Congratulations to Ryan Fee, PokerStars.net LAPT San Jose Champion!
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In thrilling fashion, Ryan Fee has just claimed the title of champion here at the PokerStars.net LAPT San Jose! Fee outlasted Humberto Brenes, Victor Ramdin, Alexandre Gomes, Andre Akkari, Carter Gill, Eddy Sabat, and a field of 219 skilled players to claim the title. Along the way, Fee proved that he will be a force to be reckoned with in live tournament poker for the foreseeable future, playing competently alongside some of the best players in the world.
The field of 219 players represents a sharp decline from the 397 who played this event the last time around. The staff was a bit disappointed by the turnout, but there's no indication that poker is falling off in this area of the world. A huge number of local and semi-local players came out to play, and they were cheered on by a supportive and attentive group of spectators for the duration of the event. Regardless of the reason for the decline, poker is alive and well in Latin America.
Fee, who is just twenty years old, was the chip leader for the vast majority of the last two days, only relinquishing the top spot on a few short occasions. He took a reasonable lead into heads-up play, but Joel Micka battled back, proving his own worth as a heads-up specialist. When all of the chips went into the middle on the closing hand, Micka was just barely covered, and things could have ended drastically differently for both men if not for a dramatic ace on the river.
With that, the second PokerStars.net LAPT San Jose has come to a close. Congratulations to our champion, Ryan Fee! Until next time, buenas noches from Costa Rica!