded around to Kerssenberg on the button where she limped. Moneymaker completed from the small blind and the big blind checked. They looked at the [Kh] [Ts] [3c] flop and everybody checked. Same thing happened on the [7c] turn. When the river brough the [Qs], Moneymaker bet 300. The big blind folded and Kerssenberg called in the big blind. The hands?

Moneymaker: [Qd] [4s]
Kerssenberg: [Qs] [4d].

The pot chopped, we started to wonder if there was any drying paint or growing grass to blog about. We longed for the times Moneymaker had at the beginning of Day 1A. He talked about the wild west atmosphere in an interview with our video blog team.

Hand 8 But wait! Just when we were considering harakiri, a limp-fest turned into a real hand. As is her wont, Kerssenberg limped in again and Moneymaker followed suit on the button. The small blind completed, the big blind checked, and they all saw a [3s] [2s] [Ks] flop. Everybody checked to Moneymaker and saw him bet 300. Only the big blind called to see the [3c] on the turn. This time, Moneymaker bet 800. Again, the big blind called. The river brought the [Qc]. For the third time, the big blind checked. Again, Moneymaker bet 800, and again his opponent called. Moneymaker took nearly half a second to slide his cards face down into the muck. Three barrels just didn't do it and it was quickly evident why. The big blind turned up [8s] [3h] for the turned trips.

Hand 9: Play folded around to Kerssenberg who...wait for it...limped. Moneymaker tossed 825 into the pot. Kerssenberg took just one moment before folding.

Hand 10: With a raise to 600 in front of him, Moneymaker slid his cards in the muck.

Hand 11: See Hand 10.

Hand 12: Sitting in early position, Moneymaker made it 575 to play and everybody folded.

Hand 13: With 30 seconds left on the clock, Moneymaker peeked at his cards, waited his turn, and then folded. With no time for another hand to come, Moneymaker walked off to take his break.

At the break, Moneymaker sat at 17,000 in chips. Fewer than 100 people remain in Day 1A of the LAPT final and Chris Moneymaker is still one of them.

Note: PokerStars Blog writer Howard Swains (he of the fantastic EPT coverage and occasionally snarky commentary) has a regular feature entitled "A Round With..." We think Howard does a fine job and is a credit to his craft. That said, we have chosen to go with "22 minutes with..." in an effort to tilt Howard by blatantly plagiarizing his device under a different title.

"I ran so bad in SCOOP so I have to win this one, right?" said Maria "Maridu" Mayrinck as she clutched a cocktail at last night's welcome party. Wearing a printed kimono-style dress and metallic birdcage wedges, the always-fashionable Maridu had her "Team Pro" patch affixed to a vintage Chanel purse, likely a first for a piece of PokerStars branding.

Maridu was excited to show off the jet-black manicure she had done for the occasion. "My opponents should fear the black nails" she quipped.

Though the Brazilian native had a rocking start to this event, flopping a Broadway straight on the first hand of the tournament, she recently ran into a cooler that would send a less level-headed player into a Hellmuthian rage. On a K-T-T flop, Maridu held K-T and when her opponent three-bet her river raise, she could already sense a sick cooler coming, but made the call. Sure enough, her opponent turned up K-K for the bigger boat and raked in the 12,000 chip pot, sending her stack down to 7,400.

On a subsequent hand, she raised it up pre-flop with [Ac][Tc] and got four callers. She checked as the flop came down J-7-3 with two clubs, one opponent led out, the other three called, and she moved all in with her nut flush draw. The move got three of her opponents to fold but the fourth called, tabling 3-3 for a set. The hand was over on the turn, however, the case three falling to give her opponent quads and leave her drawing dead.

Despite the beat, Maridu was happy with the way she played the hand.

"I'm getting so much value there with a shove... I want top pair or even a set to call me. I'm playing it the same way all day," she told us.

"Now I'm going upstairs to play online. I think I can still make it into the afternoon tournaments" she said with a smile as she made her exit.

Shortly after Maridu was eliminated, Boris Becker suffered the same fate. Down to less than 1,000 in chips, Becker moved all in with A-2 and the big blind looked him up with T-4. A ten hit the flop and unable to improve, Becker hit the rail.

"Jude Law is here!"

It's a common cry on the Latin American Poker Tour.

The man we call Jude is, in fact, Damian Salas (an almost-dead ringer for the actor) He came in third place in Chile and has been a familiar face on the LAPT for some time.

The nature of this game leads us to remember the names and faces of the people who make final tables. This Argentina field is full of them.

That night Salas came in third he went on to watch Vincenzo Gianelli and Fabian Ortiz get heads up. Gianelli is here in Argentina, on the rail right now and presumably playing in Day 1B. Ortiz, however, sat down on Day 1A. Alas, the LAPT Chile champion (the man who came back from a small blind to win the championship), has already made his exit from this grand final.

Elsewhere in the room, we find more final table faces, like Angel Guillen and Martha Herrera, both of whom made the LAPT Mexico final table. Herrera is all smiles todday and no longer getting around on crutches. The cast she wore at her last final table visit is gone.

Other LAPT final table faces playing today or tomorrow include Brent Sheirbon, Maria Stern, Hernan Villa, Alex Brenes, and Team PokerStars Pro Alex Gomes.

It will be a few days before we know who will end up at the final table here, but be sure of this: when it's all over, we'll remember the names and faces when the LAPT kicks back up for season 3.

Our photographer Joe Giron provides us with pictures that are worth more than 1,000 words. That much is clear.

Unheralded though are the guys behind the video camera who provided us with thousands of pictures strung together into some great video worth...well, you do the math.

Here's the video blog team's look at the beginning of Day 1A.

Even champions can fault from time to time. Especially when your opponent turns out to be slow-playing a monster hand.

Becker called a 300 chip raise from his opponent and the two saw a flop of [8c][6d][4h]. Facing a bet of 600 on the flop, Becker shuffled his chips for several minutes, perhaps contemplating a raise, but instead decided to smooth-call. Becker's opponent checked the turn when the [3h] landed and after a moment's consideration, Becker put out a 1,500 bet that earned a snap-call. The river fell the [Qc], the young man in the red soccer jersey checking one more time. Becker tanked for quite a while before rapping the table in response, his opponent proudly flipping over [As][Ad]. Becker flashed the [Ah] before mucking, his chip stack falling to 5,475, just over half his starting stack.

Stoic and unfazed, Becker moved on to the next hand, barely raising an eyebrow. Hopefully his next serve will come up an ace.

In other chip count news, Christian de Leon has taken a few early hits, his stack falling to 5,500. Chris Moneymaker has ground his stack up to 12,300 while Maria "Maridu" Mayrinck is holding steady with 13,000.

Cards went in the air only moments ago and as the first hand was dealt, every camera in the room was fixated on one table. Still and video lenses created a nearly impenetrable ring around the slice of felt housing Boris Becker, the rail full of fans behind him all craning their necks and holding point-and-shoot cameras aloft to get a glimpse of the tennis legend, who arrived here at the Casino Central decked out in a sharp black suit. One table away, Chris Moneymaker, himself used to the attention, played his first few orbits in relative anonymity as the media fixated on the blue-eyed, platinum-haired star of the court.

Joining Becker and Moneymaker in today's field are a number of familiar faces on the Latin American Poker Tour. Fabian Ortiz, who took down the title in Vina del Mar is playing today, as is Argentinian native Damian Salas, who finished that event in third place. Team PokerStars Pro J.C. Alvarado, fresh off his victory in the SCOOP Main Event is playing tomorrow, but stopped in to chat with fellow Mexican Christian de Leon, while at the other end of the room, two of the brightest female stars from South America, Martha Herrera and Maria "Maridu" Mayrinck are seated across from one another.

Mayrinck has already jumped out to an early chip lead after flopping the nuts on the very first hand. Holding A-T, she saw a K-Q-J flop, led out for 300 and got one caller. The turn came the [3d] and she fired out another 500, earning another call. The [7s] hit the river and she made a 750 chip value bet, her opponent, who revealed top two pair with K-Q, paying her off a third time. Maridu dragged the pot and her stack is already up to 13,000.

"Be afraid of the black nails!" she joked, referring to her very goth-looking mani-pedi.

This is how the end begins.

It has been a long road, one that traveled from San Jose, Costa Rica to Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico. It then turned farther south, to Vina del Mar, Chile and then cross-continent to Punta del Este, Uruguay. For many people, they were long, thankless hours on a long, thankless road. For a select few, those miles were the path to riches and fame. Both those things have brought the un-thanked and unpaid on this last stop.

This is the end of the road for the Latin America Poker Tour's second season. Like all trips of faith, this one has ended in a paradise. The beachside report city of Mar del Plata is called The Happy City and there's little doubt why.

The breeze has swept us all inside to a cavernous casino where right lights dance off the walls and 20 tables are set up for the beginning of Day 1A. The $5,200 buy-in affair is set to kick up in a little more than 15 minutes.

After following this tour down the long road, we have settled ourselves in the casino and are preparing for the start of play. Keep it here for all the news we can shove through the ether.

PokerStars are pleased to announce a special star-studded addition to its European Poker Tour grand final festival in the Ante Up For Africa charity tournament. The tournament will raise money for the current humanitarian relief efforts in crisis-torn Darfur on the eve of the season five finale in Monte Carlo.

As the best poker players from around the world converge on Monaco for the EPT Grand Final, Europe's richest poker tournament, a host of A-list celebrities and players will take their seats at the Monte Carlo Bay Hotel and play for entirely different stakes - a €4,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em charity event with all the money raised destined for those at the sharp end of the relief effort in Darfur.

It's not the first time Ante Up For Africa has successfully highlighted the current situation in the region. PokerStars was instrumental in organizing the event's latest incarnation last summer in Las Vegas, where a who's who of Hollywood and poker helped raise vital money for the cause.

Joe Hachem with actor Matt Damon at last year's event in Las Vegas

Familiar faces from the big screen, such as Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Shannon Elizabeth and Adam Sandler sat alongside poker greats such as Team PokerStars Pros Joe Hachem, Daniel Negreanu and Barry Greenstein, as well as former world champions and legends of the game like Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Chris Ferguson and Annie Duke.

It's hoped that the worthwhile cause, coupled with the glittering backdrop of the stunning Monte Carlo skyline, will lure another cast of dignitaries to the tables for one of the world's most pressing causes. PokerStars will be awarding a special prize package to their flagship EPT event in the Bahamas' in January 2010.

Greg Raymer with George Jason Alexander

The plight of the people of Darfur has grown in relevance over a number of years. While the situation has improved in some ways conditions remain perilous on the ground. A relentless campaign of ethnic cleansing has left 400,000 dead and almost four million people displaced and living in squalid conditions in refugee camps along the Chad/Sudan border.

Essential aid has never been more vital. Help is needed to support those doing vital humanitarian work on the ground. This is where organizations like Not In Our Name and Enough, alongside events like the Ante Up For Africa, come in with vital fundraising, not only supporting the humanitarian efforts but campaigning for change in the region.

Already those changes are being seen.

A new US envoy has begun high level talks with the Sudanese government and two top Sudanese officials have been indicted by the International Criminal Court with more expected to follow.

Further pressure has led to companies pulling out of Sudan amounting to divestiture of tens of millions of dollars, while 22 US states now have laws in place forbidding pension funds from investing in companies that do business in Sudan. More states, including Nevada, are in the process of doing the same.

In light of this momentum the aim of PokerStars and Ante Up For Africa is to tap into the generosity of the poker playing community and raise vital funds for those making a difference in the region. With a poker tournament and a few Hollywood stars and poker world champions thrown in, they can make sure Darfur is something no one can ever ignore.

It's been a month of new faces to Team PokerStars Pro. First the not so unknown Johnny Lodden signed up to those of the red spade, then the likely lads of World Champion Peter Eastgate and his World Series rival Ivan Demidov. Well there are some more ready to hoist aloft the flag of PokerStars in the four corners of the world. Meet Maria "maridu" Mayrinck and Leo Fernandez.

Hailing from South America Mayrinck and Fernandez have found themselves on the leading edge of the poker revolution as it sweeps across their native Brazil.

Leo Fernandez and Maria Meyrinck

If you've read any of the PokerStars blogs in recent years you might recognize Mayrinck as a former member of media row.

A few years back, Mayrinck, known as "maridu" was a popular Brazilian player and successful poker blogger, skills which PokerStars seized on, signing her up to write the Brazilian PokerStars blog. While she spent two years at the media coal face her heart remained at the tables, the draw of more and more tournament success eventually making her switch to Team PokerStars Pro an easy one.

Her countryman Leo Fernandez arrived via a slightly different route. A former chess whizz Fernandez switched codes to poker, perhaps more suited to his adrenaline junkie lifestyle. Deep runs in the World Series and World Poker Tour followed and now the PokerStars Latin American Poker Tour beckons.

Welcome to both of them. Mayrinck and Fernandez will be just two faces at the LAPT Mar del Plata in Argentina later this month.

Following news that Johnny Lodden had joined the ranks of Team PokerStars Pro two more of poker's most recognisable names have done the same, and if you caught any of the coverage of last November's World Series main event final table you might recognise the faces as well.

With two left for the bracelet in last year's momentous final, Peter Eastgate of Denmark fought a thrilling heads up duel against 27-year-old Russian Ivan Demidov. Eastgate's victory is now inked into poker's history books; how at 22 years of age he became the youngest main event winner, and how he would take $9,152,416 with him back to Europe, but spectators that day were left with little doubt they'd seen two of the best players in the game at work.

Now both Eastgate and Demidov can each add Team PokerStars Pro to their job titles after PokerStars made the announcement at the end of last month.

Peter Eastgate

Eastgate has since added more titles to his already mighty list of achievements, the Dane's string of titles bolstered by his recent win in the $5,000 no limit hold'em side event at the 2009 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in January, worth $343,000.

Ivan Demidov

The 27-year-old Demidov settled for $5,809,595 after the four hour heads-up battle, an achievement that came just weeks after he made history by becoming the first player to make two World Series of Poker main event final tables - he finished third at the WSOP Europe main event in October, a finish worth $608,995.

One player pleased to see both players joining the ranks of Team PokerStars Pro was team veteran Daniel Negreanu, who said "I've played against Ivan at the WSOPE and also watched them both closely throughout the WSOP final table - both players represent the young new rising poker talent emerging in Europe and they're a great addition to the team."

That's for sure. We welcome both to the team.