PokerStars has announced their Season Nine Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT) schedule, and Spin & Go has created their 13th millionaire.
PokerStars has announced the schedule for the ninth season of the Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT), and it’s a case of: ‘if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it.’
There will be five main tour stops. For the second successive season, the tour will begin nowhere near Latin America. PokerStars will squeeze a $2,200 LAPT Bahamas Main Event buy-in into the 104-event strong PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA).
The PCA is going to be an interesting venue this year. My spider senses are tingling. I think Dani Stern and his legion are going to use the site as their first official live strike. What an effect this has on LAPT numbers, if it even happens, remains to be seen.
Last year was the first time that the LAPT merged with the PCA. 736 players competed in a higher $3,000 buy-in, and the American Josh Kay won the first prize of $367,928.
Edgar Stuchly, Director of Live Events at PokerStars, believes that Latin America is experiencing a poker boom. He also hinted in the press release that we may see appearances from the likes of PokerStars Team SportStars Ronaldo and Neymar Jr at some time during the tour.
The other four events will take place in Chile, Panama, Uruguay and Brazil as they did in Season 8. What’s not clear is whether the LAPT Grand Final in Brazil will once again join forces with the Brazilian Series of Poker (BSOP) Millions.
Each festival will also host a new event catering to players with smaller bankrolls. A $400 No-Limit Hold’em Cup is on the roster of all five of them.
Schedule
| Date | Event | Location | ME Buy-In |
| Jan 7-9 | Bahamas | Atlantis Resort | $2,200 |
| March 4-8 | Chile | Enjoy Casino | $1,500 |
| May 12-16 | Panama | Sortis Casino | $1,500 |
| Sep 23-27 | Uruguay | Conrad Resort | $1,500 |
| TBC | Brazil | Sao Paulo | $1,500 |
A 13th Spin & Go Millionaire is Crowned
PokerStars has handed out their 13th million dollar Spin & Go check. The money is heading into the bank account of Australian Anthony “GrindHeaps” Aston, who set a new record, winning the seven-figure score after only 33 hands. His opponent’s Gavin “gavonater” O’Rourke and ‘EnglishGirl9′ picked up $100,000 each for their close shave.
Aston has $168k in live tournament earnings including three final table appearances in Australia & New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT) Main Events. O’Rourke is a World Championships of Online Poker (WCOOP) winner.
It’s the eighth million dollar prize in the past two months, and the second time it’s ended up Down Under. Four winners have come from $5 buy-ins, and four from $100 buy-ins.
