The LAPT heads to Rosario, Argentina,
for the grand finale of season 3. The last event, held in Florianopolis, Brazil
saw 19 yr old Austrian tourist, Matthias Habernig, walk away with the title and
R$435,000.
So, Season 3 will come to a climax in the
City of Rosario, Argentina with a $5,000 buy-in main event. This will be the
last chance for players to record a victory on the LAPT in 2010 but all will be
looking forward to 2011 and season 4.
One of the stars of this year's LAPT has to
be proud Argentinean native Jose 'Nacho' Barbero who has taken down two of the
main events this year; at Punta del Este in Uruguay
and Lima in Peru, collecting in excess of
$500,000 in the betting 
process.
However, in Brazil,
at the Costao do Santinho Resort in Florianopolis,
Barbero could not complete the hat-trick and was eliminated early in the tournament.
There was a story for another native South
American in the form of Dayan Vardenega but unfortunately for him it was a case
of 2nd best as the young Austrian, Matthias Habernig, took the title home.
The traveller takes down the local Brazilians
who can be a noisy bunch at the best of times but none more so when they are
screaming for a 7 to land on the table to give their home-grown poker star a
way back into the tournament; Vardenega all-in with his two pair of Aces and
Sevens, up against the Aces and Tens of Habernig on a board of A7T-Q. It was a
J and not a 7 that came down on the river, ending play for the day and securing
the Austrian the title.
Habernig was the chip leader after day 1
and, while attributing this mostly to luck, had clearly built up a lot of
confidence and momentum for the next few days play. By the time he had
navigated his way to the final day and final table, seeing some massive names
bust out along the way such as Joe Cada and Humberto 'the shark' Brenes, he had
amassed 3,205,000 of the 7,125,000 chips in play, a massive 45%.
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As everyone bust out around him, it came to
heads-up play and at this point he had 80% of the chips available and apart
from the odd hand and lapse in concentration, he held out well to take down the
prize.
The most remarkable thing about Habernig's
victory has to be the fact that he was just travelling through South America
and qualified for the tournament playing online at Pokerstars, and coupled with
the fact that he still has to go home to his native Austria and begin his
national service, a minimum period of 6 months in the military, then the
R$435,000 (or US $251,000 at current exchange rates) will seem all the sweeter
coming out on the other side. Either that or he is going to have one hell of a
party travelling back home.
The
Grand Finale in Rosario
The City Centre Casino plays host to the
LAPT Grand Final and will take place between September 22nd and 26th, where
just $5,000 will buy you in to the main event. The pros will be out in force while
the online qualifiers, much like Matthias Habernig in Florianopolis, will be looking to upstage them
once again.
With Rosario
looking to play the perfect host, the Argentinean contingent amongst the
players will be looking to sign off in style and give their country something
to be proud of. All eyes will be on 'Nacho' Barbero to see if he can add to his
two previous season 3 titles but there are plenty of others who will be up for
the challenge, such as Damian Salas or Lisandro Gallo, both who feature in the
top 6 of the LAPT leaderboard.
With a number of side events happening at
the same time including a deepstack, an unlimited rebuys and a televised
'high-roller challenge' tournament, there will be plenty of action to get involved
in as this excellent poker tour continues to grow.