Galal Dahrouj Wins 2013 PokerStars.net Latin American Poker Tour Panama Main Event
On Sunday, the 2013 PokerStars.net Latin American Poker Tour Panama Main Event concluded. The Main Event of the fifth stop on season six of the LAPT attracted a diverse field of 570 players of 41 different nationalities and created a prize pool of $829,340. While 88 players reached the money, Panama's own Galal Dahrouj earned the title and walked away with the $132,535 first-place prize.
2013 LAPT Panama Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Galal Dahrouj | $132,535* |
| 2 | Joel Fernandes De Oliveira | $115,540* |
| 3 | Jesus Kafati | $106,365* |
| 4 | Carter Gill | $57,060 |
| 5 | Paulo Carrillo | $42,960 |
| 6 | Raul Pino | $32,180 |
| 7 | Joseph Brent Stefan | $23,880 |
| 8 | Marco Oliveira | $18,080 |
*Denotes a three-way deal.
Dahrouj scooped the title after the final three players struck a deal. Finishing in second place was Joel Fernandes De Oliveira, while Jesus Kafati took third.
According to reports on the PokerStars Blog, Dahrouj became a force on Day 2. He went on to finish out the second day of play as the chip leader, then continued his domination on Day 3. Entering Day 4 and the final table, Dahrouj was the chip leader with nearly 1 million between his stack and anyone else's.
Carter Gill was the most well known face at the final table, but his tournament would end in fourth place for $57,060. Gill's face has become a bit more recognizable as of late after getting a bit of coverage on a recent World Series of Poker broadcast where he took a horrible beat to David Paredes.
During Level 28, Dahrouj doubled through Gill. From there, Gill lost more pots en route to becoming the short stack. On his final hand, Gill moved all in from the button with the K♦Q♦, but it was Dahrouj who had him on the ropes after calling with pocket nines from the big blind. The flop, turn, and river provided no help for Gill, and he was out the door.
Following Gill's bust out, the final three players made a deal. At the time of the deal, Dahrouj had the chip lead with 4.395 million in chips. Oliveira was in second with 3.8 million, and Kafati was in third with 2.865 million. Before leaving $12,000 for the winner along with the trophy, Dahrouj took $120,535 from the deal, Oliveira took $115,540, and Kafati took $106,365.
Kafati busted in third place, falling at the hands of Dahrouj. That lent Dahrouj to take a big chip lead into the heads-up match with Oliveira — his 7.93 million to Oliveira's 3.125 million.
On the final hand, Dahrouj opened to 270,000, and Oliveira called to see the flop come down A♣6♦2♣. Oliveira check-called a bet of 275,000, and the dealer added the 5♦ to the board on the turn. Oliveira checked, Dahrouj bet 1 million, and Oliveira moved all in. Dahrouj quickly called with the 6♠5♠ for two pair, and he was ahead of Oliveira's 8♣6♥. The river 6♣ finished Dahrouj with the winning full house, and he was crowned champion.
Dahrouj took home $132,535 for the win and the LAPT trophy. By winning, Dahrouj became the first LAPT champion from Panama, and did so with quite convincing play throughout the event in his home country.
Other notable finishes in the money included Raul Paez ( 10th - $11,940), Bolivar Palacios (13th - $7,840), Jose "Nacho" Barbero (22nd - $4,540), Angel Guillen (46th - $3,200), Christian De Leon (48th - $3,200), and Victor Sbrissa (80th - $2,500). Barbero, Guillen, and De Leon are all members of Team PokerStars Pro.
The next stop of the LAPT will be the season-ending Grand Final in Punta del Este, Uruguay. The festival will take place Nov. 20-24, 2013, and the Grand Final will cost $2,500. For more information, please visit the official LAPT website.
Data and photo courtesy of the PokerStars Blog.
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