2011 PokerStars.net LAPT Punta del Este Day 2: Kiles Killing the Field
The second day of action at the 2011 PokerStars.net Latin American Poker Tour Punta del Este Main Event came and went on Friday after ten 60-minute levels of play. To begin the day, 188 players remained from the original starting field of 422. When the day was done, only 27 of them were left, deep into the money and still in contention for the $244,720 first-place prize. Leading the charge into Day 3 is Cassio Kiles, who managed to bag up an extremely impressive 1.12 million in chips.
The action was fast and furious from the get go, and players were quickly hitting the rail at every turn. One of the early eliminations belonged to the LAPT IV Sao Paulo champion, Alex Manzano. The Chilean was eliminated by a spade flush from an opponent in the first level of the day. He was joined by Juan Parra, Scott Joseph Kroshus, Alejandro Burzaco and Ricardo Lahoud on the rail in the early goings.
Another player to hit the rail early was Diego Vilela. He fell at the hands of start-of-the-day chip leader Juan Jose Perez. In the hand, Vilela opened to 2,600 from the cutoff seat in Level 10 with the blinds 600/1,200 with a 200 ante, only to see Perez make it 7,500 to go from the button. Action folded back to Vilela and he called. The flop fell Q♣8♠4♣ and Vilela checked. Perez bet 9,600, but was unable to shake Vilela, who made the call. The 6♠ turn fell and once again Vilela checked. Perez fired again, this time a hefty 42,000. Vilela, though, came along to see the Q♠ river. Vilela went into the tank, eventually shoving for about 50,000. A snap-call from Perez revealed 7♠5♦ for a straight. Vilela's K♣Q♦ was second best and ended his tournament right before the first break of the day. Perez climbed back to the front of the counts with this pot and was the first player to eclipse the 300,000-chip mark.
On the way toward the money, Tim Marsters, Bolivar Palacios and Roman Suarez joined those on the rail as casualties for the day, but the worst defeat of them all belonged to PokerStars qualifier Carlos Medina.
Medina claimed the feared title of “tournament bubble boy” after he was eliminated in 57th place – the last place to go home without cash. Medina went out after his 2♣2♦ were outdone by the J♠5♥ of Cassio Kiles, who made two pair in the hand. After the elimination, the crowd of spectators erupted in cheers for the players, while the competitors cheered more subtly and congratulated one another on a job well done. Still, the tournament was far from over.
A few of those players who were able to make it to the money but failed to reach the end of the day included PokerStars qualifiers Andrew Nicholls, Mario Lopez, Regis Kogler and Robert Van Thuyh.
On the other side of the coin, Max Stern, Carlos Watanabe, Erik von Buxhoeveden and Andrey Tsitovich will all be returning for Day 3.
Top 10 Chip Counts
| Player | Player | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cassio Kiles | 1,120,000 |
| 2 | Andrey Tsitovich | 712,000 |
| 3 | Juan Jose Perez | 617,000 |
| 4 | Fernando Araujo | 407,000 |
| 5 | Nicasio Toranzo | 390,000 |
| 6 | Rafael Monteiro | 384,000 |
| 7 | Oded Minond | 346,000 |
| 8 | Claudio Piedrabuena | 343,000 |
| 9 | Il Suh | 327,000 |
| 10 | Mariano Balaguer | 321,000 |
Be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews for all the live coverage straight from the floor at the LAPT as only our Live Reporting Team can bring it to you.
Follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.
