Oscar Alache Wins Latin American Poker Tour Chile Main Event, Second LAPT Title
The Latin American Poker Tour Chile Main Event concluded Tuesday at the Enjoy Viña del Mar Casino, and the scene was a familiar one. That’s because Oscar Alache of Chile, winner of the LAPT Peru Grand Final last October, was the winner once again. Alache joined Nacho Barbero and Fabian Ortiz as the only two-time LAPT Main Event winners in the tour’s history.
Alache topped a 410-entry field to earn $131,962 following a four-way final table deal. Besides the Main Event, Alache won a PLO side event as well at LAPT8 Chile.
Speaking of Barbero, the Argentinian was also part of the story of the LAPT8 Chile Main Event, making a tour record seventh Main Event final table and coming close to earning a third title before falling short in in fourth. Meanwhile Renata Teixeira of Brazil made LAPT history as well as the highest-finishing woman ever in an LAPT Main Event with her second-place finish. Jessica Bedoya had previously come the closest of any woman to winning an LAPT with her third-place finish in Colombia during Season 4.
LAPT8 Chile Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oscar Alache | Chile | $131,962* |
| 2 | Renata Teixeira | Brazil | $113,460* |
| 3 | Javier Venegas | Argentina | $86,505* |
| 4 | Nacho Barbero | Argentina | $100,073* |
| 5 | Justo Esquivel | Chile | $51,460 |
| 6 | Fabian Chauriye | Chile | $39,620 |
| 7 | Rodrigo Quezada | Chile | $29,480 |
| 8 | Rodrigo Oliver | Chile | $21,340 |
*Denotes a four-handed deal.
Among others claiming part of the $904,460 prize pool in the $2,500 buy-in event (with reentries) were Ivan Luca (17th, $9,860), Nicolau Villa-Lobos (18th, $8,960), Nicholas Fierro (35th, $5,340), Patricio Rojas (38th, $5,340), and Fabian Ortiz (51st, $4,440).
The top 55 finishers made the money, and interestingly the two Team PokerStars Pros who played were the last eliminated just prior to the cash, with Christian de Leon going out in 57th and Andre Akkari in 56th.
Alache entered the final table second in chips behind his fellow countryman Fabian Chauriye, although Alache would grab the lead in the final table’s third hand after knocking out 63-year-old television director Rodgrio Oliver.
Three more Chileans would fall in succession thereafter, starting with Rodrigo Quezada in seventh who as it happened eliminated his father, Claudio Quezada, in 22nd place on Monday.
Quezada’s fall came on the heels of losing a huge hand in which he’d called a preflop raise from Teixeira from the blinds with 10♣9♣, then watched the flop come 6♣A♣4♣ to make him a flush. After the A♥ came on the turn, Teixeira would get all of her chips in the middle with A♠K♥ with Quezada having her barely covered. The 6♥ then fell on fifth street to make a full house for Teixeira, and a crippled Quezada was out soon after.
Chauriye would go out next in sixth to end a rough start to the day for him, then Justo Esquivel followed him after losing the last of his chips to Barbero.
The final four made a deal at that point, with Teixeira enjoying the chip lead then by a small margin over Alache. Barbero then fell in fourth to fellow Argentinian Javier Venegas, and Venegas in turn fell in third to Teixeira to set up heads-up play.
The purple-haired Teixeira had a loud rail of Brazilians, many of whom sported purple wigs themselves as they sang chants urging her onward. She had the lead to start heads-up with Alache and maintained it for the first half-hour, but gradually Alache chipped away to move in front, then Teixeira lost a race with A♠Q♠ versus Alache’s 10♠10♦ to come up one spot shy of the win.
Season 8 of the Latin American Poker Tour next moves to Panama City for the LAPT8 Panama series running May 8-12, 2015. Besides the $2,500 Main Event, the 13 tournaments will also feature pot-limit Omaha events (including a “Dealer’s Choice 4 or 5 Card” PLO tournament), a H.O.S.E. event, a “Mix-Max” event, and a $5,000 High Roller.
Photos courtesy Carlos Monti of the PokerStars Blog.
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