Jose Miguel Espinar, a person who has only been playing poker for about a year, exceeded all expectations in taking down the Latin America Poker Tour’s Punta del Este event after three grueling days of play. Eight players competed at the final table for the honor of winning the event and the hefty purse that went with it.
Final table play began with three bangs, as there were three quick eliminations before play settled down into a heavy grinding match. Paulo Cesar Ribeiro had the dubious honor of being the first player to be eliminated at the final table. Ribeiro and Espinar went to a flop of [Kd][Kc][6c] after Ribeiro reraised Espinar before the flop while holding pocket jacks. After the flop fell Espinar checked-raised all-in and Ribeiro made the call to put himself at risk of going out. Ribeiro saw the bad news when Espinar filled up [Ks][Qc] to make a set. The turn of [Qs] gave Espinar a full house and had Ribeiro drawing dead, but Espinar was not done yet as the one remaining king in the deck, the [Kh], fell on the river to make Espinar quads. Ribeiro’s quick exit in eighth place earned him $17,025.
Juan Jose Perez was the middleman of the three eliminations and had to suffer some anguish when he had his pocket aces defeated by the [Ad][Jd] of Jose Miguel Espinar. Perez did exactly what he was supposed to when he got all his money in with the best hand but Espinar managed to make a straight on the river after the flop fell [Qh][10c][2c], the turn brought the last ace in the deck and the [Kd] fell on the river. Perez headed to the rail in seventh place, richer by $25,535.
Sidney Chreem finished out the quick three eliminations when he took his [Qd][9d] up against the pocket sevens of Lisandro Gallo in a race situation and did not improve. Chreem had made his move before the flop and Gallo made the call, sending them to a board that was utterly unhelpful for Chreem, as it rolled out [10h][10c][8s][[6h][3h]. Chreem earned $34,045 for his sixth place finish.
A few hours would pass before the next elimination occurred, giving the players time to catch their breath. The fifth place finisher would be Gylbert Drolet who pushed his chips into the middle with pocket jacks.. Gallo made the call with [Ac][Qh] and the two players flipped up their hands and waited for the board to fall. Drolet would not like the flop of [10c][9c][2c], as Gallo now had a flush draw, giving him even more outs to bust Drolet. The [5s] on the turn did not help either player, but the river brought forth a club, the [Kc], to give Gallo a flush and bust Gylbert Drolet out in fifth place. Drolet would take home the fifth place prize money of $51,070.
Alexander Gomes, who had held the chip lead after the second day of play, would exit in fourth place after tangling with Alex Brenes. Gomes had pushed all-in on a flop of [6s][4s][3c] while holding [Qs][7s] for a gutshot straight draw and overcards. Alex Brenes made the call with A-5, which gave him the better high card and an open-ended straight draw. Brenes would make his straight when the turn card fell [7h]. Gomes was not gone yet, as he could win with a spade and tie with a five. The river card dashed his hopes, as it was the [9d]. Alexander Gomes exited in fourth place with $68,100.
Three-handed play would last for an additional couple hours, until it was finally broken up by the elimination of Lisandro Gallo, whose stack had dwindled away to nearly nothing. Gallo pushed all-in with [Qh][9d], only to be met by the pocket aces of Alex Brenes. The board offered no help to the beleaguered Gallo who would take home $93,630 for his third place finish.
The heads-up battle between Jose Miguel Espinar and Alex Brenes would last for several hours and would exceed the initial blind schedule that had been set in place. Espinar finally delivered a hard strike to Brenes when Brenes had his A-9 run up against Espinar’s A-10. Brenes would immediately push all-in after suffering this blow, and his [Ah][10c] faced up against Espinar’s [Kc][3c]. After the flop fell [Kd][9c][7c], Espinar made a pair of kings and took the lead. The tournament was officially over after the [4s] fell on the turn and the [9s] fell on the river.
Alex Brenes’s second place finish earned him $126,625, and Jose Miguel Espinar won the first place prize money of $241,735 to accompany his first major tournament victory.
