Friday, 29th March 2024 06:07
Home / Uncategorized / LAPT7 Panama: Haber hits rail in third; Ortiz leads to start heads-up

They’re taking a break now. But our heads are all still spinning.

Speaking of heads, the LAPT Panama Main Event is now already down to heads-up within less than two hours after the final table began, and Fabian Ortiz enjoys a huge chip advantage as he continues his quest for a second LAPT title.

Immediately after the knockout of Nick Russo in fourth place, the Jamaican Alexander Haber open-raised all in from the button for 780,000 (almost eight big blinds) and was up against Ortiz playing from the blinds.

Haber had Q♣ 9♣ and was in dire straits as Ortiz had picked up yet another monster with Q♦ Q♥ . But the board came 8♠ 2♠ 3♠ 10♠ J♠ ! Both played the flush on board, and Haber had continued tourney life.

But alas for Haber, it was only for a moment.

Soon Haber had the button again and pushed his last 655,000 with A♥ 7♠ , but there was Ortiz in the big blind to greet him once more, this time holding A♣ J♥ . The board came a decidedly less dramatic 10♣ A♦ 2♣ 6♦ 8♥ , and Haber finished third for a $71,280 cash.

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Alexander Haber

With Level 30 (50,000/100,000/10,000) only having just begun, the last two players are taking a break. When they return, Ortiz will be sitting behind a stack of 8,735,000, more than four times Guillermo Olvera’s 2,100,000.

Let’s enjoy this quiet moment, shall we? Because when they return the action is sure to ramp up in earnest again right away.

Photography from LAPT7 Panama by Carlos Monti. Click here for live updates in Spanish, and here for live updates in Portuguese. Also check out the start-to-finish live streaming coverage (in both Spanish and Portuguese) at PokerStars.tv.

Martin Harris is Freelance Contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

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