Pablo Alexander Tavitian Wins 2013 LAPT Chile National Poker Championship
The 2013 PokerStars Latin American Poker Tour Chile National Poker Championship Main Event commenced on Wednesday, March 13 in Vina del Mar, Chile. The buy-in of $1,000 with unlimited re-entries during the first four levels of both Day 1a and Day 1b made it a desirable tournament for many professional and amateur players. With 765 entrants and 259 re-entries, the tournament became a record-setter with a total of 1,024 entries and a prize pool of more than $993,000. The tournament was completed on Sunday, March 17. Pablo Alexander Tavitian emerged victorious and walked away with the $184,220 top prize.
LAPT Chile Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pablo Alexander Tavitian | $184,220 |
| 2 | Leonardo Martins | $117,200 |
| 3 | Jose "Nacho" Barbero | $78,460 |
| 4 | Jaime Zamanillo Mayol | $57,620 |
| 5 | Fernando Javier Gordó | $41,720 |
| 6 | Sergio Braga | $31,720 |
| 7 | Alejandro Cholakis | $23,780 |
| 8 | Sebastián Miranda | $19,220 |
Players began the tournament with 15,000 in chips and levels were scheduled for 60 minutes. Rodrigo Quezada (226,100) and Norson "BrazilianEye" Saho (211, 200), the first Brazilian to ever win the PocketFives Triple Crown were the chip leaders for Day 1a and Day 1b, respectively.
Day 2 began on Friday with 247 players advancing from Day 1A and Day 1B play. Interestingly, both Quezada and Saho were seated at the same table at the start of Day 2. Of the 247 players remaining, only 160 would secure a minimum payday of $1,540. Alejandro Rodrigues from Argentina bubbled the money and was eliminated in 161st place. Merely seconds later, Team PokerStars Pro Christian "Grillo" de Leon Angeles shoved with pocket tens and ran up against pocket aces to be eliminated in 160th place.
Day 3 commenced on Saturday with 31 players still in contention. Victor Shuchleib began Day 3 as the leader with 1,486,000 in chips. Ariel Celestino (1,113,000) and Sergio Braga (1,005,000), who both final tabled a Brazilian Series of Poker event in Iguaçu on Tuesday, started Day 3 with large stacks. Other notables with healthy stacks included Luis Jaikel (912,000), Ezequiel Lebed (550,000), Saho (484,000), and Team PokerStars Pro Jose "Nacho" Barbero (407,000), who was looking to win his third LAPT Main Event title.
Leonardo Olivaros Ponce made advances early on Day 3, amassing over 1 million chips within the first half hour of play. Barbero also doubled his stack in the 10k-20k level of Day 3, reaching 800,000 chips.
As play continued toward the final table of eight, Ezequiel Lebed was eliminated in 11th place and cashed for $11,220. Shuchleib was eliminated shortly thereafter in 10th place for $13,200. After two more eliminations, the final table was set for the following day.
The Day 4 final table consisted of Sebastian Marcel Miranda, Alejandro Chokakis, Leonardo Martins, Jaime Zamanillo Mayol, Sergio Braga, Fernando Javier Gordo, Tavitian and Barbero. Mayol began the day as chip leader with 3,400,000 in chips. Martins (440,000) began the day with the shortest stack.
Miranda was the first player eliminated on Day 4 when he ran into pocket queens. Chokakis was knocked out in seventh place, followed by Braga and Gordó. Mayol, who qualified for the tournament on PokerStars for $10, busted out fourth for $57,620.
With three players remaining, Barbero went all in pre-flop with Ax10x against Tavitian’s Ax4x. Unfortunately for Barbero, the board did not provide any help and he was eliminated in third place for $78,460.
The eventual champion was Tavitian, who began the day fifth in chips. He defeated Martins heads-up when his Qx10x held up against 10x5x. Martins walked away in second place with $117,200. Tavitian was awarded $184,220 and became the LAPT's 23rd champion in 24 events.
For more information on the LAPT Chile Main Event, visit the PokerStars Blog.
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