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With the smell of the Costa Rican coffee still fresh in our noses, it's time to bid that country adios and move on to the next stop of the Latin America Poker Tour.

PokerStars has just released details for the event in Neuvo Vallarta, Mexico December 5-7. The $2,700 buy-in event is scheduled to go off at the beach-front Marival Resort & Suites,

Naturally, you can win your seat to the Nuevo Vallarta event online at PokerStars for as little as $2.20. It's a small price to pay to play against top competitors like Team PokerStars Pros Humberto Brenes, Andre Akkari, Alexandre Gomes and former world champion Greg Raymer, not to mention win some big money.

Just a couple of days ago, 20-year-old American Ryan Fee won more than $200,000 in San Jose Costa RIca during the first stop of the LAPT's second season. Now, attention turns to the second stop on Mexico's Caribbean coast.

More than a thousand poker players from 45 countries took part last season, creating a prize pool of more than $2.5 million. The first event of Season 2 had a $1 million prize pool on its own, so only time will tell how big the second generation of the tour will be.

PokerStars LAPT Mexico satellites are available daily at PokerStars. Players have the chance to win a prize package worth $5,000 including Main Event buy-in, four nights’ all-inclusive hotel accommodation, and money for expenses.

For more information on the whole tour, visit the LAPT site.

If not for Ryan's Fee obvious poker skill, a casual observer could mistake him for being the luckiest man in Costa Rica. He's fine with that. After all, he just won more than $200,000. The 20-year old from Philadelphia, Pennsyvania took less than four hours today to destroy the Season 2 LAPT San Jose final table.

Fee was among 219 players who traveled from across the street and around the world to the Ramada Herradura here in Costa Rica and put up their cash for a $1 million guaranteed prize pool. The three day event startled everyone with a Day 1 that eliminated 83% of the field in 12 hours. Day 2 took substantially longer. It was anybody's guess how long the final table of the first stop of Season 2 would take.

The final table was a fun mix of younger internet pros, a dignified Costa Rican lady with a World Series bracelet, and a several journeymen from around the world. Here's a look at the start of the day from the video blogging team.

Watch LAPT San Jose 08: Final Day Intro on PokerStars.tv

The crowd favorite was easy to spot. Maria Stern is one of the most well-known poker players in this country. She and her husband Max both went deep in this event. Max was eliminated just short of the money and stood by to watch his wife battle all the way to the final table. A short-stack for two days, Maria Stern put on a clinic on how to make a short stack last. It could only last so long.

After growing so short she couldn't rightfully put in a standard raise without committing herself, Stern put all of her chips in the middle with a 116,000 open-shove. She ran right into Jeff Petronack's pocket queens. The board ran out 4h-5c-3d-Td-6c and Stern, who cashed here in Season 1 as well, finished in 8th place for $24,425.

Though Claus Rasmussen is as likable a Dane as you'd ever want to meet,he developed a reputation yesterday for taking longer than average to make a decison. His final decision today was rather easy. With blinds at 6,000/12,000/1,000, a single orbit was costing him 25,000. Under 100,000 in chips, he put his money in with Qd-7d and ran smack dab into Joel Micka's pocket kings. Though Rasmussen flopped a queen, he coudn't improve any further and exited in seventh place.

Watch LAPT San Jose 08: Claus Busts on PokerStars.tv

It was then eventual champion Ryan Fee went on a tear of good fortune that even a leprechaun would envy. Fee got it all in As-Ks against Jeff Petronack's Ah-Kh. You think you know what's about to happen don't you? Well, you don't know the half of it. First, Fee flopped the nut flush. Then he turned the Royal Flush. Then, just to rub the salt in Petronack's wounds, the board put out a straight flush. So Petronack's staight eight to queen straight flush on board fell to Fee's Royal Flush. Petronack won more than $43,000 for his sixth place finish.

Fee was feeling it. It was obvious. So, it really didn't come as much of a surprise when he got pocket eights all-in versus Andre Chen's queens. And frankly, it didn't come as much of a surprise when he board ran out 6c-4h-5s-7d-x to give Fee the straight. Chen won $61,000 but looked as if he'd just accidentnally taken a shot of antifreeze.

The hand moved Fee up over the 1 million chip mark "I'm really good at sucking out," he said sheepishly.

Not one to rest on his lucky laurels, Fee almost looked excited to call Jesus Bertoli's short-stack all-in. This time, Fee held Ks-Qs, up against Bertoli's Ad-3s. Again, it felt pretty natural by this point to see Fee flop top two pair and go on to send the man from Venezuela to the pay-out line. Bertoli collected $80,603 for his fourth place finish.

Finally, Fee took a break and let fellow 20-year-old American Joel Micka do some of the work. When Brett Sheribon pushed his short stack into the middle from the button with Qd-Td. Micka called in the big blind with a pair of deuces. Sheirbon couldn't find a pair and left in third place for $109,913.

Joel Micka and Ryan Fee took a short break to cut a deal. Though the exact terms of the agreement were not publicly disclosed, the players did a chip-chop deal and left a big chunk of money on the table for which to play. It didn't take long at all. On the final hand, the players got in a raising and re-raising war that ended with all the chips in the midddle. It was 4s-4c for Micka and As-Th for Fee.

If you've been paying attention this far, you should know that it didn't matter that Fee missed the first four cards on board. He still had the river to spike his ace, in this case, the ace of hearts. With a quick pump of his fist, Fee had done it. He had won the first event of the LAPT's second season.

Watch LAPT San Jose 08: Ryan Fee Wins LAPT San Jose 08 on PokerStars.tv

Official payouts can be found on the Prizes page.

The next stop on the LAPT is in Mexico next month. Satellites are running now at PokerStars,com.

For a look back at our final table coverage in San Jose, visit any of the links below. See you in Mexico!

LAPT San Jose Final Table Profiles
LAPT San Jose: Level 18 updates (cotinued)
LAPT San Jose: Level 19 updates
LAPT San Jose: Level 20 updates
LAPT San Jose: Level 21 updates

All photography by Joe Giron/IMPDI

Updates for the LAPT San Jose Event Level 19 will be posted here. Hit refresh to see the latest content. Blinds are 8,000/16,000/2,000. For chip counts, see the LAPT Chip Counts page. For updates from Level 20, click HERE.

LAST UPDATED: 4:25pm

4:13pm--Ryan Fee eliminates Joel Micka in 2nd place

It was a button raise from Joel Micka, a re-raise from Ryan Fee, another re-raise from Micka,, a push from Fee and a call from Micka.

Micka held 4s-4c to Fee's As-Th.

Fee ran exceptionally well today, so despite the fact he bricked on the first four cards on board, there was little doubt he would spike his ace on the river.

The final board read: Ks-7c-Qc-8h-Ah

Official payouts can be found on the Prizes page. We will h ave a full wrap-up in a little while.

4:07pm--Micka chipping up

Well, we're still in search of a flop, but Joel Micka just proved that he doesn't need flops to narrow the gap between his stack and Ryan Fee's chip stack. He raised to 43,000, then reraised to 305,000 after Ryan Fee made it 105,000 to go. Fee wanted no part of that bet. He quickly folded.

4:00pm--Heads-up slow down

Now that we are heads up, we've returned to the game where we don't see any flops. While we wait for the action to heat back up, take a look at this video blog from the beginning of play today.

Watch LAPT San Jose 08: Final Day Intro on PokerStars.tv

3:50pm--Deal struck

You might have noticed a slight slowdown here. That's because Joel Micka and Ryan Fee took a short break to cut a deal. Though the exact terms of the agreement were not publicly disclosed, the players did a chip-chop deal and left a big chunk of money on the table for which to play.

3:35pm--Brent Sheirbon eliminated in 3rd ($109,913)

Short-stacked and in need of a double up, Brent Sheirbon pushed all-in for 140,000 from the button with Qd-Td. Ryan Fee folded in the small blind, but Joel Micka ade the call with a pair of deuces. Sheirbon couldn't make a pair or catch a miracle and he was eliminated in 3rd place for $109,913.

3:29pm--Three-handed play resumes

The players have returned and are now dealing with 8,000/16,000/2,000 blinds. You can find the updated standings at the LAPT Chip Counts page.

Updates for the LAPT San Jose Event Level 19 will be posted here. Hit refresh to see the latest content. Blinds are 6,000/12,000/1,000. For chip counts, see the LAPT Chip Counts page. For updates from Level 19, click HERE.

LAST UPDATED: 3:19pm

3:19pm--Break

Level 20 is now complete. Players are taking a ten minute break. The LAPT Chip Counts page has been updated with the latest counts.

3:11pm--Jesus Bertoli eliminated in 4th place ($80,603)

The greatest benefactor of all the recent action was Jesus Bertoli. He had been rocking the shortest stack at the table for well over an hour, treading water against the ever-increasing blinds. He finally found himself allin with Ad-3s against -- who else? -- Ryan Fee and his Ks-Qs.

If you've read the last few posts, you know that Fee has been running pretty good. It therefore should come as no surprise that Fee flopped two pair, Qh-Kd-8d. Bertoli reported to the rail shortly thereafter, earning $80,603 for his excellent short-stack play.

2:52pm--Andrew Chen eliminated in 5th place ($61,063)

Speaking of one of *those* hands, we just hand another just minutes after the first. It started when Ryan Fee came in for a raise and got re-popped by Andre Chen from the blinds. Fee, holding 8h-8s put Chen all-in for a grand total of 350,000. Bad timing on Fee's part, as Chen held Qs-Qh.

Of course, if it's going to be one of *those* hands, it's got to be one of *those* hands. The flop came down 6c-4h-5s, opening up four more outs for Fee. Suddenly, he seemed a lot more interested in the turn. It did not disappoint. The 7d fell, swiping the win away from Chen. He had two outs to a chop on the river, neither of which came. He was eliminated in 5th place for $61,063.

Fee now has more than 1 million chips.

"I'm really good at sucking out," he said sheepishly.

2:44pm--Jeff Petronack eliminated in 6th place ($43,960)

It was one of *those* hands -- the type of hand where all of the chips are in the middle before anyone in the gallery or in the media has even realized that there was an opening raise. Yet that's where we were. Jeff Petronack was all in for 297,000 against Ryan Fee. There was a mad scramble as photographers and bloggers leapt over the media table to get a better view of the action, but it seemed all for naught. Both players held ace-king. Petronack had the ace of diamonds and king of hearts; Fee had two spades.

"If ever there were a time to win one of these hands..." Fee pleaded with the poker gods. (At least he didn't say "One time!") Humberto Brenes, once again on announcing duty, set the stage for everyone in the room. Once we all knew what was at stake, the dealer burned and turned a flop.

Injury was the flop coming three spades. Jack of spades, eight of spades, ten of spades. Insult was the turn coming queen of spades to make a royal flush for Fee. The giant rock of salt in the gaping wound was the river falling nine of spades to make a board straight flush.

Petronack goes home with $43,960 and a hell of a story. "How'd you go out of the tournament?" friends might ask him. Petronack can say "I lost with a straight flush."

2:34pm--Chip counts updated

The latest chip counts have been posted at the LAPT Chip Counts page.

2:26pm--Claus Rasmussen eliminated in 7th place ($34,195)

Claus Rasmussen saw his chip stack dwindling away. With blinds at 6,000 / 12,000 / 1,000, a single orbit costs 25,000. When you're under 100,000 chips as Rasmussen was, pushing with two random cards from late position hoping to pick up the blinds isn't a bad play. Unfortunately for Rasmussen, he pushed with Qd-7d into Joel Micka's pocket kings. A queen on the flop gave Rasmussen the briefest flicker of hope for survival, but it was extinguished when the turn and river didn't help him. Rasmussen shook the hands of everyone at the table and left the final table area to the applause of those assembled in the gallery.

2:20pm--Tight is right

There are eight of us sitting in media row. By looking at any of us, you might not realize that a poker tournament is reaching its conclusion just ten feet away. The remaining players continue to play extremely tight, conservative poker. Very few hands are going to the flop; most aren't going past one raise. Joel Micka did manage to extract 80,000 chips from Jeff Petronack by pushing all in after Petronack raised Micka from 29,000. Ryan Fee (fresh off a wardrobe change about an hour ago) begged Petronack to "Please call!" but Petronack and Micka both have average stacks. It would have been surprising to see both players get those stacks in the middle without a flop.

2:15pm--Blinds up!

The price of playing a round at this table just went up. We're now playing at 6,000/12,000/1,000.

While we're waiting for the next big thing to happen here, check out this piece written by PokerStars Blog assistant Alex Villegas.

Poker hearts

Poker tables are usually a place for opposing emotions. The joy of hitting a two-outer is met by someone else's frustration, the fear of pushing all in on the bubble is countered by another player's relief in making money. But every so often, when the mood is just right, there is a feeling that transcends the felt and connects two players, that feeling is love.

There are many significant others at the LAPT, cheering on their better half, but among these, there are two couples who can only cheer in between their own hands. Jonathon “Apestyles” Van Fleet and Maria Mayrnick's have been together since the first day of the 2008 WSOP and Max and Maria Stern share more than just matching wedding bands, they are the only couple to each win a WSOP bracelet.

While they may be kind and compassionate outside the poker room; both these couples have shown their opponents they are a force to be reckoned with at the table. Mayrnick made her presence known with an early Royal Flush “and [she] got action!”, the royal flush seemed to consume all of her tournament luck, as she was eliminated later on with a bad run of cards. But her tournament wasn't over yet, he took roots next to Jon and watched his every play. She followed down to the final three tables, where his pocket sixes ran into cowboys for a 17th place finish.

The Sterns also managed a cash, but it was Max who took a seat behind the rail and cheered his wife on all the way to the final table. The Sterns both made it deep, with Max finishing only 2 off the bubble, when his AK suited was the wrong color and he lost to a flush. He followed Maria with the trademark cheer “Duro mi Mama!” until her KJ wasn't able to outdraw a pair of queens.

It's debatable whether what's harder to find, love or a good poker player. Somehow these two couples seem to have found both, and don't mind sharing their stories with us.

They say you can find love anywhere, and sometimes that anywhere is the Nightly Hundred Grand at PokerStars. Both frequenting the tournament they were often seated at the same table, maybe too often. As most players, they couldn't resist using the chat-box to both laugh and express their interests. Their connection grew faster than blind structures ever could (well, except for maybe turbos) and they ended up meeting on the first day of the 2008 WSOP. There, they found each other and a hefty number of cashes, they've been inseparable ever since.

“It's perfect” said Mayrnick, talking about their relationship. “We completely understand each other. We never bother each other to get off the computer, we don't even talk when we're both playing, and we get it.” But there are hard times, “It's really hard when we're both on a downswing. It's hard to motivate each other when neither of us is running good. And I also tilt, A LOT!” Stated Mayrnick, talking about her anger issues. “But I'm really grateful I have Jon, he's a real pro and no matter how bad he runs he never looses his cool. He's teaching me how to control my tilt, he locks me out of the poker room until I cool down and he refuses to talk to me about poker unless I stop tilting, Jon is great.” Aside from being on-line sharks, they enjoy traveling to live events. But sometimes there no place like home, “I love Austin, we have a great time and we live with Stevie “Stevie444” Chidwick, we're hoping to adopt him one day.” said Mayrnick right before she ran off because Jon was in a hand.

The Sterns on the other hand were married and playing poker before most of us had even heard about the game. Max started playing when he was seven, consistently beating kids up to twice his age. He knew he had it in him, “Some people have a skill for art or music, I knew my gift was cards” and he has a couple of WSOP bracelets that agree with him.

When asked about how she got started in poker, Maria said, “The earthquake was what got me into poker”, referring to the 1987 LA earthquake. “Max always went to the casinos, and after the earthquake I didn't feel safe staying home alone so I asked him to take me. I started getting bored of just watching him, so I decided to play one day, and I won! I didn't know I had it in me” and the rest was history.

With their children all grown up, poker did more than just provide a hobby. “After your kids grow up, a lot of couples lose communication and a connection, that comes with raising children. But poker has filled that role, it's helped us create an even deeper connection and made our marriage that much stronger”

Playing as a couple has also helped their game. In 1997, 2 years after his first bracelet, Max came in third at a WSOP RAZZ event for $50,000. He used that money to put Maria in the 7 Card Stud Event, and she ended up winning it. “After that, everyone in Vegas started making fun of me, saying that I didn't win my event and Maria was the main breadwinner now. It got to me, so I had to go back to the tables” said Max. And hit the tables he did, he won two events and added some bracelets to the family collection.

They say there's no hard times in their relationship, but they do have a favorite moment. “Our goal is always to make the final table together, and we have, three times” Two of the times Max won the event, but Maria took the honor of winning the third. “We were three handed. I pushed from the button, the small blind came over the top and Maria called. She had us both covered and turned over aces, the small blind had Kings and that was it” said Max, remembering how he got knocked out by his wife for a third place finish.

With so much success behind their belts these two couples gave us some much needed advice on the subject. Van Fleet and Mayrnick say that understanding and respecting each other's schedule is vital, they also recommend taking a day to rest and a day to go out. “We go out on Fridays, sometimes to a movie or whatever, we just go out. We take Saturdays off, just resting” advised Mayrnick.

Max directed his advice to the guys with girlfriends who don't approve of their poker hobby “Teach them how to play! By teaching, you practice your own game and get to share something important to you with your partner. And who knows, she might even start making money.” And Maria is definitely making some money today with an eighth place finish.

With the tournament over both couples now take time to themselves. Discussing their hands, enjoying Costa Rica and preparing to make the final table together at their next event.

Updates for the LAPT San Jose Event Level 19 will be posted here. Hit refresh to see the latest content. Blinds are 5,000/10,000/1,000. For chip counts, see the LAPT Chip Counts page. For updates from Level 17, click HERE.

LAST UPDATED: 2:04pm

2:04pm--Maria Stern eliminated in 8th place ($24,425)

Maria Stern put on a clinic for the last two days on how to make a short stack last. It could only last so long.

Moving all-in pre-flop for her final 116,000, she ran right into Jeff Petronack's pocket queens. The board ran out 4h-5-c-3d-Td-6c and Stern, who cashed here last year as well, finished in 8th place for $24,425

1:52pm--Hammer time

One player, at least, has decided to mix up his play. Brent Sheirbon opened the pot with a raise to 25,000. Action folded to Jesus Bertoli in late position, who reraised to 57,000. Sheirbon eyed Bertoli's stack before announcing he was all in for a total of 245,000. We could see Jesus talking to himself as he counted out his cihps and realized that Sheirbon had him covered. At the other end of the table, Sheirbon sat with his hands in front of his mouth, looking anywhere but directly at Bertoli. He let out a huge sigh of relief when Bertoli folded. Why was Bertoli's fold such a big deal? Sheirbon turned over 7d-2d, to the shock and mirth of all assembled. Sheirbon let loose a cheshire grin as he collected the pot.

1:40pm--Another day in the life

When we heard Ryan Fee remark on Day 1, "Just another day in the life," we thought it a good way to describe his tough but relaxed style of play. We didn't realize it would become his catch phrase.

Just now, in a battle of the blinds, Brent Sheirbon raised to 30,000 and Fee called from the big blind. The flop came down 2d-6c-9h. Brent checked, Ryan bet 25,000, and Brent called. The turn came the 5s and both players checked. On the river, the 8h, Sheirbon woke up and led for 60,000. Fee raised an additional 100,000 and Sheirbon eventually foldded.

"Just another day in the life," Fee said, revealing pocket fours.

Indeed.

1:33pm--Jeff Petronack goes runner-runner

Twelve minutes in, we had our first flop of Level 19. It was between two of the Americans, Joel Micka in the small blind and Jeff Petronack in the big blind. After both checked the Qh-5d-Js flop, Petronack wound up going runner-runner with 9c-7s for trip nines on the 9d turn and 9h river. He collected a pot worth 148,000 chips. Micka wasn't pleased to see Petronack's hand, but did offer him a sincere, "Good hand." Maybe Micka has been swept up in the new spirit of unity and optimism that's been embraced by Americans the world over in light of Barack Obama's election victory last night.

1:30pm--Updated chip counts

We've updated the LAPT Chip Counts page with the latest count at the start of level 19.

1:20pm--New level, new action?

Players are back from break to play level 19. THey are running with 5,000/10,000/1,000 blinds. We'll see if that jump-starts the action

Updates for the LAPT San Jose Event Level 18 will be posted here. Hit refresh to see the latest content. Blinds are 4,000/8,000/500. For chip counts, see the LAPT Chip Counts page. For updates from Level 17, click HERE.

LAST UPDATED: 1:03pm

1:03pm--My kingdom for a flop

Action is still hard to come by at the final table so far. If the chips haven't been in pre-flop, then flops have been almost non-existent. There have been two flops; one that was checked all the way to showdown between Joel Micka and Jesus Bertoli, and a second between Brent Sheirbon and Claus Rasmussen that was one by Sheirbon with a bet on the flop. We played the last forty two minutes of Level 18 with three total flops. It would seem that nobody is in a hurry to be the first one out.

12:52pm--Tankers always fold

It's a poorly kept secret here that Dane Claus Rasmussen does not make hasty decisions. When he's raising, calling, and folding, the time it takes him to consider his move nearly gives us time to run to the bathroom and back. If we needed any further evidence, we just got it. Brent Sheirbon came in for a raise from the button and Rasmussen re-popped it from the big blind, making it an additional 65,000. Sheirbon wasted little time before announcing all in. Then came Rasmussen's time in the tank. It wasn't as long as we've seen in the past, but a tried and true axiom from this event held firm. Tankers always fold. A few minutes later, Rasmussen's cards were in the much and Sheirbon picked up some much-needed chips.

12:42pm--Substitution!

Tournament Director Mike Ward has been calling all of the action at the final table so far (for which the media would like to extend our heartfelt thanks for making our jobs a thousand times easier). He's just been spelled by Humberto "The Shark" Brenes, who is calling all of the action in Spanish for the non-English speakers in the gallery and in media row. My high school Spanish teacher, Mrs. Riley, would be pleased to know that I remember enough Spanish to be able to follow along. Mostly.

12:35pm--Petronack doubles on the river

Short-stacked with a little more than 100,000, Jeff Petronack faced a raise to 18,500 from Ryan Fee.

"Okay, let's do it," he said, and moved his chips in the middle. Fee's call came quickly. Petronack held Ah-Kh to Fee's pocket queens. Petronack stared disaster in the face as the board came 5-7-5-3. And then, the ace of spade on the river. Why? Well, because as was noted here on media row, it's always the ace of spades on the river.

Patronack now sits with more than 200,000 and a much more playable stack than that with which he started.

12:30pm--Cautious play to start the day

We're five hands into the final table and yet to see a flop. The players don't look nervous but they do appear to be feeling each other out and trying to establish their sea legs. Three hands were won by a single raise; Joel Micka won a fourth hand with a reraise from the small blind. That was after he got a walk in the big blind, something that was unheard of yesterday. Tournament Director Mike Ward, perhaps seeking to encourage some action, joked, "I just want to remind you all that this game is played with community cards."

12:25pm--Mocking for a Fee

It's no secret here Ryan Fee is the most talkative player at the table. If he stops talking, it's clear there is a problem. In fact, if he stops talking, someone should call the paramedics, because he is likely unconscious or dead. As final table play began, Fee broke into his trademark table chatter. After a pre-flop pick-up of the blinds and antes, Fee joked, "I"m going to take all your money." Without missing a beat, Maria Stern, 47 years Fee's senior, repeated the phrase with as much dripping sarcasm as she could muster. We would pay to see the two players heads-up. The good thing is, we may not have to.

12:22pm--Play begins

With 42 minutes in this level, play is now underway.

12:14pm--Introductions underway

Tournament director Mike Ward is introducing the players. Cards will be in the air in just a couple of minutes. Here's a look at the pre-game news conference.

12:08pm--Final table play about to begin

Players are unbagging their chips and getting ready to play. We'll resume in Level 18 at the 4,000/8,000/500 level. For a look at what they are playing for, visit the LAPT San Jose Prizes page. To see a full look at the final table players, see the LAPT San Jose final table players profile page.

The final table of the LAPT San Jose event is graced by players from Costa Rica to Canada to Denmark. THe chip stacks are as varied as the players backgrounds. The final table is scheduled to begin at 12pm CST. Join us here for all the action when it begins.

Seat 1: Jeff Petronack
Hometown: Hugo, MN (USA)
Chip Count: 122,500

Jeff Petronack is a 37-year-old mortgage banker from the United States. This is his first time to make it to the final table of a major poker tournament. He qualified to enter online at PokerStars. He has a wife named Tiffany, and two children, named Cody and Brooklynn. Upon learning that the next stop of the LAPT is in Puerto Vallarta, he said he'll probably be encouraged by his wife to attend, since it's where they spent their honeymoon.

Seat 2: Andrew Chen
Hometown: Mississauga, ON (Canada)
Chip Count: 313,000

Andrew Chen is a 20-year-old professional poker player from Canada. He says he finished just one spot out of the money four times in the big Sunday tournament at PokerStars. He qualified to play in this event by paying just $215 and winning his LAPT tournament entry. Chen admits that he had only 20 minutes of sleep after Day One, but he still manages to come into this final table ranked third in chips. He wants to thank Maria from PokerStars for calling him and waking him up just in time to get to Day Two thirty-five minutes late and immediately knock a player out.

Seat 3: Brent Sheirbon
Hometown: The Dalles, OR (USA)
Chip Count: 186,500

Brent Sheirbon is a 33-year-old poker pro from the United States. Prior to playing poker, he was an Information Technology Consultant. Sheirbon finished in the money the last two years in the World Series of Poker Main Event, finishing 134th and 392nd, out of thousands of players. He is also a world traveler, having lived in Costa Rica, Panama, India, and Spain.

Seat 4: Ryan Fee
Hometown: Philadelphia, PA (USA)
Chip Count: 481,500

The chip leader is Ryan Fee, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is a 20-year-old professional poker player, who concentrates mostly on cash games. He is just beginning to focus on live tournaments and appears to have a very bright future ahead. Should Fee win today’s finale, this would be his first major tournament victory. Expect to see him at many more LAPT stops either way -- in Fee's words, "It's cold in Philly in the winter."

Seat 5: Claus Rasmussen
Hometown: Roskilde (Denmark)
Chip Count: 254,000

Claus Rasmussen is a 22-year-old gamesman from Denmark. He started out playing table tennis professionally, but has shifted his focus to poker. Rasmussen qualified to play in this tournament by playing in several step tournaments at PokerStars, and now he has a chance to win his biggest prize ever.

Seat 6: Maria Stern
Hometown: San Jose (Costa Rica)
Chip Count:151,500

Maria Stern has been playing tournament poker for many years. She is one of the most famous Costa Rican poker players and is universally loved and admired by everyone, especially by her devoted husband, Max Stern. In fact, the Sterns are one of only two married couples who have won gold bracelets at the World Series of Poker. Maria Stern won he gold bracelet in 1997. Now eleven year’s later she made history again by becoming the first lady ever to make it to an LAPT final table. She feels a great responsibility to represent Latin American poker players everywhere by winning this tournament, and is confident that she will do so.

Seat 7: Jesus Bertoli
Hometown: Margarita (Venezuela)
Chip Count: 265,500

Jesus Bertoli Juarez is a 25-year-old lawyer from Venezuela. He has already become one of Latin America’s most successful poker players. He took 24th place in LAPT Season 1, at the Rio de Janiero championship. He also finished in the money three other times in tournaments held in South America. Juarez spent just $17 to qualify for his entry online at PokerStars. He is ecstatic that the LAPT has brought deep-stacked, large buy-in tournament to Latin America, since it allows him more opportunities to play live without having to travel far from home.

Seat 8: Joel Micka
Hometown: Mill Creek, WA (USA)
Chip Count: 336,500

Joel Micka is a 20-year-old professional poker player from the United States. He prefers playing heads-up online at PokerStars and also plays Sit n’ goes. He likes high-stakes games. Yet, this is Micka’s first live major poker tournament. He arrives at the final table ranked second in chips. Micka admits that he never held a real job before. And should he win today, he won’t need one – since first place pays over a quarter of a million dollars. That would be quite an achievement for someone who didn't even know where San Jose was located when he qualified for this tournament.

There was an optimism in the ballroom of the Ramada Herradura events center this morning of a type that seems to pervade the small, tranquil nation of Costa Rica. The thirty eight players who assembled for Day 2 of LAPT San Jose were all keenly aware of a critical fact: twenty four players would make the money. That made cashing in this tournament sound deceptively simple. Don't bust before fourteen other players bust.

Anyone who's ever played a no-limit hold'em multi-table tournament will tell you that the truth is that making the money is a Herculean task. It takes unrelenting focus, an unending stream of excellent play and the ability to avoid (or at least minimize) the effects of bad luck. Beyond that, merely making the money was not the goal of any of the remaining thirty eight. They all wanted to win.

Yet math is math. The numbers are unbendable in multi-table tournaments. Only eight of the thirty eight remaining players would see the end of the day. Fourteen of them would never even taste the money. Still in the hunt were a husband-and-wife team of WSOP gold bracelet winners, a player who qualified for this $3,700 tournament with an investment of only $7 and some time, representatives of ten different countries and almost a score of online qualifiers.

The first two players eliminated for the day were out before the last player showed up to unbag his chips. Andrew Chen showed up thirty five minutes late for the start of play. By the time he finally arrived, Jose Contreras had already been busted by Jesse Macleod and Chase Chenoweth's top pair had run into Mark Hirleman's top pair, bigger kicker . So for Chen, at least, the math was different -- only twelve eliminations separated him from the money.

The big story of the early part of the day was the elimination of Abraham Rosenkrantz near the end of Level 11, the first level of play. Rosenkrantz was one of the overnight chip leaders, coming into Day 2 fourth in chips with 114,000. Yet when he ran his pocket kings into Brent Sheirbon's pocket aces, Rosenkrantz was out of the tournament and Sheirbon took over the chip lead from Robert Woodcock.

Woodcock wasn't slouching. He was using his stack as a weapon to bludgeon his opponents and send people to the rail. One-by-one players like Mark Ioli, William Valladeres and Jesse Macleod were eliminated. Tournament poker stops for no one; either get on the chip truck or hit the rail.

With twenty seven players remaining, two special stories were brewing. The first involved one of only two husband-and-wife teams to ever both win a WSOP gold bracelet: Max and Maria Stern. Both remained alive in the tournament as the money bubble approached. Maria had a healthy stack, but Max was very short. Everyone in the room that wasn't sitting at a poker table was pulling for Max to find a way to double up; everyone sitting at a poker table was rooting for him to bust. Max did finally get his chips into the middle holding ace-king against Carter Gill's pocket fives. An ace flopped, but Gill four-flushed Max in diamonds to eliminate the three-time WSOP champion.

It was towards the end of Level 12 when the money bubble finally burst. Someone always goes home the unhappiest of all the players who entered the tournament, having labored through all those hours of play to be the last one to go home empty-handed. Today that distinction belonged to Guillaume Noël, whose K-Q couldn't outrun Ryan Fee's A-2. Noël took his departure as good-naturedly as any bubble boy I've ever seen, smiling and shaking Fee's hand before retiring to the rail to wach the rest of the tournament unfold.

Noël's elimination meant the second of the two special stories that were on our radar came to fruition. It involved Aaron Kielesinski, a player who qualified for this tournament by playing qualifier satellites on PokerStars. Kielesinski's total monetary outlay for this $3,700 tournament was $7. When Noël busted, Kielesinski was guaranteed $9,770. We're no good with math, but we can guarantee that rate of return is unmatchable in the financial world, even before the markets all started to tank. PokerStars.tv caught up with Kielesinski earlier in the day, before he busted out of the tournament:

As things tend to go in multi-table tournaments, the short stacks kept busting. Jason Frazee, Maurice Millares Molina, Aaron Kielesinski, Mike Gorodinsky, Mark Hirleman and Martin Clemmensen all made their exits. Some took brutal beats (Frazee in particular, who flopped trips but lost when Brent Sheirbon rivered a two-outer for a full house), but most got their short stacks in and just couldn't get there. Then came the first defining hand of the afternoon. Robert Woodcock and Brent Sheirbon somehow managed to put 110,000 chips into the pot before a flop came down. Sheirbon made a small 12,000-chip bet on an all-club flop that Woodcock raised to 37,000. The hand seemed destined to eliminate or cripple someone when Sheirbon shoved all in, but Woodcock folded. Even so, with that win Sheirbon eclipsed the 400,000-chip mark.

After that hand, normal order was restored and the short stacks went back to busting. Jon Van Fleet, Michael DeGilio, and Tark Abboud all slipped into the inky blackness of tournament elimination. Play consolidated to two short-handed tables. And that's when the tale of the day returned to late-comer Andrew Chen, the man who was thirty-five minutes late for the start of play. It might have been a sign of things to come that, as soon as he showed up, he eliminated Kevin MacPhee. Likely nobody would have predicted that Chen would even still be in the tournament with only two tables remaining. Yet there he was, tripling up with pocket queens against the ace-king of Joel Micka and the ace-king of Carter Gill. That hand knocked Gill out of the tournament in 14th place and sent Chen's chip count to more than 250,000. Michael Collins, Shawn Patrick Ryan, and Alan Milesky soon followed.

Ten players remained. The next elimination would result in another redraw to a single nine-handed table. Earl Burkland put his stack in the middle early in Level 16 with pocket sixes and knew he was in trouble when Robert Woodcock snap-called. It was aces for Woodcock, with a matching ace on the flop. Burkland's tenth place departure set us up for the final nine. One elimination remained before calling it a night.

If fourteen eliminations seemed like a simple order at the beginning of the day, then one last elimination seemed as easy as reciting the alphabet. Yet all of the chips were relatively evenly disbursed, and nobody wanted to be the person to bubble off of Day 3. Hand after hand went by with little change in the counts. Level 16 became Level 17; Level 17 became Level 18. Andrew Chen took a hit at the end of Level 17 when he called a river bet from Ryan Fee and couldn't beat pocket jacks, but it wasn't enough to knock Chen out of the tournament.

Robert Woodcock, the chip leader eight hours earlier at the start of Day 2, may have wished it was. A few hands later, Chen opened for 20,000 and Woodcock shoved all in over the top of him. When Chen called, the moment everyone had been waiting for arrived. It was Chen's pocket jacks against Woodcock's ace-king, and jacks were best on a Qd-7c-4s-Qs-7s board. Woodcock was unable to make it wire to wire. Andrew Chen showed up thirty five minutes late, but he personally made sure that he would make it to Day 3. We'll see if he shows up late again.

The remaining eight players will come back at noon tomorrow to battle it out and see who will walk away with the first place prize of more than $285,000. It appears that the overnight chip leader is Ryan Fee. Chip counts for tomorrow's final table will be available shortly on our LAPT Chip Counts page. The payouts for the final eight players are listed in the payout structure on our LAPT Prizes page. If you speak Spanish or Portuguese, have a gander at the PokerStars Spanish blog and the PokerStars Brazilian blog. Don't forget that video clips of all the action here in San Jose are available at PokerStars.tv.

For a more comprehensive review of the Day 2 events, feel free to browse any of the posts linked below:

LAPT San Jose: Level 11 Updates
LAPT San Jose: Level 12 Updates
LAPT San Jose: Level 13 Updates
LAPT San Jose: Level 14 Updates
LAPT San Jose: Level 15 Updates
LAPT San Jose: Level 16 Updates
LAPT San Jose: Level 17 Updates
LAPT San Jose: Level 18 Updates

Photography by Joe Giron/IMPDI

Updates for the LAPT San Jose Event Level 16 will be posted here. Hit refresh to see the latest content. Blinds are 4,000/8,000/500. For chip counts, see the LAPT Chip Counts page. For updates from Level 17, click HERE.

LAST UPDATED: 10:09pm

10:09pm--Rob Woodcock eliminated, final table set

It was a pre-flop raise to 20,000 from Andrew Chen and a shove from Rob Woodock that saw us to the final hand of the night. Chen held jacks to Woodcock's A-K. The board ran out Qd-7-c-4s-Qs-7s and that was all she wrote. A full wrap-up and official chip counts will be available here soon.

9:56pm--New level

We're up to a new level with nine players still remaining. They are now playing with 4,000/8,000/500 blinds.

Updates for the LAPT San Jose Event Level 16 will be posted here. Hit refresh to see the latest content. Blinds are 3,000/6,000/500. For chip counts, see the LAPT Chip Counts page. For updates from Level 15, click HERE.

LAST UPDATED: 9:55pm

9:55pm--A showdown?

For the first time in what seems like almost two full levels, a hand went to showdown. Andrew Chen raised to 15,000 from early position and was called by Ryan Fee. The flop was all babies, 2c-4s-3s. Chen checked it to Fee, who bet 17,000. Chen called to a turn of 2d that both players checked. When the river fell Qc, Chen checked again to Fee, who bet 50,000. That bet seemed to torture Chen, as several times he reached for chips and then thought better of it, and several times he looked like he might muck his cards and thought better of it. After about a minute and a half of this, he reluctantly called. Fee showed Jd-Js, which was a winner.

That showdown took a chunk out of Chen's stack, but he remains in the hunt.

9:33pm--Nothing outlasts the Energizer

Okay, the action hasn't slowed down to the point that we can make Energizer battery comparisons with a straight face, but we've definitely hit a lull. Nobody is having any luck taking control of the table, and fatigue has set in after two long days of poker. Jeffrey Petronack is hunkered down in his seat; Andrewn Chen hasn't said a word in over an hour; and Joel Micka has stopped trying to suppress his yawns. Even Ryan Fee, who has been by far the most vocal and animated of the nine remaining players, seems to have toned it down a bit. Having a few preflop steal-raises snapped off can't have improved his mood.

As you can see from the Chip Counts page, no player is dangerously short. All seemed to have tightened to the point that it's going to take dueling big hands to draw the curtain on Day 2. That might happen two minutes from now or two hours from now. We'll just have to wait and see.

One player who seems unaffected by fatigue is Maria Stern. PokerStars.tv chatted with her husband Max about Maria while she continued to play on in the tournament:

9:22pm--What they are playing for

In case you haven't looked yet, we have all the prizes and winners for this event listed on the LAPT Prizes page. Have a look while the paint dries.

9:07pm--A look at the final table

Photographer Joe Giron has been working hard here today. Here's what the final table looks like right now.

9:05pm--Official chip counts

We have updated the LAPT Chip Counts page with official counts from the last break

8:50pm--Play resumes

Players are back from break.

8:45pm--Break time

Players on are break before coming back to the 3,000/6,000/500 level