Grutka Wins, Simao Fourth at Latin American Poker Championship
Amauri Grutka led a strong Brazilian showing at the partypoker Latin American Poker Championship $1,100 Main Event at Punta del Este in Uruguay, taking the title and $200,000 for topping a field of 1,137 on Sunday evening.
The win is for more than the rest of his $154,000 in cashes combined.
Joao Simao, the partypoker-sponsored pro coming off a runner-up finish in the $5,300 Super High Roller, advanced to the final table once again but this time settled for fourth.
Official Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Home Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amauri Grutka | Brazil | $200,000 |
| 2 | Yi Lin | China | $130,000 |
| 3 | Federico Dania | Argentina | $88,290 |
| 4 | Joao Simao | Brazil | $60,000 |
| 5 | Marcelo Azevedo | Brazil | $40,000 |
| 6 | Bruno Kawauti | Brazil | $30,000 |
| 7 | Lucas Scafini | Brazil | $20,000 |
| 8 | Francisco Garcia | Uruguay | $14,000 |
The tournament surpassed its $1 million guarantee with the solid turnout at Punta del Este.
Argentinian high rollers Leo Fernandez and Damian Salas were among those making the money but falling short of the final table. Kristen Bicknell nearly joined partypoker teammate Simao at the final table, but the Canadian fell just shy in 10th. That left an official final table of eight with a decidedly Brazilian flair, as five competitors remaining hailed from South America's biggest country.
Final Table Action
According to the live updates, Grutka went into the final table with a slight chip lead over Yi Lin, the only player from outside of South America to crash the final table party. Each player had over 30 million at 300,000/600,000/600,000 with Simao in a distant third at 18.7 million.
After the elimination Francisco Garcia, the last Uruguayan left, Lucas Scafini ran queens into Lin's kings to give Lin a big chip lead.
Bruno Kawauti, who got 15th in the 2013 WSOP Main Event, was another notable final table participant but he'd bow out in sixth when he tried a desperation shove in the small blind with J♠4♣ and ran into the fours held by Federico Dania.
Marcelo Azevedo went out fifth, and then Simao tried limp-raising in a blinds battle with Lin. Lin was having none of it and jammed, with Simao left short after folding. Simao then shoved over a raise from Dania for a little under 20 big blinds and got called. He was flipping with K♥10♥ against pocket sevens but found no improvement from the community cards, leaving his less-heralded opponents to battle for the big money.
Grutka was the shortest of the three with 28 million at 400,000/800,000/800,000 but found a double with queens against Dania's ace-jack. Dania didn't have much left and Lin took the rest of it in short order.
Both Lin and Grutka had over 60 big blinds heads up, with Grutka the slightly deeper of the two. What looked like a possibly long match proved short as a cooler occurred right away, resulting in a four-bet all-in pot. Grutka held Q♥Q♣ and Lin A♠K♠ and queens would once again be the ticket for Grutka as he flopped top set on Q♠10♠2♦ and faded Lin's draws, locking up the win.
