In poker there are players that are well liked and there are those that can talk the hind leg off a donkey. Not many can bring those two qualties together and still play winning poker, Fintan Gavin is one of the few. Now, finally, the Irishman has that major title he’s been chasing since his runner-up finish at the 2008 EPT Barcelona final table, beating a 519 strong field to claim the UKIPT trophy. Although the £61,500 prize money will be valued, Gavin’s already said he’s chasing double winner Nick Abou Risk for a second title.

Before we go into the rest of the day’s play lets set the scene. Settle back, kick off your shoes and pour yourself a drink. A mighty 519 players satellited or bought their way into this £500 main event contributing to a £251,715 prize pool. After two full days of play – three, if you include both Day 1′s – we had 12 players left and Fintan Gavin in the chip lead with 1,900,000. Three players had to go before the final nine could converge on one single table. The players to walk were George Devine (12th, £2,750), Alan Kirk (11th, £3,150) and Alexander Wanner (10th, £3,150), all three of whom were knocked out by George Clyde-Smith, who himself had started the day painfully short.

The story of the final table was quickly set with Jamie Dale and Fintan Gavin clashing.

“You’re a sicko, a total adrenaline junkie,” the Irishman told Dale after Gavin check-raised Dale off a 4♦6♠T♣4♥. It pushed Gavin towards the two million mark making the possibility of the Irishman steamrolling the table that much more real. It was just the beginning of the Gavin double-talk, telling his opponents one thing before doing the other and happily acting out the role of the old live rock outwardly – “Pick on someone else. I’m too old for that craic” – but showing he was more than happy to gamble and take the young guns on at their own game. He performed a number of live mis-clicks, they seemed genuine but only Gavin knows for sure.

It took the best part of three hours before anyone else was knocked out and it was Kevin Letham who was the fall guy, A♦7♥ no good against Craig Brown’s A♣K♠. Maths teacher Rob Swindells was the next to go, falling foul in the same way, a dominated ace failing to suck out. Thomas Ward was the recipient of his chips and shortly after he won a huge pot to all but eliminate Antonis Poulengeris who had made, as he admitted, a ‘bad move.’ He wasn’t the only player chipping up, Dale had won a flip against Gavin for around a third of the chips in play to claim the chip lead just a few hands earlier.

Craig Brown was next to go, unfortunately finding the shove button with 6♥5♥ in the small blind when big stack Dale had A♦K♦ in the big blind. He may count himself a little unlucky to have busted before George Clyde-Smith who was frequently all-in without a caller, often surviving on stolen blinds and antes alone. Clyde-Smith went the very next hand with K♦9♠ into Jamie Dale’s 8♣8♦ leaving just four players.

Those two bust outs had padded Dale’s stack out to bursting point. He hadn’t put a foot wrong throughout the final table, exerting pressure when he should and fading into the background when it was necessary. He hadn’t panicked and he certainly hadn’t smiled. Ever.

Dale looked unstoppable, the other three players crippled by the money jumps and aggression of the massive chip leader. Then the pressure boiler blew. Dale clashed with Andrew Hawksby in a huge pot at the wrong time, floating the A♠8♥T♦ flop with king-high when Hawksby was betting a set of aces. It resulted in a 3,000,000 pot going to Hawksby and when he knocked out Thomas Ward moments later with A♣Q♠ trumping Q♥J♠ Hawksby found himself with two-thirds of the chips in play.

Dale wasn’t likely to sit around and play for second and it wasn’t long before he got involved in a flip situation with Hawksby. Gavin, only marginally larger stacked than Dale, walked from the table into his rail of supporters, knowing he was heavily invested in this flip too, a guaranteed £14,500 uptick in the balance. Hawksby won to take a three-to-one lead into the heads-up.

Gavin, a key partner of the UKIPT in Ireland, looked thrilled to be heads up and relieved not to be facing Dale, he later said: “He (Dale) put me on uber-tilt. I couldn’t have played him heads up, he would have crucified me.” Lucky for Gavin not only was he facing Hawksby but he won a huge flip to all but level the playing field on just the second hand. Hawksby played a great game but Gavin, a rail thick with his supporters, was not to be beaten and after just an hour of heads up play, during which he found some premium hands, the Irishman landed the killing blow, completing a stoic comeback. Both players held top pair on a nine-high flop, Gavin the larger kicker. The board blanked and the rail erupted.

The payouts
1st: Fintan Gavin, Ireland, PokerStars player, £61,500
2nd: Andrew Hawksby, United Kingdom, £37,400
3rd Jamie Dale, United Kingdom, PokerStars qualifier, £22,900
4th: Thomas Ward, United Kingdom, PokerStars player, £16,850
5th: George Clyde-Smith, United Kingdom, PokerStars player, £13,100
6th: Craig Brown, United Kingdom, PokerStars qualifier, £10,500
7th Antonis Poulengeris, United Kingdom, PokerStars player £8,050
8th: Rob Swindells, United Kingdom, PokerStars player, £6,300

By Rick Dacey

The first-ever Epic Poker main event was won during the weekend by David “Chino” Rheem. Palms Casino Resort was the setting for the 6 max championship and Chino took out the $1,000,000.00 prize money plus the Champion’s Ring.

It was one of the toughest final tables in history. The six starters below had $45,000,000.00 in tournament winnings among them:
Seat 1: Hasan Habib 1,655,000 chips
Seat 2: Erik Seidel 1,109,000 chips
Seat 3: Chino Rheem 1,432,000 chips
Seat 4: Gavin Smith 766,000 chips
Seat 5: Jason Mercier 1,495,000 chips
Seat 6: Huck Seed 396,000 chips

Short stacked Huckleberry Seed was the first to depart in sixth place when his pocket jacks didn’t hold up against Jason Mercier’s ace king.

Shortly after Gavin Smith was all in with pocket nines which ran into Jason Mercier’s pocket queens. Gavin finished in fifth place after a galant effort.

Hasan Habib was next to go, when after a lucky chop three hands earlier against Chino Rheem found himself all-in again with pocket jacks. This time Chino woke up with pocket aces and it was adios to Hasan in fourth place.

Three handed, Jason Mercier whose stack had been dented through an earlier hand against Erik Seidel moved all-in with 98 and was called by Seidel who showed KJ. The board ran out blank, sending Jason to the rail in third place.

Heads up was a tough and lengthy battle and at the end it came down to Seidel moving all-in with AQ against Rheem’s AK. Rheem rivered a diamond flush to take out the championship and send Seidel out in second place.

Final Table payouts:
1st: Chino Rheem – $1,000,000
2nd: Erik Seidel – $604,330
3rd: Jason Mercier – $360,970
4th: Hasan Habib – $237,560
5th: Gavin Smith – $154,260
6th: Huck Seed – $107,980

World Poker Tour® is making a grand entrance for this year’s WPT Grand Prix de Paris, kicking off the week with a jaw-dropping spectacular.

On Sunday, September 4, WPT and PartyPoker.fr will host media at a press conference in Paris featuring WPT CEO Steve Heller, WPT President Adam Pliska, WPT on-air announcers Mike Sexton, Vince Van Patten, Kimberly Lansing and Tony Dunst, as well as the Royal Flush Girls as they discuss huge changes, new innovations and significant enhancements to the current tour season and numerous upgrades to the WPT’s record-breaking Season 9 television show that will begin airing in Europe in late 2011.

Then, after a post-press conference cocktail reception, the Royal Flush Girls will join the legendary Crazy Horse dancers for a special performance of Desirs. The show features classically trained dancers integrated into sensuous choreography, with textured lighting and stunningly rich colours to deliver an overwhelming visual experience.

Lock Poker pro Jose ‘Girah’ Macedo became famous last year for growing a $30.00 on-line poker deposit into $2,000,000.00.

Macedo had established an on-line Skype poker group with his on-line pro friends such as “Kjemmy”, Haseeb “Dogishead” Qureshi, Matthew “MossBoss” Moss, Daniel “jungleman12” Cates and other prominent on-line poker players. The players would share strategies and would rail each other on Skype.

Macedo had created a couple of bogus names on-line “sauron1989″ on the iPoker and “dollarman223″on the Merge. He then encouraged his fellow pros to play these two players because they were so bad. Macedo’s friends woke up to what was going on after a few losing sessions, some as high as $30,000. It was “MossBoss” and “TooCuriousso1” who first became suspicious and decided to investigate by going back into their Skype blogs.

They found that everytime “sauron1989″ and “dollarman223″ were playing Macedo was on Skype and when they left the table, Macedo logged off Skype. The group then confronted Macedo who denied the allegations but he finally admitted that he had been cheating.

Macedo made the following poker forum statement:

“I’m holding my hands up and taking whatever consequences come. I realise the severity of this, but I also realise that I have to take responsibility for my actions and so I’m paying back everyone involved and in addition paying them compensation of $30,000. I’ve also told my sponsor etc and whatever happens there I will take the consequences too. They have been really amazing to me and I’ve enjoyed every minute of working with them. Representing Lock and being part of their amazing team, witnessing the incredible growth, was a pleasure and an honor.

I’m young, I made a mistake and I hope that this doesn’t define me; I hope that how I deal with this and move forward is the thing that does. And people will say I have no excuse and I know and understand that. I agree. I just want to let everyone know, I’m sorry. I apologise to the guys who lost their money, the people who I love and care about and I have disappointed and the guys in the poker world who have supported me for letting them down. I wish I had something to say to you all, to say to my parents and my friends and all of those who thought I could do no wrong.”

This has resulted in Lock Poker terminating their sponsorship and he has also been taken off as an instructor for PokerStrategy.com

Pennsylvania’s Poker pro Steve O’Dwyer now residing in Las Vegas has taken out the first-ever Epic Poker Pro-Am which was held at Palms Casino Resort.

The 29 year old bested a field of 190 players in a very tough tournament to take home $23,810.00 and a $20,000 ticket into Epic Poker League’s main event.

O’Dwyer started the six handed final table as chipleader ranked 129th in the Global Poker Index. His ranking will now be shooting up as a result.

O’Dwyer has over $1,000,000.00 in tournament winnings to his name and has always been under the radar.

This is how the final table finished:
1st – Steve O’Dwyer
$20,000 Main Event seat plus $23,810
2nd – Brandon Meyers
$20,000 Main Event seat plus $11,900
3rd – Andy Bloch
$20,000 Main Event seat plus $7,540
4th – Clifford Waite
$20,000 Main Event seat plus $5,160
5th – Jeremiah DeGreef
$20,000 Main Event seat plus $3,570
6th – Micah Raskin
$20,000 Main Event seat plus $2,780

PokerStars has released the final schedule for this year’s WCOOP, and it is a doozy.

Beginning September 4, PokerStars will host 62 events over 22 days with $30 million in guarantees. From Triple Stud to the No-Limit Hold’em main event, the series will have an event for just about every poker discipline. PokerStars is already promising a cool million bucks guaranteed for first place in the main event.

You’ll remember, it was less than a year ago that Tyson ‘POTTERPOKER’ Marks picked up more than $2 million in winnings after taking home the WCOOP championship. Now it’s your chance to bag the big bucks.

We’ve posted the full schedule below, but here are some quick reference links for you to learn all you need to know about this year’s online festival.

2011 WCOOP Schedule
2011 WCOOP satellites
2011 WCOOP Leaderboard

Leaderboard? That’s right.

WCOOP is once again offering some sweet prizes to the top winners over the course of the series. Finish in the top three spots on the 2011 WCOOP leaderboard, and here’s what you’ll win.

1st: Champion’s Trophy + EPT Season 8 Grand Final prize package + 2012 SCOOP Main Event ticket + 2012 PCA package + Special Edition Chip Set
2nd: 2012 SCOOP Main Event ticket + 2012 PCA prize package + Special Edition Chip Set
3rd: 2012 SCOOP Main Event ticket + Special Edition Chip Set

For now, mark your calendars with the schedule below and get ready for the best month in online poker.

2011 PokerStars WCOOP Schedule
All times ET

9/4-10:00–WCOOP-01: $215 NL Hold’em (6-Max)
9/4–12:00–WCOOP-02: $10,300 NL Hold’em (High Roller)
9/4–14:00–WCOOP-03: $215 NL Hold’em
9/5–11:00–WCOOP-04: $320 PL Omaha
9/5–14:00–WCOOP-05: $320 NL Hold’em (6-Max, Shootout, No Late Registration)
9/5–17:00–WCOOP-06: $215+R NL Hold’em (Turbo)
9/6–11:00–WCOOP-07: $215 PL Draw
9/6–14:00–WCOOP-08: $215 Triple Stud
9/6–17:00–WCOOP-09: $1,050 NL Hold’em
9/7–6:00–WCOOP-10: $265 PL Omaha (Knockout)
9/7–11:00–WCOOP-11: $320 NL Hold’em (Ante Up)
9/7–14:00–WCOOP-12: $215 NL Hold’em (Heads-Up, No Late Registration)
9/8–6:00–WCOOP-13: $215 PL Omaha H/L (6-Max, 1R1A)
9/8–11:00–WCOOP-14: $265 NL Hold’em (6-Max, Knockout)
9/8–14:00–WCOOP-15: $215 Razz
9/9–11:00–WCOOP-16: $215 PL Omaha (6-Max)
9/9–14:00–WCOOP-17: $215 NL Single Draw 2-7
9/9–17:00–WCOOP-18: $320 NL Hold’em (10-Min Levels)
9/10 –10:00–WCOOP-19: $109 NL Hold’em
9/10–14:00–WCOOP-20: $215 FL Hold’em
9/11–10:00–WCOOP-21: $215 NL Hold’em
9/11–14:00–WCOOP-22: $530 NL Hold’em
9/12–11:00–WCOOP-23: $215 NL Hold’em (4-Max)
9/12–14:00–WCOOP-24: $320 Stud
9/12–17:00–WCOOP-25: $215 PL Omaha (Turbo, 1R1A)
9/13–11:00–WCOOP-26: $320 Mixed Hold’em (6-Max)
9/13–14:00–WCOOP-27: $320 FL Badugi
9/13–17:00–WCOOP-28: $1,050 NL Hold’em
9/14–6:00–WCOOP-29: $265 NL Omaha H/L (6-Max, Knockout)
9/14–11:00–WCOOP-30: $530 NL Hold’em (10-Max, Triple Shootout, No Late Registration)
9/14–14:00–WCOOP-31: $320 8-Game
9/15–6:00–WCOOP-32: $320 NL Hold’em (6-Max)
9/15–11:00–WCOOP-33: $320 PL Omaha (6-Max, 1R1A)
9/15–14:00–WCOOP-34: $320 Triple Draw 2-7
9/16–11:00–WCOOP-35: $215+R NL Hold’em
9/16–14:00–WCOOP-36: $530 FL Omaha H/L
9/16–17:00–WCOOP-37: $109 8-Game (10-Min Rounds)
9/17–10:00–WCOOP-38: $530 NL Hold’em (Heads-Up, No Late Registration)
9/17–14:00–WCOOP-39: $320 HORSE
9/18–10:00–WCOOP-40: $215 NL Hold’em
9/18–12:00–WCOOP-41: $10,300 NL Hold’em (High-Roller Heads-Up, No Late Registration)
9/18–14:00–WCOOP-42: $1,050 NL Hold’em
9/19–11:00–WCOOP-43: $320+R PL Omaha (6-Max)
9/19–14:00–WCOOP-44: $320 NL Hold’em (2X Chance)
9/19–17:00–WCOOP-45: $265 NL Hold’em (Turbo, Knockout)
9/20–11:00–WCOOP-46: $320 Mixed PL Hold’em/Omaha
9/20–14:00–WCOOP-47: $530 Stud H/L
9/20–17:00–WCOOP-48: $1,050 NL Hold’em
9/21–6:00–WCOOP-49: $215 NL Hold’em (1R1A)
9/21–11:00–WCOOP-50: $215 NL Hold’em (Big Antes)
9/21–14:00–WCOOP-51: $320 PL Omaha H/L
9/22–6:00–WCOOP-52: $320 NL Hold’em
9/22–11:00–WCOOP-53: $530+R NL Hold’em
9/22–14:00–WCOOP-54: $2,100 PL Omaha (6-Max)
9/23–11:00–WCOOP-55: $530 NL Hold’em (1R1A)
9/23–14:00–WCOOP-56: $1,050 FL Hold’em (6-Max)
9/23–17:00–WCOOP-57: $215 NL Omaha H/L (10-Min Levels)
9/24–10:00–WCOOP-58: $530 PL Omaha (Heads-Up, No Late Registration)
9/24–14:00–WCOOP-59: $2,100 HORSE
9/25–10:00–WCOOP-60: $215 NL Hold’em
9/25–12:00–WCOOP-61: $10,300 8-Game (High Roller)
9/25–14:00–WCOOP-62: $5,200 NL Hold’em Main Event (1st Place: $1M Gtd)

By Brad Willis

888poker has announced www.888poker.com as an online satellite partner for World Poker Tour in Dublin, Ireland with two ways to win a package worth $6,500. Qualifying is easy, join daily satellite tournaments with buy-ins starting at just $1.35 or skip straight to the $220 Qualifier every Saturday night.

888poker’s $6,500 package to the new WPT Ireland (Jan 4th to Jan 8th, 2012), includes:
•€2,500 entry to the WPT Ireland Main Event
•$1,400 for travel/spending (paid into 888poker account)
•6 nights accommodation at City West Hotel, Dublin, including breakfast and buffet dinner (check-in Jan 3rd, check-out Jan 9th)
•888poker Live Event Merchandise Kit
•Invitation to 888poker special event (invitation direct to winners only)

To find out more information about the WPT Ireland satellite series and all of 888poker Live Event satellites, please go to 888poker Live Events.

World Poker Tour® has announced a new event for its historic 10th season as the Tour heads to the Casino at Portomaso for WPT Malta, with the €3,000 + €300 Main Event taking place from the 20th-24th September 2011.

Hot off the heels of a month of poker action in France, WPT Tour Director Matt Savage will be tournament director for this inaugural event. With the world’s best players expected in Europe across September and October, WPT Malta is another date for the calendar. Top Europeans like triple crown winner Jake Cody and WSOP bracelet winner Matt Perrins are heading to Malta and see the importance of strong performances in September and October and aim to ensure the US players don’t come and take all the money back to the States like they did at the WSOP this year. “I think we showed the strength of UK poker in Vegas this year and with many Europeans doing well, we want to make sure the big titles keep on coming,” said Cody.

The Casino forms an integral part of the unique marina development of Portomaso, situated in the fashionable and nightlife district of St. Julian`s on Malta’s north-eastern coast. Portomaso is very accessible and can easily be reached by car, taxi, public transport and naturally by yacht! The island’s capital, Valletta, is a mere 20 minutes drive away, with Malta International Airport 10 km to the south, an approximate 25 minutes transfer. The Casino is situated amongst Malta`s elite and luxurious hotels. Located adjacent to the Casino is the stunning 5 star Hilton Hotel with other 5 star and 4 star hotels in the vicinity.

Adam Pliska, President of the World Poker Tour said: “Portomaso in Malta is normally the home of super yachts but for four days in late September it will be home to WPT Malta. This Mediterranean hotspot already has poker in its veins so we hope that by introducing a World Poker Tour stop we will satisfy the desires of locals and the international contingent looking for some late summer sun.”

As a main Tour stop the winner of WPT Malta will be awarded a $25,500 seat for the WPT World Championship at Bellagio in 2012. Pre-register for this and other World Poker Tour events at https://www.wptregistrations.com/

The news that there will be a WPT Malta comes hot on the heels of announcing the €2,500 buy-in PKR.com WPT Ireland at the legendary City West Hotel in Dublin from Thursday 5th January – Sunday 8th January 2012.

By Warren Lush

Party Poker is offering exclusive packages for Oktoberfest, one of the world’s biggest and most exciting parties, and can guarantee you and a friend will be there for this year’s unmissable spectacular in Germany!

There are 16 Oktoberfest packages to be won through an exclusive VIP promotion – OPT IN to two VIP Oktoberfest Races. Race 1 takes place from 00.00 ET on the 12th August to 23.59 ET on the 21st August. Race 2 gets underway at 00.00 ET on the 22nd August running until 23.59 ET on the 31st August.

In each race you boost your position by collecting PartyPoints as you play on Party Poker tables. The higher you rank, the better your prize. Rank 1st – 7th in either race and automatically win an Oktoberfest VIP package for two, 8th – 25th gets $250, 26th – 75th gets $100 and 76th – 400th get a VIP Oktoberfest and Super Gadget Freeroll entry.

Two separate races means double the chances to win. If a player participates and ranks high enough in both races PartyPoker will reward these fine efforts with an amazing Apple gadget. Finish in the top 25 in both races and win an Apple iPad2 (16Gb), finish in the top 75 in both races and win an iPod Touch (64Gb).

Each Oktoberfest package includes:
• Two night’s accommodation, with breakfast, at the five-star Le Meridien hotel in Munich for the winner and a guest
•Dinner and poker tournament at the Olympic Tower restaurant
•Choice of various daytime activities
•Dinner and drinks in an exclusive box at the Hippodrom Oktoberfest tent
•Reserved area and drinks in P1 nightclub
•All transportation over the weekend
•$600 spending money
•Exclusive VIP hospitality provided by our expert events team, on hand and available to you throughout your trip

A PartyPoker.com spokesman said: “There’s a race to get beers in! Oktoberfest is one of the most popular packages we give away all year. Many claim they have days to remember but we’re not sure about that!”

The VIP Oktoberfest and Super Gadget Freeroll takes place on 4th September for further chances to claim Oktoberfest packages and gadgets. For more information and terms and conditions see: http://www.partypoker.com/promotions/oktoberfest-vip-2011.html

By Warren Lush

Of all the poker tours in the world, there may be no circuit fueled more by national pride than the Latin American Poker Tour. Where else will you find players and fans packing bags with their country’s flag on the off-chance they can drape it over their shoulders during a victory celebration? Where else will galleries fill and empty based on the double-up or elimination of one player? Where else other than the LAPT?

During its first five events, the LAPT had the dubious distinction of never crowning a winner from Latin America. That changed midway through Season 2. Now, the waves of national pride that swell with each LAPT main event are the kind of which surfers dream.

Inside the tube of that international wave rode the LAPT Punta del Este main event, the largest LAPT event ever in the country. Though the LAPT has never missed a chance to stop in Punta del Este, no Uruguayan has ever raised the country’s flag over the winner’s trophy. That changed this week as Uruguayan Alex Komaromi beat out a field of 422 players and claimed his country’s first LAPT championship.

The Season 4 Punta del Este final table was guaranteed a winner from Latin America. It hosted one Uruguayan, one man from Venezuela, one from Argentina, one from Peru, and four men from Brazil.

Only once before in LAPT history has a Brazilian won an LAPT event. That happened in Chile a few months ago. Today, the Brazilians had half the remaining field. They came with their flags, their fans, and their greatest chance in months to score an LAPT victory.

Instead, fate dealt them the first four exits. One by one, the Brazilians dropped. Rafael Monteiro lost A♣Q♣ all-in against Engelberth Varela’s A♠K♣. A short-stacked Fernando Araujo’s A♠K♦ fell to Varela’s J♥T♣. Nelson Neto went down with A♥Q♠ versus Alex Komaromi’s pocket eights. Felipe Pasini couldn’t find any outs with Q♦J♦ over Komaromi’s pocket tens. In a quadruple-shot of Brazilian horror that lasted less than two hours, all four were gone.

Perhaps the greatest beneficiary of the Brazilians bad fortune was a man from Peru. Carlos Watanabe had sat quiet while the carnage raged around him. His style earned him an extra $50,000. With the Brazilians gone, Watanabe waited just a couple of minutes before getting his final few big blinds all-in with pocket fives against Varela’s Q♠J♣. The Q♣ fell on the turn and Watanabe was gone.

Three-handed, the chip counts were as follows:

Alex Komaromi (Uruguay) — 5.47 million
Engelberth Varela (Venezuela) — 1.9 million
Claudio Piedrabuena (Argentina) — 780,000

With those three players remaining, Uruguay still had a great shot at its first title. Argentina, which already has a few winners, was a dark horse for a new trophy. Meanwhile, PokerStars Supernova Engelberth Varela was working to pick up his country’s first LAPT championship. He had that chance for about an hour.

Komaromi opened the betting with a raise to 130,000. Piedrabuena got out of the way, but Varela called in the big blind. On a flop of A♥7♣3♣, Varela check-called a 160,000 bet from Komaromi. He did it again for 335,000 on the Q♠ turn. The dealer put out the 5♠ on the river. Again Varela checked. He had just short of a million chips in front of him. Komaromi announced he was all-in. Varela took a long time to make his decision, but ultimately called with A♦6♠, no good against Komaromi’s A♣8♣.

It looked to be a fast heads-up fight. Komaromi held a better than 7-1 chip lead on Piedrabuena. It could’ve been just one quick all-in to give Uruguay it’s first championship.

Instead, Piedrabuena went to work. He pounded every hand pre-flop with all-ins. After doubling up once with aces, he began firing out 10x big blind raises. It was clear he was planning to play all-in if Komaromi didn’t want to give up his blinds. It went on that way for half an hour before Komaromi took a stand with A♥J♠. Piedrabuena held pocket tens. They held and gave the Argentinean the chip lead. It lasted for just one hand. Moments later, Komaromi’s A♦K♠ held against Piedrabuena’s A♠T♥. He was back.

Komaromi would never fall back again.

“I always thought that this was mine,” Komaromi would say later.

Komaromi came in for a raise to 150,000 and Piedrabuena made the call. Both players checked the flop of 4♠7♣K♦. On the J♣ turn, Piedrabuena checked, Komaromi bet 225,000, and Piedrabuena announced he was all-in for around 1.3 million. Komaromi snap-called with J♥4♥. Piedrabuena had K♣T♣ for top pair with the flush draw. He blanked on the 2♦ river and finished in 2nd place for $141,220.

Rafael Monteiro, 8th place, $18,360
Fernando Araujo, 7th place, $27,770
Nelson Neto, 6th place, $37,190
Felipe Pasini, 5th place, $46,600
Carlos Watanabe, 4th place, $65,430
Engelberth Varela, 3rd place, $88,970
Claudio Piedrabuena, 2nd place, $141,220
Alex Komaromi, 1st place, $244,720

This is the fourth time the LAPT has visited this fine city on the Atlantic coast. Each time, the Uruguayans were forced to watch someone from another country take the trophy home in their luggage. Now, the trophy doesn’t need to be shipped through customs. It will stay on Uruguayan soil.

Surrounded by his friends, Komaromi said, “I’m really excited right now. It’s crazy. Everything came out right. We’re probably going to go party.”

Congratulations to Alex Komaromi for winning Uruguay’s first LAPT title and $244,720.

By Brad Willis