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Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT)
General Information
Living up to the expectations, the Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT) made a grand launch in the poker world this year. The LAPT officially took off in May 2008 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Poker is truly becoming a global sport and this has prompted the creation of world-class poker tournament in this part of the world. Poker site PokerStars acts as the major sponsor of LAPT, as with other tournaments such as European Poker Tour (EPT) which was launched in 2004 and Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) which made its debut last year.
The key personnel running the operations of LAPT are Glenn Cademartori (President) and Mike Ward (Tournament Director). Both officials have extensive experiences in the field through the years.
Cadermartori has been connected with poker gaming development and event production in both North and Latin America for the past three years. He already has more than 15 years experience in the marketing and advertising industry which makes him a competent official behind the tournament. He’s been to numerous poker tournaments all over the world and has travelled extensively in the process.
Meanwhile, Ward has been a poker tournament director for more than a decade. Prior to his appointment in the LAPT, he served as the Tournament Director of poker tournaments at the famous Foxwoods Resort Casino since 1996. He has been lauded for being the major force behind the successes of the tournaments hosted by the casino through the years. He also served as director for the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure since 2004. It is no wonder why he has been chosen to spearhead the inaugural LAPT.
Both Cadermartori and Ward have expressed their optimism that the LAPT will place the Latin American community on the map in terms of being the best place to be when it comes to poker competitions.
Public reception
Tournament organizers are expecting about 250 players to take part in each tournament. Surprisingly, the first event which took place in Rio de Janeiro, more than 300 players showed up and shelled out the required buy-in worth $2,500. This created a cash prize pool of $785,000 which was beyond expectations. Tournament sponsor PokerStars also sent its own Team PokerStars players such as Brazilian player Andre Akkari and Costa Rican Humberto Brenes to compete with other talented poker players from other countries.
The player who now has the bragging rights of clinching the first-ever LAPT title is Julien Nuijten of Netherlands. The 19-year old Dutch player made impressive plays to clinch the tournament title after three days of intense competition. He defeated New York-based construction company manager Vitaly Kovyazin in the heads-up match. The young player is expected to make waves in the upcoming years. The title win also served as the first tournament victory for Nuijten.
Due to the overwhelming success of the first event, organizers expect that the succeeding tournaments will attract even more participants. There’s also a great chance that a new breed of Latin poker pros will be discovered, thanks to the LAPT.
LAPT Season One Results
The first-ever LAPT event was held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The popular hotel was able to accommodate the 314 players who signed up to take part in the event. The tournament was a real crowd-drawer since history unfolded itself being the first-ever LAPT event. Here are the official results:
LAPT Rio de Janeiro – Brazil (May 3, 2008 – May 5, 2008, $2,500 buy-in, 314 players, $785,000 cash prize pool): First: Julien Nuijten (Netherlands) $222,940, Second: Vitaly Kovyazin (United States) $117,750, Third: Nikolai Senninger (Germany) $86,350, Fourth: Alex Brenes (San Jose, Costa Rica) $62,800, Fifth: Eduardo Henriques (Brazil) $47,100, Sixth: Oliver Kugler (Germany) $31,400, Seventh: Rafael Pardo (Colombia) $23,550, Eighth: Juan Carlos Burguillos (Venezuela) $15,700 and Ninth: Sevrin Walser (Switzerland) $11,775.
Tournament Schedules
Two other events will take place later this year in Costa Rica and Uruguay. Here are the remaining schedules for LAPT Season One:
LAPT Costa Rica (May 22 - 24, 2008): Ramada Plaza Herradura in San Jose, Costa Rica.
Costa Rica (May 22 - 24, 2008): Ramada Plaza Herradura in San Jose, Costa Rica.LAPT Uruguay (August 7 – 9, 2008): Mantra Resort Spa Casino in Punta del Este, Uruguay.
Uruguay (August 7 – 9, 2008): Mantra Resort Spa Casino in Punta del Este, Uruguay.Other updates can be accessed via LAPT’s official site: www.lapt.com.LAPT Online Satellite Tournaments
As the major sponsor of an inaugural tournament, only PokerStars is currently conducting online satellite tournaments leading to the LAPT event.Currently, PokerStars is conducting satellite tournaments for the next LAPT event, the one that will take place in Costa Rica. Buy-ins to these tournaments can go as low as $2.20. Players can also join the Steps Sit and Go satellites where they can shell out $7.50 or 500 Frequent Player Program (FPP) points.
The format is relatively similar to those being conducted for the European Poker Tour (EPT) and Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT). In this case, the winner of the satellite tournaments will get a $5,000 prize package for the LAPT Costa Rica event. The amount covers the buy-in of $2,500, hotel accommodations and more than $1,500 for other expenses. This means, the winning players get to compete with the best pros and at the same time, spend a relaxing vacation in Costa Rica, thanks to the generous package offered by PokerStars.
Other online poker sites are expected to come up with satellite events in the near future following the success of the first tournament.
The poker community will soon be taking greater notice of the LAPT after the resounding success of the Rio de Janeiro event. The success of the inaugural year of the tournament will serve as crucial especially in the Latin American community because it will become a regular schedule in the poker calendar in the coming years.
Several high profile players are expected to sign up for the succeeding events which make LAPT at par with other major poker tournaments staged in different casinos all over the world. Just like in the EPT and APPT event, cash prizes are expected to rise due to possible increase in entry fees plus the expected boost in participation in the coming years.