Espinar topped a field of 351 players, the second-largest on the LAPT so far, en route to claiming the Punta del Este title. Among those he busted on the way to the final table was Team PokerStars Pro member Vanessa Rousso, who left in 10th place when her nines couldn't beat Espinar's pocket aces.

 

Once the final table began, Espinar kept up his winning ways. On just the third hand of the day, he raised before the flop holding K-Q and called a reraise from Brazilian Paulo Ribeiro. The flop came down K-K-6 and Espinar check-raised his opponent all-in; Ribeiro called right away with pocket jacks, which didn't improve, and he went home with an eighth place prize of $17,025.

 

Espinar didn't slow down at all after taking out Ribeiro. He got active with a suited A-J, raising to $35,000 before the flop with the big blind at $10,000, only to find himself repopped to $92,000 by Juan Jose Perez. Espinar reraised all-in, which Perez was more than happy to call with A-A. Perez looked to be in good shape, but the board came down Q-T-2-A-K to give Espinar a Broadway straight and send Perez back to Argentina with the seventh place prize of $25,535.

 

While the Spaniard settled into the role of chip leader for a while, Argentina's Lisandro Gallo picked up some of the slack - and a few chips to go with it. First he eliminated the short-stacked Sidney Chreem of Rio de Janeiro on Level 20, his pocket sevens holding up against Chreem's Q-9 of diamonds to send Chreem packing in sixth place with $34,045. Then, on Level 21, he won a key race with A-Q against Canadian Gylbert Drolet's J-J to send him home in fifth place with $51,070.

 

Gallo slipped and gave some momentum to Costa Rica's Alex Brenes not long afterward when he was unfortunate enough to hold A-K against Brenes' A-J on an A-J-J-7-2 board. Brenes capitalized on that momentum on Level 22, getting Brazilian 2008 WSOP bracelet winner Alexandre Gomes all-in on a 6-4-3 flop with two spades; Gomes held the Q-7 of spades for a combination flush and gutshot straight draw, while Brenes had A-5 for an open-ended straight draw and ace high. Gomes missed all his outs and finished in fourth place, taking home $68,100.

 

With the game three-handed it was only a matter of time before something big happened. After several large stacks of chips had been traded back and forth between the remaining players, Brenes and Gallo tangled in the pot that would prove to be Gallo's downfall.

 

Gallo raised to $60,000 before the flop and called a reraise from Espinar to $170,000 to see the board come down T-6-2. Both men checked and the turn came a jack; Espinar led out for $200,000 and quickly called for his entire stack when Gallo check-raised all-in for $600,000 more. The Spaniard's A-J had Gallo's 8-6 crushed, and another jack on the river left Gallo on life support. He managed to double up twice in the next two hands, but then ran Q-9 into Brenes' A-A to finish in third place with $93,630.

 

Espinar held the chip lead when heads-up play commenced, with $2,000,000 to Brenes' $1,500,000, but it would take a lot of work for him to emerge victorious. The match lasted five hours in total, and it wasn't until Level 27 that the LAPT season would come to a close.

 

Brenes held a slim lead of about $40,000 when he opened the pot preflop for $450,000 with the big blind worth $100,000. Espinar shoved over the top, and after some thought Brenes called with A-9; unfortunately for him, he was dominated by Espinar's A-T. A nine on the flop made it appear that all was done, but a ten on the turn was enough to ship the pot Espinar's way and cripple Brenes. His own A-T would fall on the next hand to Espinar's K-3 of clubs, leaving him in the runner-up spot with $127,675.

 

For his part, the champion Espinar will take home $241,735 - not a bad take for a man whose poker career began way back in December 2007.

 

This may have only been the first season of the LAPT, but the success of its first three tournaments means a second year is already in the cards. The six-event schedule for Season 2 begins in November in San Jose, Costa Rica.

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