The PokerStars Festival Chile $500,000 guaranteed Main Event is down to the final eight players and two-time LAPT high roller champion, Amos Ben, looks to snag another title as he carries his Day 3 chip lead over to this final day. Ben bagged a solid 2,237,000 chips, good for just over a quarter of the chips in play.
There are only two players over the million-chip mark, and with Ben being the first, the second is Chile's Christopher Franco with 1,512,000 chips. Diego Lizana rounds out the top three stacks with 808,000, but the rest of the field is separated by just five to six big blinds, so the race is far from over.
Here is a look at how the final eight players stack up going into the day:
Seat
Player Name
Country
Chip Count
1
Andres Vega
Chile
740,000
2
Juan Sebastian Gomez
Colombia
716,000
3
Christopher Franco
Chile
1,512,000
4
Oscar Toloso
Argentina
692,000
5
Amos Ben
Chile
2,237,000
6
Rodrigo Zambra
Chile
790,000
7
Diego Lizana
Chile
808,000
8
Sergio Dario Tello
Argentina
728,000
Day 4 begins at 12:00 p.m. ET and will conclude when one player remains, with the $97,360 first-place prize and trophy in hand. All results will be posted under the Payouts tab above. The level restarts at the 5:01 mark in level 23 with the blinds sitting at 12,000/24,000 with a 4,000 ante.
This feature event started with 329 entries and just 109 players advanced to Day 2. From there, play advanced rather quickly and just 32 players remained after seven and a half levels. Finally, Day 3 played down to the final table and just seven more eliminations remain before a winner is crowned.
Here's a look at what these final players are fighting for:
Place
Prize (USD)
1
$97,360
2
$61,900
3
$46,400
4
$37,560
5
$29,600
6
$22,600
7
$16,600
8
$12,200
Keep following along as the PokerNews team continues to provide updates on the way to crowning a winner later today!
The first Chilean at the final table is Andres Vega and he starts the day fifth in chips. At one point in the day, he was fighting for the chip lead with current leader Amos Ben and was second in chips for a lot of the day. He was the one to eliminate three-time high roller champion, Richard Dubini, but has since dropped well below his peak stack.
Andres has been a professional poker player for about seven years. He mainly plays online tournaments, and has made the final table in one of the most popular PokerStars tournaments, the Sunday Million.
In terms of live poker results, the $12,200 he has already secured in this Main Event will be the largest win of his career, In September 2016 he was the champion in a 40,000 Chilean Peso event at Dreams Casino in Puerto Varas in Southern Chile, where he pocketed US $8,040.
The only Colombian among the finalists of the Main Event of the PokerStars Festival Chile will start the action from the back at the bottom of the pack with the second-lowest chip count,
At 28 years of age, Gomez is a professional poker player that plays both live as well as online.
He has spent four years playing full-time in the poker world, and his biggest result to date was a win at the Veneto Hotel & Casino in Panama in 2014.
Christopher Franco is the only local player among the eight finalists in the PokerStars Festival Chile Main Event. He starts the day second in chips behind Amos Ben and is the only other player above the million-chip mark.
Franco has been a professional poker player for seven years, mainly focused to online tournaments. In that time, he has accumulated more than $800,000 in winnings on the online felt.
His best live result to date was in July 2016 after winning a $600 buy-in event at the Venetian DeepStack Extravaganza in Las Vegas with a first-place prize of $11,517. With $12,200 already guaranteed, this Main Event will become his biggest live achievement to date.
Although there is not a huge chip count difference between the other players, Oscar Toloso begins the final table in last place, or as they say in Spanish, “The Red Lantern” (farolillo rojo).
Toloso is an amateur player who likes to play tournaments both online and live. He has accumulated $10,200 in live winnings, making the guaranteed $12,200 result the best cash of his career.
So far, his most best results include a second place finish in a side event at LAPT Uruguay where he cashed for $3,520 and a 21st place finish in the $400 Chile Cup at LAPT Viña del Mar 2016 where he won $1,000.
Amos Ben is arguably the most decorated player at the final table of the Main Event of the PokerStars Festival Chile. His earnings amass more than $800,000 in live tournaments, including two victories in Latin America Poker Tour High Roller events: $5,000 High Roller LAPT Panama 2013 ($49,070) and $3k High Roller LAPT Uruguay 2016 ($ 61,010).
In 2013, Ben was also crowned the "Player of the Year" on the Latin America Poker Tour, accumulating notable results at the Sao Paolo, Panama, Punta del Este and Viña del Mar stops.
Since 2008, he has been competing professionally in the poker world, although he was previously a professional soccer player.
Ben comes in as the chip leader with more than two million, good for over a quarter of the chips in play.
Rodrigo Zambra is a recreational player from Iquique, in Northern Chile, who can be often found participating in the local Chilean poker tournament circuits.
Preferring the felt, he says he doesn’t play many online tournaments, sticking to live tournaments and cash games. Throughout his career he has accumulated $13,000 in live tournament winnings, among which is a third place finish in the $600 Freezout at LAPT Chile in 2015 for a cash of $6,880.
This will be the largest cash result of his career no matter what happens at the final table.
Diego Lizana will have to deal with the uncomfortable position of being on the big blind when the chip leader will be on the button. This may put Diego in some extra trouble, but he will surely know how to handle this situation, having played poker regularly for more than 14 years.
Despite these years, he is an amateur player who likes to play both online and live tournaments. On the online felt, he has achieved results totaling over $15,000, while in live tournaments, his best finish so far was a 36th position in the 2013 LAPT of Viña del Mar.
The $12,200 that has already been assured, will be the highest win of his career.
The second Argentine player who rounds out this final table is the most senior of the eight finalists. Sergio Dario Tello is 43 years old and claims to have more than 15 years of poker playing experience, always as a recreational player.
Viña del Mar is treating the Argentine especially well. A few days ago he finished second in the $220 PokerStars Cup of this PokerStars Festival Chile behind José Krauss, which led him to earn $7,680. Today, as a finalist of a prestigious tournament like this, he has already secured $12,200.
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