Dominik Nitsche wins LAPT Grand Final in Mar del Plata

The season finale of the Latin American Poker Tour took place in the Argentinean seaside resort of Mar del Plata, as the region’s elite players were joined by PokerStars qualifiers in a two day event that would crown the Season 2 LAPT Grand Final Champion. The LAPT had already visited four of Latin America’s most stunning locations, and Mar del Plata was a fitting venue to close this record-breaking tour.

It was 18-year-old online qualifier Dominik Nitsche from Germany who emerged victorious from a star-studded field of 291 players that included Team PokerStars Pros Chris Moneymaker, Joe Hachem, Alexandre Gomes and Andre Akkari. Nitsche, who qualified through a freeroll on PokerStars, collected $387,030 for the win, and became the youngest ever LAPT winner. Also in the money was Team PokerStars Pro Leo Fernandez, who fought back from a short stack on Day 1 to collect $63,250 for sixth place. It was eventual Champion Nitsche who busted the Argentinean at the final table in a classic Aces versus Kings encounter, with the pocket rockets holding up for the young German.  

For complete details of the LAPT Grand Final in Mar del Plata, check out the PokerStars Blog, and for video interviews from the tournament, take a look at PokerStars.tv.

Watch the video below to see an interview with the winner.

Watch LAPT Mar del Plata S2: Dominik Nitshce Wins the Grand Final on PokerStars.tv

Season 2 Highlights

Latin American Poker Tour history was made in Punta del Este, Uruguay, when the tournament provided the first ever $1,000,000 prize pool for the LAPT - the exact figure coming in at a massive $1,110,200. The international field numbered 327 players, who battled over three days of action-packed poker at the beautiful Mantra Resort. Karl Hevroy, a 20-year-old Norwegian who bought in directly, started the final table as a big chip leader and made the advantage pay, beating Alejandro De Arruabarrena from Uruguay in heads-up play to collect $283,580 and the title. The victory was sealed in emphatic fashion when Hevroy, who was holding 8-9 flopped a full house and was able to trap his opponent. The LAPT Mexico final table also played out in Punta, and that was won by Rory Cox from San Francisco, USA.

LAPT Vina del Mar saw a win for Argentina’s Fabian Ortiz, who fought back from less than one big blind to take the title and first place prize of $141,426. The journey from dangerously short-stacked to Champion started when he doubled up twice in consecutive hands, putting him right back in contention. He then picked up more chips a few hands later when he knocked out 4th place finisher Leandro Balotin. But he was still short compared to Vincenzo Giannelli when play got down to heads-up. The turning point came when Vincenzo called an all-in pre-flop raise by Fabian. His A-6 was ahead of Fabian’s K-7, and a flop of T-8-6 put him in even better shape. But it also gave Fabian a gutshot straight draw, which he duly hit when a 9 came on the turn. It was all over soon after.

LAPT Season 2 kicked off in style, with victory in San Jose for 20-year old Ryan Fee, worth $285,773. A field of 219 players gathered from across the world for the event, including Team PokerStars Pro. After three days of action, play got down to the final table, which included six players who had won their seat at PokerStars, plus local legend and World Series bracelet winner Maria Stern. Fee took out most of the final nine himself, with a great run of cards that included turning a royal flush, beating the straight flush held by Jeff Petronack. His luck continued on the final hand. With all the money in the middle, Fee’s A-T was behind the pockets 4’s of Joel Micka - but an ace on the river secured the championship win for Fee.

To read full coverage of all the action from Season 2 of the Latin American Poker Tour, visit the PokerStars Blog.

Season 2 Schedule

COUNTRY	CITY	DATE
Costa Rica	San Jose	November 3-5 , 2008
Mexico	Nuevo Vallarta	Cancelled
Chile	Vina del Mar	January 20-22, 2009
Uruguay	Punta del Este	March 18-20, 2009
Argentina	Mar del Plata	April 16-19, 2009

Season 1

A total of 1,063 players entered Season 1, generating a prize pool of $2,601,325 and three new champions! Dutchman Julien Nuijten became the first ever PokerStars Latin American Poker Tour champion when he won the first event in Rio in May 2008, taking home $222,940. Later that month, Valdemar Kwaysser won the LAPT San Jose event and prize money of $274,103. In August, Jose Miguel Espinar won $241,735 for taking down the Punta Del Este event - the final stop of Season 1.

For more on the Latin American Poker Tour, visit the LAPT site.

If you have any questions about LAPT, contact support@pokerstars.com.