Sbrissa barely had time to shake the hands of his heads-up opponent, Daniel Murta, before he was engulfed by about 15 of his friends and supporters who rushed the set. They had been chanting throughout the final table ("Ole, ole ole ola, Sbrissa, Sbrissa!" and "Vai Coringão!" were the most popular). When the final river card fell, they rushed onto the set to begin the celebration. They shouted, they cheered, they hugged, they bounced up and down like a team that had just won a major professional sports championship. They destroyed the final table set in the process.

Sbrissa's father, who had been the most rambunctious of the supporters throughout the afternoon, threw a Corinthians -- a local Paulista football club -- flag over the group. Then he began wiping away tears. He pressed his way into the group long enough to wrap his son in a more personal hug. Sbrissa, too, began crying.

Sbrissa made his way to an interview area just off the set to give an interview to ESPN Brasil. Before they could even start, the group engulfed him again, chanting his name and what sounded like the Portuguese word for champion. They got even louder when Sbrissa broke away long enough to favor ESPN Brasil with his thoughts.

For the record, the final table payouts were:

1st: Victor Sbrissa R$512,100
2nd: Daniel Murta R$334,000
3rd: Rafael Pardo R$231,400
4th: Leonardo Brescia R$171,000
5th: André Akkari R$128,900
6th: Marcos Ximenes R$94,700
7th: Leo Fernández R$68,400
8th: Thiago Azevedo Grigoletti R$52,600

Sbrissa's road to the championship started just past 2pm local time this afternoon with seven other players, and Team PokerStars Pros, all in contention. A long final table bubble last night primed the crowd for early action; the final table did not disappoint. Short stack Thiago Grigoletti was eliminated on the fourth hand of the day.

Team PokerStars Pro Leo Fernandez soon followed Grigoletti to the rail in 7th place. He brought the chip lead to the final table, but doubled up two of his opponents in the early-going, one of them Danie Murta. Those losses left Fernandez with few enough chips that Murta was able to take him out with a speculative play.

A long pause in eliminations followed. The dam burst when Marcos Paulo Ximines and Team PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari were eliminated almost back to back. The crowd chanted Akkari's name as he left the set. The Team Pro, always gracious in defeat, favored them with a smile and a wave.

Akkari's elimination left three Brazilians and a Colombian to battle it out. Leandro Brescia blinked first. He had been biding his time all day but was never able to mount any serious attack on the stacks of the chip leaders. His chips went into the middle on a flip, but went out to Sbrissa when Sbrissa made quads.

Rafael Pardo was the last man standing in the way of a guaranteed Brazilian champion. When he moved all in and was called by Murta, it was the one moment of the day when the crowd was on Murta's side. They roared in delight when Murta sent Pardo to the rail in 3rd place.

That left Murta up against Sbrissa and the entire room. He gave it his best shot, but on this day it seemed like there was no stopping Sbrissa.

And so ends another delightful week with the Latin American Poker Tour. The Live Events focus will now move east, to the fantastic tropical local of Cebu, Philippines for APPT7 Cebu. Cebu will wrap up just in time for the start of wall-to-wall coverage of EPT Grand Final in Monaco, which itself will lead directly into the beginning of the 2013 Spring Championship of Online Poker.

Until then, you can find us at the bar.

Dave Behr is a freelance contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

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Murta could be seen talking to himself. His body language was of a man who feels desperate, trying to stave off defeat rather than a confident man going for victory. It couldn't have helped that the entire crowd of railbirds was behind Sbrissa, chanting loudly after every pot that Sbrissa won.

The most interesting hand of the heads-up match was one with almost no betting at all. Sbrissa limped the button and Murta checked from the big blind. Both players checked the [9d][9s][7s] flop. Murta checked again on the [8h] turn, an action that induced a bet of 180,000 from Sbrissa. Murta called to an [8s] river. The action went check, check. When Murta opened jack-high, his body language was that of someone who expected to lose the pot. He was amazed when Sbrissa quietly mucked.

After that, Sbrissa seemed to apply even more pressure on Murta.

Down to about 2.7 million in chips, with the end of the 80k-160k level approaching, Murta opened a pot to 350,000 from his button. Sbrissa defended the big blind. He checked the [jh][qc][6c] flop over to Murta, who did something he hadn't done in an entire hour of heads-up play: he moved all in.

Sbrissa leaned forward in his seat and asked for a count. The total was 2,405,000. Sbrissa nodded and called with top pair, [qs][4s]. Murta looked crushed as he opened middle pair, [as][jd].

The crowd strained forward against the rail as both men stood up to await the rest of the board.

Turn: [kd]

Sbrissa's leg began bouncing. Murta paced back and forth behind the table, hoping that the river could bail him out.

River: [3s]

The crowd exploded. More on that in the next post.

Murta caught some great cards today and won big pots, especially against Team PokerStars Pro Leo Fernandez and Marcos Paulo Ximenes. He was able to ride those chips all the way to heads-up play before finally giving way. His fantastic performance earned him R$334,000.

Dave Behr is a freelance contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

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Pardo was at the final table the first time the LAPT came to his home country, back in Season 4. He finished in 7th place at that inaugural event in Medellin. Three seasons prior, he was at the final table the first time there ever was an LAPT final table. That event, which took place in Rio de Janeiro in 2008, also ended in a 7th-place finish for Pardo.

Measured by that yardstick, Pardo achieved great success here in São Paulo. Measured by the yardstick that all poker players use, however - winning is everything and everything else ain't much - Pardo came up just a bit short.

He was involved in many of the afternoon's all-in altercations, doubling up a few times and doubling others up himself. When the action got down to 3-handed play, he was the decided short stack. Brazilians Victor Sbrissa and Daniel Murta had about 14 million of the 15 million chips in play, leaving Pardo with about a million. That's not much when the blinds are 60k-120k.

On his final hand, Pardo opened his button to 250,000. Murta defended the big blind with [kc][2c]. When he caught two clubs on the [qc][tc][8d], he shoved into Pardo. With only 800,000 left in his stack, Pardo called with [ad][td], a pair of tens. The partisan Brazilian crowd, many of whom have been screaming their lungs out in support of Victor Sbrissa, got behind Murta for this hand and began to chant for a club. They exploded in cheers when the turn [6c] left Pardo drawing dead.

Pardo earned R$231,400 for making it to 3rd place, by far his best finish on the LAPT.

The players are taking a short break in preparation for heads-up play. Murta is unlikely to find any more support from the crowd. They are all firmly behind Sbrissa. In fact, when Murta eliminated Leo Fernandez earlier in the day, he asked the crowd, "Doesn't anyone want to hug me? I have no friends here."

Nobody did.

Dave Behr is a freelance contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

¿Busca Ud. la transmisión en vivo de LAPT6 Brasil en español? Haz click aquí.

The end finally came in the 60k-120k level. Brescia squeezed out [kc][qc] and went with it. Victor Sbrissa, who has seized the chip lead and is throwing his weight around at the final table, found a pair of 8s. The flip was on.

If there's been a theme to many of today's eliminations, it's that one players has been drawing thin as can be after the flop. So it was for Brescia after Sbrissa flopped a full house, [9d][8h][9c]. He needed another 9 to fall or running queens or kings. He caught the first runner with the [kh] turn, but Sbrissa ended all doubt on the river by making quads with the case [8d].

Brescia has been one of the more colorful players the last few days - he wore a bright red hat yesterday and a checkered yellow shirt today. That splash of color will be missed now that he's headed to the payouts desk to collect R$171,000 in 4th-place money.

Three players remain. Sbrissa has the lead. Daniel Murta, who has been a ball of nervous energy ever since he eliminated Team PokerStars Pro Leo Fernandez, is 2nd in chips. Rafael Pardo is the short stack.

Dave Behr is a freelance contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

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The problem is that you don't always find yourself in a flip. Sometimes it's pair versus pair, putting the smaller pair at a big disadvantage. Such is the story of Marcos Paulo Ximenes at this final table.

Earlier in the day he was cruising along with more than 4 million in chips. Sitting in the big blind, he shoved over an open-raise to 220,000. Murta snap-called with pocket queens; Ximenes' pocket 6s did not improve.

Later on, Ximenes had the better side of pair versus pair against Murta, with pocket queens to Murta's pocket 5s. Yet when all the chips went in on a flop, Murta showed down a set to double up again, pushing Ximenes down to a very short stack.

He got some back by winning a flip, but the end came in another pair-versus-pair situation. With blinds at 60k-120k, Ximenes moved all in from late position for 1,350 with a pair of 3s. Victor Sbrissa, sitting in the big blind with a big stack, quickly called with a pair of 6s. Nobody hit their set as the board blanked out, [as][kh][5d][7h][ks].

Ximenes shook his head at his bad luck. So it goes. He finished in 6th place, earning $94,700.

Moments after Ximenes exited stage right, Team PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari attempted to knock out Rafael Pardo. It was not their first tangle. Akkari had previously opened a pot to 210,000, then called Pardo's all in of 1,300,000 with a pair of 4s. Pardo showed up with a bigger pair (again, pair versus pair), pocket 10s. They held up to push Akkari down to 1,600,000.

Pardo wasn't able to hold onto this chips, however. He eventually became the table short stack and decided to take his chances with a pair of deuces. This time, it was indeed a flip. Akkari showed down [ad][10s] and paired an ace on the flop, [8h][9s][ac]. Pardo, however, spiked a deuce on the turn to double up again and cripple Akkari to 650,000.

Blinds and antes of 60k-120k-10k quickly whittled away at that stack, forcing Akkari to defend all in with 8-3 offsuit. His opponent, Daniel Murta, had king-queen. Akkari paired 3s on the flop, but Murta paired kings on the turn. When the river blanked out, the crowd applauded and chanted Akkari's name as he made his way out of the feature table area.

The Team PokerStars Pro earns R$128,900 for his 5th-place finish.

Dave Behr is a freelance contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

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Still, the Team PokerStars Pro could draw on his LAPT5 Grand Final experience and grind things back. He was trying to do that on the hand that crippled him and ultimately provided for his departure from the tournament in 7th place. He saw Rafa Pardo, relatively quiet so far, open a pot from late position. Sitting in the small blind, Fernandez squeezed out [ad][7s] and decided to apply some pressure. He moved all in.

Daniel Murta was behind Fernandez in the big blind. He had been dealt pocket jacks and also moved in, putting Pardo in a tough spot. He eyeballed the stacks of both of his opponents, pointed at Fernandez and said... something. Then he folded his hand.

Whatever those words were, they were lost when Fernandez and Murta opened their hands and Fernandez saw the bad news. Murta shouted in triumph when the flop came [7h][8c][jc] to give him top set. Fernandez, like Thiago Grigoletti before him, was drawing about as thin as you can draw on the flop without drawing dead. He caught one of the runners that he needed for a miracle when the turn fell [7c]. But the river was not the [7d]. It was a harmless [9h].

The stacks of Fernandez and Murta were close in chips. The dealer counted Murta down at 1,105,000. After paying that off, Fernandez was left with just 145,000. He folded his button, then moved all in the next hand for 125,000 from the cutoff.

Murta went for the kill and called from the button, as did big blind Marcos Paulo Ximenes. The two men checked the board all the way down, [10c][4h][ad][8c][8h]. Fernandez was hopeful at showdown with [9c][9d], but Murta's [8d][6d] made trip 8s to send the Team Pro to the rail in 7th place.

Fernandez is likely disappointed that he couldn't hold the chip lead for a deeper finish, but he can't fault himself for his play. With the stacks shallow because of last night's extended final table bubble, it doesn't take much to wind up on the outside looking in.

Dave Behr is a freelance contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

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Today, the first elimination occurred the first time anyone moved all in. It was the fourth hand of the day. The victim was the table short stack, Thiago Grigoletti, who ran into a piece of bad luck.

The first three hands didn't results in a flop. First Leo Fernandez won a raise-it-and-take-it hand. Then Leonardo Brescia won a re-raise-it-and-take-it hand. Andre Akkari got a walk in the big blind on the third hand, taking us to the fateful fourth hand.

Action passed to Marcos Paulo Ximenes on the button. He raised to 120,000, as you'd expect him to do with a wide range of hands. Akkari folded the small blind. Grigoletti squeezed out [ac][td], a hand that had to be ahead of a huge portion of Ximenes' range. He moved all in for 905,000. Before he could even get his chips into the pot, Ximenes called and tabled [ad][kc].

Grigoletti was forced to wait a few agonizing extra seconds as the dealer determined whether or not the action would be called. Once she was certain it would not be, she proceeded to a flop: [7d][kd][kh]. Grigoletti wasn't quite drawing dead, but he was about as close to drawing dead as you can get without actually drawing dead. When the [3s] hit the turn, he moved to shake Ximenes' hand and the crowd began to applaud.

Grigoletti had about 16 big blinds to start the day. He was in the toughest spot of all the final table players and moved in where he thought he saw a good spot to do so. Luck didn't run with him, but those are part of the breaks in this game. He'll retire to the rail with R$52,600, while the rest of the table moves one step closer to an LAPT title.

Dave Behr is a freelance contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

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There's one Portuguese word that I already knew before I came down here, that everybody who has ever railed a poker tournament with a Brazilian in it is apt to know. Team PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari wrote it on his chip bag last night.

VAMOOO!!!

That's right. Day 4 of this event begins today with eight players left. Team PokerStars Pro Leo Fernandez is their leader, with 3,365,000 chips, but everyone at the table, Brazilian and non-Brazilian alike, will be thinking "Vamo!" as play begins. After the length of time they spent on the final table bubble last night, they may have no choice in the matter.