PokerStars.com LAPT San Jose Day 1: Rob Woodcock Leads
With a field that included poker superstars Humberto Brenes, Victor Ramdin, Jon "apestyles" Van Fleet and Eddy Sabat, the level of play at the PokerStars.com Latin American Poker Tour San Jose stop was no surprise. What did come as some surprise was how quickly the field thinned on Day 1, as only 38 of the 219 entrants survived the first day's play. Also in the field were 2007 champ Valdemar Kwaysser, Maria "maridu" Mayrinck, Stephen Chidwick and Carter Gill. When the dust settled at the end of the day, it was young British player Rob Woodcock with the chip lead as more than 80% of the field was eliminated.
Eddy Sabat was an early casualty when he could gain no traction after an early double-up. He got the last of his chips in after starting with Q-10 against one opponent, and he checked the J♥10♦5♠ flop. Sabat's opponent led out on the 2♣ turn, and Sabat called. Sabat moved all in over the top of his opponent's river bet when the 6♣ landed, and he was quickly called. His opponent tabled Q-J for top pair, and Sabat's day ended early.
Other notable eliminations on Day 1 included Andre Akkari, Maria Mayrinck, Stephen Chidwick and Doris Yankelwitz, the former first lady of Costa Rica. Poker pro and rock-n'-roll photographer David Plastik got his chips in good late on Day 1, but took a tough beat to end his tournament early. Plastik moved all in over the top of Tark Abboud's preflop raise with A♣K♠, and Abboud called with A♠J♠. Plastik caught an ace on the flop but the board of Q♥A♥J♦ brought two pair for Abboud and left Plastik drawing thin. The 7♣ on the turn was no help, and the 9♣ on the river sent him packing.
Alex Brenes had a rough Day 1, first getting a seating assignment right next to brother Humberto, then busting late on Day 1. All of Brenes' chips went in the middle preflop with 9♦10♦, and he found one caller who held A♦J♥. The 6♠3♦3♥ flop helped no one, but the 10♣ on the turn was gold for Brenes. The J♦ on the river, however, gave his opponent a bigger pair and sent Brenes the younger to the rail as Day 1 drew to a close. Brenes logged a final-table finish in the last LAPT event, but was unable to duplicate that feat in San Jose. Brenes was joined on the rail by brother Humberto, Victor Ramdin, Liv Boeree and Shirley Rosario as Day 1 drew to a close.
Rob Woodcock led all survivors out of Day 1, with a field that still contained top pros Carter Gill, Maria and Max Stern and Jon Van Fleet. The top ten chip stacks looked like this at the end of the day:
Rob Woodcock - 181,300
Ryan Fee - 137,850
Brent Sheirbon - 124,850
Abraham Rosenkrantz - 114,000
Mike Collins - 91,150
Joel 'JMPRODIGY' Micka - 87,000
Earl Burklund - 82,275
Jesse Macleod - 80,000
Andres Herrada - 78,800
Maria Stern - 74,650
Play resumes at noon local time (CT) on Tuesday as the final 38 players make their way down to a final table. Join PokerNews for the latest updates.
Get the best PokerStars.com bonus by signing up via PokerNews. Use the bonus code stars600 and get great first deposit bonus plus numerous generous PokerNews offers on PokerStars.
