Team PokerStars Pro Leo Fernandez is the PokerStars Festival Chile High Roller Champion!
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Day 3 of the $3,300 PokerStars Festival Chile High Roller was a quick one, lasting just four hands. Team PokerStars Pro, Leo Fernandez is the winner, taking home $20,950, the title and the elusive gold trophy.
The Argentinian pro was arguably the most decorated player in this event, boasting over $2 million in lifetime earnings, with two High Roller titles and a Latin America Poker Tour Main Event title on his resume. Fernandez now has three High Roller wins, with two from Sao Paolo, Brazil and now this win in Chile. He also has several close calls to brag about, including a career-best $554,925 cash after finishing as runner-up in the 2011 PCA High Roller in the Bahamas. Fernandez's results began back in 2005, and have progressed with plenty of deep runs in High Rollers and Main Events throughout Europe and South America.
Fernandez defeated Chile's Rodrigo Borquez after coming in to the day with a slight lead worth just a few big blinds. In the final hand, the two players found themselves flipping for the title. Fernandez held 
while Borquez was slightly ahead with 
. The flop had both an ace and a king on it, and the rest was history. Borquez earned himself $13,960 for his runner-up finish, and has already hopped in to the $500,000 guaranteed Main Event for a shot at redemption.
The High Roller began on Sunday and the number of entries grew to 11 by the end of the opening day. Registration was open before the start of Day 2, and just eight players moved on. Fernandez was actually eliminated late on Day 1, but was one of the four last-minute entries on Day 2. He was also the only player to re-enter. The prizepool totaled $43,650 with 15 entries at the close of registration, paying three spots.
Rugby star, Lucas Gonzalez, finished in third place late on Day 2, taking home $8,470 for his min-cash. Fernandez was responsible for his elimination after his queens were no match for Gonzalez's pocket jacks.
| Place | Player Name | Country | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Leo Fernandez | Argentina | $20,950 |
| 2nd | Rodrigo Borquez | Chile | $13,960 |
| 3rd | Lucas Gonzalez | Argentina | $8,470 |
Among the 14 unique players in the High Roller, there were many decorated players in competition. This included Chile's own two-time LAPT winner, Oscar Alache, as well as LAPT winners Alex Manzano, Richard Dubini and Amos Ben.
The representation among the field was heavy with Argentinians, but included a fair amount of Chileans representing their home country, as well as a player from Peru and Mexico.
Final Table Action
The unofficial final table of nine came together early on Day 2 after the swift elimination of short-stacked Alan Manuel Mehamed. He was left with just under ten big blinds and was called in two spots. Alex Manzano flopped a set of sixes, and Mehamed was unable to find a much-needed triple up with pocket queens. In the first hand of play on the final table, Andres Roberto Finkelberg was the shortest stack and got it in good with ace-king, but Borquez out-flopped him with ace-jack and he was eliminated.
Peru's Jorge Postigo ended Day 1 with the chip lead and carried it over to the final table. He managed to build his stack up to sit on a third of the chips in play for several levels, and used his stack and position to keep accumulating chips. Tadeo Palomares was the next to go, also unable to build his short stack of chips up. He eventually piled his stack in the middle with ace-three, and was unable to pull ahead of Borquez's ace-ten.
Borquez continued with his hot streak and eliminated Norberto Korn in the next level. He flopped a set of tens on an ace-high board, and managed to get Korn to commit his stack with ace-deuce. Postigo began to pull away from the field, but Manzano was hot on his heels and began to chip up as the day carried on. About an hour of play passed before Postigo eliminated Javier Swett in a classic race. Postigo held ace-king and Swett tabled the smallest pair in the deck - pocket deuces. The board looked fairly safe for Swett, but the dealer peeled an ace on the river and it was all over.
Manzano was chipping up, but eventually lost a big chunk of his stack to Gonzalez a little while after dinner. The board was paired with two jacks on it, and Gonzalez managed to make a full house with pocket threes, with a three on the flop. He shoved his stack on the turn, but Manzano didn't believe his story and he called with two queens. The river was a brick and Manzano was left with very few chips. A short while later, Manzano got his remaining stack in the middle with jack-nine but couldn't pull ahead of Fernandez's ace-king.
The elimination of Manzano meant there were four players left and the tournament was on the direct money bubble. Postigo and Borquez made up the top two stacks, while Gonzalez and Fernandez found themselves at the bottom. Borquez won a big pot from Postigo, getting a full double up after flopping a set of nines on a queen-high board. The turn was another queen, and the two players got their money in on the river. Postigo did not show his hand, and Borquez got a full double up through the chip leader. Postigo found himself at the bottom of the pack after holding the chip lead since the end of Day 1.
The bubble burst shortly after Borquez claimed the chip lead, and it was Postigo who would be the one to leave empty-handed. He held jack-high and was unable to catch up to Borquez's ace-high. Gonzalez, Fernandez and Borquez were all in the money and were guaranteed to take home $8,470 for a min-cash.
About an hour of play passed before Fernandez chipped up enough to claim the chip lead for the first time in the tournament. Shortly after, he eliminated his fellow countryman, Gonzalez, on the winning end of a cooler. Fernandez held two queens while Gonzalez held two jacks. Fernandez flopped a set and Gonzalez collected his payout.
Fernandez continued to build on his lead as the night started to approach the end of the last level, and even had more than two-third of the chips in play at one point. Borquez battled back, and Fernandez bagged a slight chip lead to end the day, resulting in a win early in Day 3.
Main Event Starts Today
While the High Roller has wrapped up, the $500,000 guaranteed Main Event is already underway with over 90 entries so far. Keep following along as PokerNews continues with the live updates throughout the rest of the Festival!