tilted behaviour

The land of beautiful woman, gorgeous beaches and the beloved game of soccer was the next stop on my poker calendar as an Austrian hoisted the trophy and US$247,441 first prize when he bested a 364-player field courtesy of a two-pair over two-pair cooler last hand.

With Florianopolis being the fourth stop for season three of the Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT) – and my first – I am delighted to write my first tournament recap from South America with The Eight Points of Enlightenment: LAPT Florianopolis.

1 – Costao do Santinho Resort (Part I): Being able to cover tournaments in exotic occasions means that you are privy to five-star hotels and fantastic resorts. With this leg of the LAPT being located on the island of Florianopolis, the Costao do Santinho was the ideal resort for the tournament with its many villas and prime beach-side location. Although the resort was somewhere Brazilians would journey to to escape the city life, in comparison to some of the places that poker players have accustomed to, it doesn’t quite fit the bill. Each room was more like an apartment with a laundry and kitchen, and was pretty average in all departments – especially the heating – which was quite a disappointment.
One of the other problems we were having was terrible internet connection. Although it allowed us to connect momentarily, it would randomly just disconnect and not allow us to re-connect at any point during the night. This was a major problem for us when we either had to do work or play online; and who knows how the poker players staying at the resort would have felt – especially since it was mid-FTOPS!

2 – Costao do Santinho Resort (Part II): The rooms may have been average, but the one aspect of the resort that was really good was that it was all-inclusive. With two restaurants located on the beach front, we could freely make our way there for a buffet breakfast or dinner, and it was completely complimentary. The breakfast wasn’t flash hot, but the dinner was what we all looked forward to as they had an Italian restaurant where – along with the standard buffet – they had freshly made pizza and pasta for you to order and have delivered to your table. It definitely made our group dinners more enjoyable as we stuffed our faces without a care for the bill.

3 – Timing: One problem that is a good thing nowadays is that the poker calendar is packed with events nearly every week in locations around the world. Understandably, especially with a tour that is PokerStars-based, is that they don’t really want tour stops overlapping with each other so that they have the maximum chance of getting a bumper field size. Unfortunately in Florianopolis, the event not only coincided with Brazil winter, but also a week-long spell of the coldest weather to grace the area in seven years. Nearly every player and media member hadn’t quite prepared adequately for the cold, and many were sporting double and even triple layers as they made their way round the resort. With Brazil being all about beautiful woman and incredible beaches – or so many do believe – why not hold this event in summer or at least not mid-winter? Not only would it attract more players, but make everybody’s trip more enjoyable regardless of their result in the tournament.

4 – Tournament Structure: Virtually all of the PokerStars.net tours following the same tournament structure of blind increases and timing, but one of the unusual aspects here in Florianopolis was the day two structure. The plan – as per the tournament guide – was that day two would see the field play down to a final 24 or as announced. At the start of play as 183 players sat down to battle it out, everyone in the tournament room knew there was no realistic chance of culling the field down to the magical three table mark. The problem is, the tournament staff decided to push for that number anyway instead of ending the night at realistic time. Consequently, with fourteen hours of play and over twelve levels, the final 36 were finally allowed to call it a night.
With only needing to make the final table of eight the following day, the day was obviously a short one, and if the tournament staff working the previous night decided to be realistic and look ahead, they would understand that they could have ended play early so that all days of the tournament were fairly even in length.

5 – Staff: Both the Costao do Santinho and LAPT staff were extremely friendly and helpful with anything that we needed. Whether it was solving internet issues, answering the most random of questions or just making life easier for us, they really did the best to make our lives easy during the stay. As mentioned in a previous blog, some of the media were idiots, but the majority of them were great; especially the ESPN Brazil and PokerStars Blog team, who often shared hands and information between the three of us.

6 – Language Barrier: Although the staff were great, we did have some language issues especially with the hotel staff. At times it was hard to communicate with them whether it be at the restaurant or generally around the resort, but we still did our best to manage. As for the tournament, we always knew that talking to players would be an issue, and at times they would go on a Spanish or Portuguese rant after we would ask their name, and all we could do was nod and smile. Occasionally people would approach Donnie and I with questions, but all we could do was say, “English. English” and they would either laugh and walk away, or speak to us in some form of the broken variety.

7 – Media Room: One of the great things the Costao do Santinho and LAPT staff did was implement a media room so that all media members that didn’t necessarily need to be on the tournament floor, had a separate room to do all their work. Not only did this reduce the clutter on the desks in the tournament room, but also meant that Donnie and I had a place to play online once the day was over, that was both warm, quiet and had a decent internet connection – all of course, in comparison to our rooms! At many tournaments you don’t often see a separate media room, but I think it is a must at some of these bigger tournaments where media is going to consist of more than just PokerNews.

8 – To Be, Or Not To Be Home Grown?: In these new tours, I like to see a local player take it down, because I always feel that it will help encourage the growth of the game in that area of the world. Especially with a place like South America, I truly felt that seeing a home grown champion would be the best thing for the LAPT. Although the numbers were on the low side, I still feel that poker is growing forward in the region, and that for a tour such as the LAPT, we have to start encouraging players that aren’t based in South or Central America to make the trip. Seeing Austrian Matthias Habernig capture the title will hopefully encourage other Europeans to satellite into the LAPT and make the long journey across the globe to potentially make their mark in South America!

With my first LAPT in the bag, it is time to journey back to Las Vegas momentarily before venturing back home.

Next stop . . . the Victorian Poker Championships in Melbourne!

The sun had finally decided to make a strong showing, and about time as we took to the final day of the PokerStars.net LAPT Florianopolis Main Event!

The Costao de Santinho, in conjunction with the LAPT and PokerStars, did a fantastic job of structurally organising the make-shift tournament room so that it felt both accommodating for the players and media, but also like a real poker room. On one side of the room was a huge stage that housed the feature table where filming had been taking place over the past couple of days, as well as throughout the duration of the Final Table.

Unfortunately for us media members, we weren’t allowed up on stage like many other tournaments, and although it didn’t bother some of the other media sites, it meant that our PokerNews coverage was going to be jeopardised in the way our followers had become accustomed to; such as quality photos and detailed hands. When you throw in the Spanish-speaking, but uber-yummy Eva Mendes lookalike Costa Rican announcer (who was actually one of our PokerNews’ reporters sister), we knew it was going to be a frustrating day.

We were told that all the important hands would be repeated in English, but when perfectionists such as Donnie and I are working, we like to put in as many hands as possible – but unfortunately it wasn’t to be on this occasion!

Four and a half hours would be all that Matthias Habernig needed to hoist the trophy high in the air as he became the first Austrian LAPT Champion. It was a fairly dull final table, but I wrote the full recap for PokerNews, and it can be found here; PokerStars.net LAPT Florianopolis Day 4: Habernig Rides Chip Lead to Victory.

Trophy, Final Table, The Crowd, Rudy Blondeau, Miguel Velasco, Chips, Matthias Habernig, Dayan Vardanega, Matthias Habernig, Robson Vinicious Kozan

With only twenty-eight eliminations needed until we reached a final table, Day 3 of the PokerStars.net LAPT Florianopolis Main Event was always going to be short and sweet for the penultimate day of a tournament.

After a 20-minute delay to proceedings, there was a flurry of eliminations as Matthias Habernig captured the lead to be back in a similar position to the one he was in for the majority of the first two days. The action really started to get interesting when there was only sixteen remaining as players began to see how serious the event was, and consequently began taking an eternity to act on each decision. After moving all in, they would stand up and start to pray, before eventually collecting the pot and flashing whatever they risked their tournament life with. It was unbelievable the amount of times they would show their cards – virtually every hand!

Inevitably after six levels of play and nearly thirty eliminations, the final table would be set with Habernig amassing a stack amounting to nearly half the chips in play and four-times the amount of his closest rival.

Jorge Pereira, Alessandra Correa Dos Santos, Miguel Velasco, Jorge Arias, Matthias Habernig, Paulo Rink, Engelberth Steve Varela Moreno, Marco Caicedo Jaramillo, Matthias Habernig, Richard Gui, Andre Sa, Homero Ribeiro, Rudy Blondeau

Returning for Day 2 action of the PokerStars.net LAPT Florianopolis Main Event, we were always going to be in for a long day with the 183 returning players expected to play down to just 24!

The prizepool was announced with R$1,624,200 – or approximately US$923,892 – being spread amongst the final forty-eight players with whoever could sit atop after four days of poker earning R$435,000 or US$247,441.

Action was fast and furious in the early going as players continuously made their way to the rail as only 54 players managed to make it to the dinner break. On return, one table only featured one player, and although he could only pick up a few rounds of blinds and antes, it underlined the laid-back nature of Brazilians. We quickly found ourselves on the bubble with the short-stacked Wallacy Marcal attracting all the attention with his diminishing, and barely two big-blind stack. Marcal doubled, then tripled, before sneaking into the money when Alexandre Fracari’s Jacks were outdrawn on the flop.

A few more eliminations fell before play was paused for the night after twelve levels with Canadian Rudy Blondeau leading the final thirty-six; all ensured a guaranteed US$4,619 payday.

For the first time in nearly I year I had the job of writing the PokerNews wrap on the website; PokerStars.net LAPT Florianopolis Day 2: Blondeau in Control.

Mario Masciotro, Cinthia Escobar, Matthias Habernig, Wallacy Marcal, Claudio Baptista, Felipe Ramos, Andre Luiz Scaff, Chips, Veronica Dabul, Rudy Blondeau, Carolina Costa, Leo Fernandez, Angel Guillen, Dan Frank, Guillermo Montero, Rodrigo Sirichuk

It is always fun working a tournament in a place where you have never been, but with that tingling excitement of being somewhere new comes plenty of obstacles to stand in your way.

Walking into the Costao do Santinho, and the subsequent ballroom where the tournament was being housed, the first concern Donnie and I had was where to sit. With two long desks next to each other, we decided to take the one closer to the action to allow easy access to the floor, however this prime location would be ruined . . . but more on that later.

After some internet issues were resolved and the opening posts were written, I went for a stroll around the hotel. I found a lobby-esque store and purchased some gum and mints to satisfy our fondness for fresh breath. On return to the desk I found two Brazilian media guys seated within a few centimetres of my laptop. Why would I be annoyed at this? Well instead of basically sitting in my lap there were five other seats vacant on the opposite side of the desk, but instead had chosen to cramp up the right hand corner.

Obviously annoyed, I shot a look at Donnie which blatantly read if these guys don’t move I’m probably going to punch them in the face! Regardless of the amount of times I tripped on their bags, or slide their computer over when they weren’t there or even plonked the camera in between us, they never budged.

Oh well, we had a tournament to cover with the inaugural PokerStars.net Latin American Poker Tour Florianopolis Main Event kicking off!

One of the major issues that became apparent once the cards hit the air was the language barrier. We spoke English while the majority of the field spoke Spanish or Portuguese and about half a dozen English words. But like the professionals we are, we battled through as the 364-starting field was reduced to just 183.

A handful of PokerStars.net Team Pros bite the dust including Andre Akkari, Alexandre Gomes, Christian de Leon, Gualter Salles, Humberto Brenes, reigning World Champion Joe Cada and two-time back-to-back LAPT Champion Jose Ignacio Barbero. However, it would be Austrian Matthias Habernig that would lead the field that still included Felipe Ramos, Angel Guillen, Brandon Demes and Veronica Dabul.

As for Donnie and I . . . the end of the night would see us grab some dinner and tackle a bout of online tournaments and cash games!

Starting table, Matthias Habernig, Maridu Mayrinck, Angel Guillen, Leo Fernandez, Joe Cada, Dan Frank, Felipe Ramos, Jose Barbero, Andre Akkari, Chips

As the title suggests . . . Olá Brazil!

Donnie and I are leaving in just a few hours for our first trip to Brazil for LAPT Florianopolis!

I wanna go swimming with sharks, he wants to stare at their beautiful women all day, but either way we’re both looking forward to getting down there.

The event is actually located just off the mainland on the island of Florianopolis. We – along with the rest of the PokerNews team – will be treated to absolute luxury on the Costao de Santinho resort which is located on one of the most beautiful amongst the forty-two beaches encircling the island.

With nearly two full days before we work . . . who knows what type of trouble we can get up to!

Florianopolis, Brazil . . . only three long flights and an awkward language barrier away!