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2:15pm: Lopez looks for third title
Level 3 - Blinds 100/200
We just mentioned that defending LAPT Chile champion Oscar Alache has taken his seat and that means that all three two-time LAPT winners that were mentioned yesterday have returned for Day 1B. Alache headlines that group as the Chilean is not only the defending champion of this event but also the LAPT Season 8 Player of the Year.
Fabian Ortiz won in Chile during Season 2 and then added a second title in Panama in 2014, while his fellow Argentinian Mario Lopez has bee on a tear over the last two years. Ortiz won at Vina del Mar in 2014 and then claimed another LAPT title in Uruguay in September of last year, with those wins bookending a EPT Estrellas Main Event win this past summer.
Can lightning strike twice for each of those two Argentinians in Chile? We'll have to wait and see but Lopez is in a tough spot, seated next to another experienced countryman in Pablo Chacra. They'll certainly be players to watch throughout this event and Lopez, along with the other two-time winners, will look to make LAPT history this weekend. --WOC
2:05pm: A few notables
Level 2 - Blinds 75/150
Here's our shortlist of notable-name stacks from the first two levels - we're sure this list will grow throughout the day as we get to know the field better. --JS
| Player | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| Irina Petrova | Russia | 37000 |
| Renata Teixeira | Brazil | 24000 |
| Jorge Cantos | Argentina | 22000 |
| Francisco Benitez | Uruguay | 20000 |
| Pablo Chacra | Argentina | 17500 |
| Bruno Kawauti | Brazil | 16000 |
| Fabian Ortiz | Argentina | 15000 |
| Mario Lopez | Argentina | 14000 |
| Pablo Tavitian | Argentina | 7000 |
2pm: First break of the day
Level 2 - Blinds 75/150
The players have gone on a 15-minute break - we'll have a few of the notable chip counts for you momentarily. --JS
1:50pm: Alache arrives
Level 2 - Blinds 75/150
Defending champ and one of only four two-time LAPT winners, Oscar Alache, has entered the building. His Day 1A didn't quite go to plan - he had about 60,000 and was among the chip leaders but lost a huge pot to Fernando Reines which made his opponent the chip leader.
Alache, Fabian Ortiz, and Mario Lopez are all trying to become the first player to win three LAPTs. --JS
1:45pm: Petrova looks to join pair in Day 2
Level 2 - Blinds 75/150
During yesterday's Day 1A session, we saw a handful of women attempt to survive the ten levels to get to Day 2. In the end, only two were able to do so and today, Irina Petrova will try to do the same. Over the last year, the Russian has recorded stops across the European Poker Tour, including a final table run in a PokerStars Caribbean Adventure side event earlier this year.
She's a long way from home but so was Andrius Bielskis, who hails from Lithuania and ended Day 1A with a ton of chips. Petrova will now try to regain the European form in South America, to not only advance to Day 2 but also record her first career LAPT score in the process.
It's going well - right now she's our chip leader. --WOC
1:35pm: Tavitian hoping to repeat past glory
Level 2 - Blinds 75/150
Argentina's Pablo Tavitian knows a thing or two about poker here in Viña del Mar. He won the biggest ever event here back on Season 6 of the LAPT, winning the Chile stop for $184,220. At the final table, he had to defeat two-time LAPT champ Jose Barbero - no easy feat, I can assure you.
He's in the field today and will be looking to get off to a good start on Day 1B. --JS
1:25pm: LOT. OF. ACTION.
Level 2 - Blinds 75/150
Wow, this has been a crazy day of play so far. Usually the first few levels are quite conservative - nobody wants to go home after an hour of play, after all - but LAPT9 Chile Day 1B has been the opposite.
Walking around I can see tons of short-stacks already. The blinds are only 75/150 and the starting stack was 20,000!
In one sick hand, Juan Pablo Lucero secured a double up (albeit only to 17,000) when his pocket sixes pipped his opponent's flopped set to the post. His [6h][6d] was up against his opponent's [jh][td] on a [js][9s][qc][jc][6c] board - meaning a miracle river gave him the win, and crushed the other player down to just 1,400. --JS
1:15pm: Schafer rivers Ortiz to say alive
Level 2 - Blinds 75/150
"I got an all-in and double up." I said, to which my colleague Jack Stanton replied, "Already!?"
Yes, all-in, call and double up just a few minutes into Level 2 and two-time LAPT winner Fabian Ortiz was the one shipping that double as his flopped top pair couldn't hold. Action was picked up on a board of [9c][8s][2s] and after a flurry of raises Claudio Schafer's 7,975 chip short stack got in the middle.
He held [Qs][ts] and he'd need to hit to stay alive against Ortiz's [Kh][9s]. The Argentinian held top pair and a spade blocker but after the [3c] fell on the turn, he'd cut out the necessary chips to pay the bet, as the [As] completed the board and Schafer's flush.
Our Spanish to English translator might not be turned on just yet (we'll wait until the PokerStars Brazil guysto hit the floor for that) but Ortiz did not look impressed by the river, a card that dropped him back to a starting stack and pushed Schafer up near 16,000. --WOC
1:05pm: The theme of Day 1B so far
Level 2 - Blinds 75/150
Big bets - that's the trend I keep noticing as I walk around the room and familiarize myself with the players. In one hand, I saw a c-bet of 1,025 into a 775 pot. In another, a flop bet of 3,200 into an 1,800 chip pot.
If the action continues like this throughout the day, there's going to be some crazy action. Don't go anywhere. --JS
1pm: Wow - that was fast
Level 2 - Blinds 75/150
We're still getting to know the field and find out exactly who's playing, but we've already gone through Level 1. The blinds are now 75/150. --JS
12:35pm: Riera ignoring LAPT fashion trend
Level 1 - Blinds 50/100
If we've noticed one thing about Chilean or South American poker players, it's that they love their sunglasses. From well known names like Bruno Politano and Damian Salas to stone amateurs, seemingly every table in the room has a a few players behind some stylish shades.
Table 4 is currently eight-handed and the only player that seems to have missed the sunglass memo is Oscar Riera. He's sans sunglasses but that doesn't mean that he's at a disadvantage, as the Argentinian has taken in a few pots throughout the last orbit to move himself near the 25,000 chip mark.
While the rest of his table hides behind their shades, Riera is going to attempt to make his way through this Day 1B flight the old fashioned way. --WOC
12:20pm: Chacra's back; waiting on Alache
Level 1 - Blinds 50/100
Pablo Chacra is back again today, after his Day 1A didn't run as hot as he would have liked. He was short-stacked for most of it, so is probably thrilled to see 20,000 in chips back in front of him once again.
We're expecting to see a lot of the departed Day 1A players here today - notably LAPT Player of the Year Oscar Alache, who just happens to be the defending champ. He assured us that both he - and his mum, Bernardita Orrego - will be back in play on Day 1B.
I asked Oscar last night why his mum is playing in her first LAPT. "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree,2 he said. --JS
12:10pm: Better luck for Renata Teixeira
Level 1 - Blinds 50/100
While it wasn't entirely reported yesterday, Renata Teixeira had a rough Day 1A session. The Season 8 LAPT Chile runner up was crippled after a blind versus blind encounter, where her opponent held 8-deuce off-suit to her pocket threes, and from that point treaded water until she was sent to the rail.
Early in this Day 1A session, Teixeira is back in the action, looking to run better than yesterday. She'll have to wait though, as her table is only three-handed and waiting for a fourth to get the cards in the air. We'll certainly follow the Brazilian's action throughout this Day 1B flight and we imagine we'll see the player that bested her last year, Oscar Alache, later today as well. -- WOC
12:05pm: Ortiz is back for more
Level 1 - Blinds 50/100
Two-time LAPT champ Fabian Ortiz is back in the mix today on Day 1B. He'll be looking for a better run than he had yesterday - a day which saw him, Mario Lopez, and Oscar Alache (AKA all of the two-time winners here in Chile) bust before the end of the day.
The Argentine is looking as sharp as ever, so we hope things run smoothly for him today. --JS
12pm: Cards are in the air
Level 1 - Blinds 50/100
Play has kicked off here at Day 1B - the room's not quite full yet but we already see plenty of familiar faces that played yesterday. Stay tuned. --JS
11:40am: Day 1B all set to launch
After an action packed Day 1A session, the PokerStars blog is back for what should be another exciting starting flight. Day 1B of the LAPT9 Chile $1,500 Main Event will likely crush yesterday's number of 258 players, creating a massive starting flight that is sure to be filled with big name players from across Latin America.
Again, just as a reminder to player and fans alike, Vina del Mar is our host this weekend and after a LAPT player party last night and 24 hours in Chile, we may never leave. Luckily, we have work for the next few days to keep us busy and over the next 12 hours, we'll bring you all the updates from this second and final LAPT9 Chile starting flight.
Those updates will start when cards get in the air at 12 PM, so stay tuned for all the LAPT9 Chile action...
PokerStars Blog Reporting Team at LAPT9 Chile: Will O'Connor and Jack Stanton. Photos by Carlos Monti. Follow the PokerStars Blog on Twitter: @PokerStarsBlog
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