LAPT San José Main Event | 2008 PokerStars.net LAPT - San José

11-05-2008 11:39 UTC-6

Seat 4: Ryan Fee (481,000)

[user66118]

Ladies and gentlemen, meet your chip leader. Ryan Fee is just twenty years old and has traveled from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA to play this event. Not yet able to play live poker in the United States, Fee has found a place where he's legal, and he's taking full advantage of this opportunity. He lists his occupation as, "Baller", and plays high-stakes cash games online.

Fee cleared his way through the field with precision yesterday, amassing a mountain of chips by the time play concluded. Along the way, his lighthearted antics both amused and annoyed his fellow competitors. Whatever he was doing must have been working; he is the big stack now, sitting with 481,000.

Tags: Ryan Fee

11-05-2008 11:32 UTC-6

Seat 3: Brent Sheirbon (186,500)

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[user66118]

Brent Sheirbon is a native of The Dalles, Oregon USA, but he comes to us today from his home in Panama. Sheirbon is a 33-year-old IT-consultant-turned-poker-pro. He is already well-regarded in tournament poker, having earned several nice finishes in major events. Among those were a 13th place finish in the WPT Bellagio Main Event, as well as in-the-money finishes in the last two WSOP Main Events (392nd and 134th, respectively).

Sheirbon was in and out of the chip lead all day yesterday, but began to slide a bit towards the end of the evening. He will start with 186,500 chips.

11-05-2008 11:27 UTC-6

Seat 2: Andrew Chen (313,000)

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[user66118]

Andrew Chen is a twenty-year-old former student who comes to us from Toronto, Ontario Canada. He says "former student" because he is now a full-time poker pro. He is making a name for himself online, just missing out on four final tables over an eight-week period in the Sunday Majors. He's competent in satellites as well, apparently, as he earned his way into this LAPT event for $215 on PokerStars.

Chen was nearly out of here early on Day 2. He showed up more than twenty minutes late for play, and had just ten big blinds left when he sat down. With the poise of a pro, he worked his stack up through the course of the day, ending on a high note when he eliminated the ninth place finisher to close play last night.

Chen, courtesy of that late knockout, is sitting with 313,000 in chips.

Tags: Andrew Chen

11-05-2008 11:21 UTC-6

Seat 1: Jeff Petronack (122,500)

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[user66118]

Jeff Petronack is a 37-year-old mortgage broker from Hugo, Minnesota USA. He is relatively unaccomplished in the poker world, but has proven that he's no slouch at the tables throughout the past two days. He qualified for this event in an online satellite and has taken advantage of the opportunity to make a deep run to the final table.

Petronack is supported by his wife and two children -- 5-year-old son Cody and 5-month-old daughter Brooklynn. When he's not at the tables, Petronack enjoys a relaxing round of golf and spending time with his family.

Petronack begins play on the short stack, sitting with 122,500 chips.

Tags: Jeff Petronack

11-05-2008 11:14 UTC-6

Final Table Set for Play

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[user66118]

The tournament room has undergone a dramatic transformation overnight, and all but one poker table has been removed from the building. That leaves just the final table which will soon be populated by the remaining eight players who are still alive with a chance to take home the trophy in the second season of the PokerStars.net LAPT San Jose.

The players and tournament staff are setting up for a press conference, which will take place shortly. After that, the chips will be un-bagged, and the players will reconvene at the table to commence the final day of play.

We expect to be underway at 12:00 noon local time, so join us then as we crown our champion!