$5,200 Mar del Plata Main Event Day 1a | 2009 PokerStars.net LAPT Mar del Plata

Apr 16, 2009

Lilly Kerssenberg Outlasts Boris Becker

Lilly Kerssenberg is most known for being Boris Becker's significant other. The stylish Lilly took a seat next to Chris Moneymaker a couple of levels ago. She has been short-stacked most of Day 1a, but has hung on despite being low on chips. Boris Becker busted out a couple of hours ago, but now he's taken on the role of professional railbird. He's been hanging around Lilly's table offering up encouragement in between fielding picture requests from random tennis fans.

Tags: Boris Becker Lilly Kerssenberg

Level: 6

Blinds: 200/400

Ante: 50

Apr 16, 2009

Moneymaker Down to 11K

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Chris Moneymaker has been getting called down to the river by more than one opponent during Level 5. As one player who frequently played in LAPT events explained, "If you are a celebrity, a woman, or a well-known pro... you're going to get called down to the river on every hand."

I caught one hand in progress: There was around 1,400 in the pot. The board read {A-Clubs}

.Moneymaker fired out 1,250 on the river. His opponent tanked for several minutes and counted out 1,250 in chips but hesitated before he finally pushed the chips over the betting line. Moneymaker unleashed a sigh and tabled {Q-Clubs}

. His opponent flipped over {10-Diamonds}

and won the pot. Moneymaker's stack slipped to around 11,000.

Tags: Chris Moneymaker

Apr 16, 2009

Brandon and Brian

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Two American young guns made the trip to LAPT Mar del Plata... Brandon Demes and Brian Tate. The two twenty-something online pros are good buddies. One is out, while one is still alive. Brian Tate busted during this level, while Brandon Demes is cruising along 14,000 in chips.

Tags: Brandon Demes

Apr 16, 2009

98 Players Remaining

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

The field has dipped below the double digit mark. There are 98 players remaining on Day 1a.

Apr 16, 2009

Hola Vanessa!

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

With the departure of the stunning Argentinian model Geraldine Neumann and Maridu (everyone's favorite spicy Brazilian dish), we were going through a little withdrawal here in media row. Not to fret, we have discovered a new cuerpos calientes to drool over!

Allow me to introduce... Brazilian model Vanessa Machado.

Tags: Vanessa Machado

Apr 16, 2009

A Failure to Communicate

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

I just witnessed one of your run-of-the-mill coolers--player with pocket treys flops a set, player with pocket aces flops a bigger set. Bad times for the guy with the baby pair. The turn brought a third diamond to the board and so the player with the Aces hit the brakes a bit, but he still got paid off handsomely on the river.

As the loser pushed forward the chips he'd called with, he and the winner got into a spirited conversation. They went back and forth with some heat but because I'm a barbarian and only speak English I had no clue what they were saying. Was the loser lamenting his bad luck, was he berating the winner for not making a bigger bet on the river? Did the winner graciously concede that the flop was fortuitous, or was he making some sort of graphic accusation about the loser's mother?

Not understanding the words I fell back on the non-verbal cues. Both players were sitting back in their chairs, the loser started shuffling chips, the winner assembled his winnings into neat stacks. They were loud, but their voices didn't get louder as the conversation went on, and by the time the dealer started pitching cards the two fell silent. Still not sure exactly what was said, but I'm going to assume it was a civilized, respectful, and insightful discussion about how to play set-over-set.

Apr 16, 2009