Fabian Ortiz Makes History at LAPT Panama

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Second LAPT win for Fabian Ortiz puts him in the history books.
Fabian Ortiz made LAPT history with his second Main Event victory. (Image: mazcue.com)

Fabian Ortiz is a poker player from Argentina, and he now holds a place in PokerStars Latin American Poker Tour history as the second player to ever win two LAPT titles.

His first LAPT Main Event win came in Chile when the tour hit Vina del Mar in 2009, which was just the second season of the PokerStars venture. He finished first in that $2,700 buy-in event out of 216 players and won $141,426.

Ortiz almost won his second in Season 4 at the Grand Final in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He finished third in the massive tournament but continued to play LAPT events. He is currently ranked the sixth best live tournament player from Argentina, but that GPI ranking was set before he won the LAPT Panama City this weekend. The second LAPT title puts him in line with Jose “Nacho” Barbero, the only other player to accomplish such a feat.

LAPT Brings a Solid Crown in Panama

Panama City hosted another in a series of stops on Season 7 of the LAPT, and the Veneto Wyndham Grand Hotel & Casino hosted the tournaments in late July.

The primary draw for players was the $1,700 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Main Event, which started on July 23 and allowed reentries.

Day 1A brought in 175 players and finished with 58 and Guillermo Olvera in the chip lead. Day 1B added 375 entries and finished with 121 players and Farid Jattin as the overall chip leader. The total field was then set with 550 entries and a prize pool of $826,925, out of which the top 79 players would be paid.

Day 2 brought 179 players back and thinned that number toward the money bubble. When it burst, Angelina Rich was the first player to cash for $2,820, and others who also visited the cashier cage that night included Scott Montgomery, Humberto Brenes, and Jose Barbero. The night finished with 47 players and Derek Ecenarro in the lead.

Day 3 whittled the field further, with players like Leo Fernandez, Carter Gill, and Jordan Westmorland exiting along the way. Alex Brenes departed in tenth place for $11,500, and Ariel Scaparro bubbled the final table with a ninth place bustout worth $13,980.

Final Table Action

The final table started on July 27 with Fabian Ortiz in the chip lead, Guillermo Olvera in fifth, and Hugo Lemair and Antonio Hogaza on the shortest stacks.

It didn’t take long for the eliminations to begin. Hogaza scored a double, and Lamaire was the first to leave. Hogaza then followed in seventh place, and a quick succession of bustouts sent Javier Rios out in sixth, Hugo Suarez in fifth, and Nick Russo in fourth. Alexander Haber then busted in third place at the hands of Ortiz.

Ortiz had a significant chip lead going into heads-up play with 8,735,000 chips to the 2.1 million of Olvera. The latter chipped up and lost ground several times. At one point, Olvera had more than 3.5 million chips, and the two players decided on a payout deal to give Ortiz $128,930 and Olvera $114,115. There was another $15,000 in play, as well as the title and trophy.

Olvera lost quite a few chips when play resumed, and though he doubled several times, he never climbed far enough to put a dent in Ortiz’ stack. He finally risked the last of his cihps with A-7 against the K-7 of Ortiz, but a king hit on the turn to eliminate Olvera in second place.

Ortiz took the title, trophy, $143,930 in prize money, and his place in the LAPT record books.

1st place: Fabian Ortiz ($143,930)
2nd place: Guillermo Olvera ($114,115)
3rd place: Alexander Haber ($71,280)
4th place: Nick Russo ($55,560)
5th place: Hugo Suarez ($43,580)
6th place: Javier Rios ($34,240)
7th place: Antonio Hogaza ($25,560)
8th place: Hugo Lemaire ($17,700)



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