Latin American Poker Tour

Started up in May of 2008, the Latin American Poker Tour is considered quite popular among burgeoning tournaments. Being funded and driven by Pokerstars, the Latin American Poker Tour has become quite a sensation in the past two years, gaining popularity throughout major cities in South America.

In order to move their own brand of poker tournaments to the table in South America, Pokerstars knew they had to expand internationally once again (See European Poker Tour). The Latin American Poker Tour was previously hosted in various cities in South America, with Rio de Janeiro in Brazil being the first in May 2008. After that, the tour moved to San Jose, Costa Rica. The last event of season one of the Latin American Poker Tour was held in Punta del Este, a city in Uruguay.

The Latin American Poker Tour’s last event summed up their success in South America, with collective pools across the board reaching over $800,000 on average. Following in the wake of the first season of the Latin American Poker Tour’s reign came the second season, which nearly quadrupled the winnings of season 1. More than a thousand players showed up for the second season, with locations such as San Josa, Punta del Este, Mar del Plata, and Vina del Mar being next on their list of stops.

Season three of the Latin American Poker Tournament is nearing an end currently, with the final table’s first prize totaling up to $280,000 and all eight players guaranteed to receive at least $20,000 payout. Players coming to the final table include individuals from Argentina, Brazil, Columbia, France, and Uruguay.

So far, Norbert Ludges from Uruguay has the largest stack on the final table, his winnings totaling $1,596,000, while the French Pokerstars Qualifier Nicolas Cardyn maintains second with $988,000. A reminder of the previous season’s winner, Nicolas Cardyn presents quite a threat to Ludges, as last season was also won by a non-South American player. The final table looks to be intense, considering the quality of card players and the determination each brings to the table.

In fifth place, Daniela Zapiello, a PokerStars Online Qualifier, is only 23 years old and qualified for the event by playing on Pokerstars.net. She currently resides in fifth with the non-paltry sum of $560,000 chips. If Daniela can push herself to first, she would become the first female winner of the Latin American Poker Tour.

Currently in sixth place, Jose “Nacho” Barbero sits at 548,000 chips. Considered a pro from his experience with Season 1, the Argentinean-born Barbero could become the first professional card player to with a Latin American Poker Tour championship title. So far, the 9^th through 16^th players have all finished with between 7,000 to 10,000 dollars for their efforts.

The first day of Pokerstar’s Latin American Poker Tour in Punta del Este created a surge of excitement, with the prize pool topping over a million dollars. The top 48 players will be splitting this monstrous prize and by lasting until day 3, the players are guaranteed a minimum payment of at least 7 thousand dollars.

Many players have found themselves invited to the Latin American Poker Tour from their seats of online play. The players qualified through Pokerstars.net to be invited to these matches and have not disappointed with how well they are doing. Starting your poker fixation online can actually help you get used to game play without the mess of having to gather friends up each time you wish to play poker.

To qualify for the Latin American Poker Tour, Pokerstars has several satellite tournaments that push their top contenders into the official tours themselves. The prize packages for the satellite tours are nothing to scoff at, wherein Pokerstars pays for the accommodations and provides funds for travel expenses to all their winners.

Food cost is not typically included into the travel costs paid for by Pokerstars, but that would be because of the hotels that the invited individuals are staying at. These hotels are typically high quality resorts, providing all you can eat buffets to all guests that have come for the poker tours themselves. To even further the ability of new players to enter the satellite tournaments and the Latin American Poker Tour itself, Pokerstars created several free roll qualifiers, which can be entered by eager players to win a possible free package at the tour itself.

The Latin American Poker Tour can currently hold its own in terms of popularity among its peers. The success of the tour is largely driven by the untapped reserve of avid poker players in the South Americas and will undoubtedly hold strong for years to come.

LAPT tournament schedule:

EVENT	COUNTRY	BUY-IN	DATES	CAP
LAPT Playa Conchal Costa Rica	Costa Rica	Main Event: $2,500+$200	November 19 – 22, 2009	Main Event: 350
PCA	Bahamas	Main Event: $10,000+$300	January 4 - 14, 2010	Main Event: 1600
LAPT Punta del Este, Uruguay	Uruguay	Main Event: $3,500 + 200	February 24-27, 2010	Main Event: 350
LAPT Viña del Mar Chile	Cancelled	Cancelled	Cancelled	Cancelled
LAPT Argentina Grand Final: (TBC)	Argentina	Main Event: $5,000 + $300	TBC, 2010	Main Event: 500