Selected approximate chip counts, updated throughout the day, are available on the chip counts page. The LAPT tournament structure can be found on the LAPT tournament structure page. The full payout structure is on the prize pool and winners page.

Previous coverage: Day 1 wrap | Levels 9 and 10 | Levels 11 and 12 | Levels 13 and 14 | Day 2 wrap | Level 15 and 16 | Levels 17 and 18 | Levels 19 and 20

Blinds: 10,000/20,000/2,000

8:19pm: Alin eliminated, final table set
Crippled after that last hand with Bouchard, Pandilica called an Eric Levesque raise, enough to put him all-in. Bouchard called from the blind and checked down the hand with Levesque. Pandilica was only holding [td][2d] and didn't make anything better than ten-high. By the river, Bouchard had made a straight with his [8s][3s] and the final table was set.

We'll have a full wrap-up shortly.

8:09pm: Francis-Nicolas Bouchard doubles through Pandilica Alin
Francis-Nicolas Bouchard moved all-in from the button and Pandilica Alin made the call from the big blind. Bouchard flopped top pair with his [Kd][9h] against Alin's [Ad][3d], the board running out [9c][5d][4s][4c][4h] to make him a full house and double his stack.

Alin is on fumes with 100,000 in chips.

7:41pm: Back in action
The final nine players are back in their seats and ready to play.

7:26pm: Blinds up

When the players come back from break, the will be playing at 10K/20K/2K and chasing chip leader Sol Bergren whose 1,375,000 chips is good for the lead. His closest competitor right now is fellow Canadian Eric Levesque.

Blinds: 8,000/16,000/2,000

7:22pm: Darren Keyes doubles through Patrick De Koster
Both Darren Keyes and Patrick De Koster checked the [Jh][6s][4h] flop. When the [Kh] hit the turn, Keyes moved all-in for his remaining 175,000 and after several minutes in the tank, De Koster made the call.

Keyes had turned a set of kings, his crafty check on the flop likely earning him the call on the turn. De Koster showed [Ks][9h] for a flush draw. The river was the [2d] and Keyes doubled to 519,000 while De Koster slipped to 440,000.

With that, we're on a 15-minute break.

7:20pm: Yes, we realize...
It's been 45 minutes since the last time we posted (and it really doesn't have much to do with the internet going down for a bit. In fact...nothing has really happened. We're still at nine players.

6:36pm: Bergren scores a double KO, eliminating Merrifield and Palsson
Well, that was dramatic.

Sol Bergren opened for 35,000 from the button. Steve Merrifield reraised to 108,000 from the small blind, only to watch Daniel Mar Palsson move all-in for 127,000 from the big blind. With the action back on Bergren, he asked tournament director Greg Pappas if Merrifield would be permitted to reraise should he make the call. Pappas told him that he wouldn't, and Bergren put in the call. Merrifield called the additional 19,000 and we went to the flop, which came down [8h][7s][4h].

Merrifield checked and Bergren checked behind, but when the [Ts] hit the turn, Merrifield moved all-in for his remaining 268,000. Bergren let out a long sigh, removed his headphones and stood up from his chair. The call would cost him most of his chips.

Bergren sat down, looking like he was about to fold, but surprisingly he called, tabling [Ks][Js] for the second-nut flush draw and two overs.

"I've got 20 outs" said Merrifield as he revealed [As][6s] for a double-gutshot straight draw, one over, and the nut flush draw. Bergren looked like he wanted to die.

That is, until the [Kd] miraculously spiked on the river. Wow. Just...wow.

Let's not forget about Palsson, who was also all-in. He showed [Jc][Tc] and actually led on the turn until Bergren hit his gin card.

Palsson exited in 11th place and Merrifield, who started the hand with more chips, took 10th. As for Bergren, he is now the far and away chip leader with over 1.2 million.

6:30pm: Level up
We've now moved on to Level 22 with Eric Levesque as our likely chip leader.

Selected approximate chip counts, updated throughout the day, are available on the chip counts page. The LAPT tournament structure can be found on the LAPT tournament structure page. The full payout structure is on the prize pool and winners page.

Previous coverage: Day 1 wrap | Levels 9 and 10 | Levels 11 and 12 | Levels 13 and 14 | Day 2 wrap | Level 15 and 16 | Levels 17 and 18

Blinds: 6,000/12,000/1,000

6:19pm: Security?
Before long, Canadian qualifier Eric Levesque may need security around him. Not only does he have a lot of chips, but he's drawn the ire of his tablemates.

The most recent hand saw three players to a [2s][4c][8h] flop. Levesque checked and saw a bet to 37 and call behind him. With that, he raised to 105,000. The original bettor folded, but Carlos Giron called. On the [5h] turn, Levesque check-called a 100,000 bet.

The river was a fairly scary [9h]. Levesque didn't think long for before putting more than half his stack, 200,000, in the middle. Giron thought for two minutes before mucking.

With that, Levesque stood, tossed his cards face-up at Giron, and exclaimed, "How's that?!"

He held [8s][6d] for second pair, no kicker, no straight, no flush, no anything that Giron wouldn't have called if he'd known.

But he didn't know, and now Levesque has as big a stack as he has cojones and attitude.

6:08pm: Well, Pardo me!
Fresh off his double-up, Francis-Nicolas Bouchard made it 28,000 to go from middle position. Eric Levesque flat-called, and Carlos Giron put in a three-bet to 88,000 from the small blind. Pardo, sitting in the big blind, came in and four-bet to 275,000, leaving himself only 205,000 behind.

Bouchard thought hard before folding. Levesque made a speech, then folded, as did Giron. Pardo raked in the pot and showed one card, the [Kc]. He's now up to 632,000.

5:55pm: Francis-Nicolas Bouchard doubles through Rogelio Pardo
Francis-Nicolas Bouchard has been shoving all-in virtually every time the action has been folded to him in the hopes of doubling up and on this last hand, he finally got a customer in Rogelio Pardo. Bouchard's [Ac][Kc] outran Pardo's [Jc][Jd], the board running out [5s][5c][7c][Ad][3c] to double him up to 375,000. Pardo's stack fell to 483,000.

5:50pm: Merrifield triples
It's a three-way all-in that came out of nowhere. The hands:

Steve Merrifield: [Ah][8s]
Darren Keyes: [3c][3d]
Patrick de Koster: [Ad][qh]

The board ran out [7s][jh][7h][8h][kc]. Merrfield 114,000 chips tripled in value, Keyes won the side pot and de Koster's big stack now has a dent in it.

5:35pm: Sol burns Iceland
Nearly down to the felt at the first break today, Sol Bergren is back in safe territory after doubling through Daniel Mar Palsson, his [As][Ah] holding up against [Ts][Th]. Bergren is up to 425,000 while Palsson was left with 187,000.

5:31pm: Our TD
While we're waiting for the action to pick back up, here's our favorite TD in the world, Mike Ward talking about the LAPT structure.

5:15pm: Chip count

We just put up a fresh chip count from the break. You can find it right here.

5:00pm: Break
Players are on a 15-minute break before moving on to Level 20.

Blinds: 5,000/10,000/1,000

4:59pm: Palsson takes a hit
We caught up with this hand on the turn, the board reading [Jd][Ts][5s][9h]. Patrick De Koster checked, Daniel Mar Palsson bet 37,000 and De Koster came in with a check-raise to 105,000. Palsson called and they saw the [Tc] hit the river. This time, De Koster led out, making it 145,000 to go. Palsson made the call and insta-mucked once he saw De Koster's turned straight with [Ks][Qc].

Palsson is down to 403,000 while De Koster is nearing the chip lead with 894,000.

4:40pm: Pandilica Alin doubles through Francis-Nicolas Bouchard
Pandilica Alin opened for 25,000 from under-the-gun, Francis-Nicolas Bouchard moved all in for 172,000 and Alin insta-called. It was pocket aces for Alin vs. Bouchard's pocket nines, the board running out [7c][5h][2d][5c][Th] to double Alin's stack to 350,000. Bouchard was left with only 73,000.

4:25pm: Sol plays it really slow
When Steve Merrifield came in for a raise to 22,000, he got three customers, including Sol Bergren.The flop fell [3d][ks][qh]. All four players checked. On the [kc] turn, everybody checked to Merrifield, so he bet 35,000. This time, only Bergren called. The river was the [4c]. This time Bergren checked again and Merrifield put out 125,000, enough to put Bergren all-in. He didn't waste time putting his chips in the middle with his [kh][qd]. Merrifield could only laugh and muck his hand.

4:15pm: Rogelio Pardo doubles through Pandilica Alin
Pandilica Alin led off the action with a raise to 25,000. Carlos Giron flat-called and Rogelio Pardo came in with a squeeze raise to 60,000. With the action back on Alin, he four-bet to 110,000. Giron gave up his hand and Pardo came in with a fifth raise to a total of 210,000. Alin called and they went to the flop, which came down [Kh][8s][3h]. Alin moved all-in and Pardo snap-called, turning up [Ad][Ac], leaving Alin in dire shape with [Jd][Jh]. The turn was the [9s], the river was the [6s] and Pardo scored himself a monster pot, taking his stack up to 750,000, good for the chip lead. Alin was left with 177,000.

4:06pm: Clayton McGuire eliminated
Short-stacked and ready to double, Clayton McGuire just got it all-in with ace-jack. Unfortunately for him, he ran into Steve Merrifield's pocket kings. McGuire never caught up and is gone in 12th place.

3:53pm: Time for a new level
Players are getting rid of the unnecessary 500 chips now. The blinds move up to 5,000/10,000/1,000.

While we wait for the players to sit back down, here's a photo of the sharks on sale for Humberto Brenes' Save the Sharks charity effort.

Just ask Antony Lellouche.

The massive overnight leader, and seasoned EPT veteran, was one of the first fallers on a day of huge hands and shocking bust-outs. At the end of it, the Portuguese player Antonio Matias is the leader going to the final table. He held most of the monsters and was behind most of those bust-outs, with the full result of all this carnage a final table line-up that looks like this:

Antonio Matias, Portugal, 3,003,000
Jeff Sarwer, Canada, 1,983,000
Ryan Franklin, United States, 1,047,000
Pierre Neuville, Belgium, 1,027,000
Jan Skampa, Czech Republic, 926,000
Joao Silva, Portugal, 780,000
Michel Abecassis, France, 488,000
Andrei Vlasenko, Russia, 371,000

Matias's charge into the lead really gathered steam when he knocked out Lellouche in two huge pots. On the second of those, Lellouche bluff-shoved all in with a busted draw that Matias snapped off with trip twos.

Matias sat with more than 1.5 million at that point, it grew beyond 2 million as the day progressed, and with 3,003,000 at day's close he is going to be a huge threat at tomorrow's final table.

The same applies to Jeff Sarwer. "Make me the villain," Sarwer quipped last night, when we joked that we were getting tired of writing about him on PokerStars Blog and had now run out of things to say. But it's tough to make a villain out of a player who is rapidly becoming the story of season six.

He's been chip-leader or thereabouts on at least five days we've had to write these wrap-up reports. A relatively recent convert to poker from chess, he's clearly doing something very right indeed - and now he is second in chips going to his first final table. The ride continues.

Of course to get to those eight, we had to lose 16 others. Among them were the PokerStars qualifier - and official Friend of PokerStars Blog - Matt Johns, who ran kings into aces and then sevens into more aces, all within the first orbit. That's no way to end what had been a terrific first appearance on the EPT from Johns. As a self-professed impoverished student, the €10,151 is going to help, but he'll probably be ruing what might have been. Next time, Matt.

He was joined on the rail by the likes of Jim "Mr_BigQueso" Collopy and another online phenom, Ruben Visser, whose big overnight stack followed the example set by Lellouche's (ie, it vanished).

Visser's Team PokerStars Pro colleague Jude Ainsworth deserves special mention too. Although he went out in 13th, that's a cash on his EPT debut since joining the Team. Plenty more are sure to follow.

The full list of prizewinners so far is on the prizewinners page, where you'll also see the target for all those remaining eight, namely the €404,793 first prize.

As we drift off into the Algarve night, there's still plenty for you to keep you entertained. The LAPT Playa Conchal is under way, so check out all the updates from Costa Rica. You can watch all kinds of televisual entertainment over on PokerStars.tv. When you've done all that - and not before - you can check out all the action from today with our level-by-level updates:

Level 18 updates
Level 19 updates
Level 20 updates
Level 21 updates
Level 22 updates

Join us tomorrow for this showdown. There's the online phenomenon in Ryan "HITTHEPANDA" Franklin, there's the chess prodigy Jeff Sarwer. There's the EPT veterans Pierre Neuville and Michel Abecassis and there's the eastern European dark horses Jan Skampa and Andrei Vlasenko. Then there's the home hopes Joao Silva and our leader, Antonio Matias.

It should be fun. Until then, goodnight.

Selected approximate chip counts, updated throughout the day, are available on the chip counts page. The LAPT tournament structure can be found on the LAPT tournament structure page. The full payout structure is on the prize pool and winners page.

Previous coverage: Day 1 wrap | Levels 9 and 10 | Levels 11 and 12 | Levels 13 and 14 | Day 2 wrap

Blinds: 2,500-5,000 (500 ante)

1:19pm: Jose Del La Guardia eliminated
It was a weird hand and decision that sent our latest finisher to the rail. A series of raises and re-raises between Jose de La Guardia and overnight chip leader Eric Levesque ended with De La Guardia ultimately shoving all-in for his last 120,000 chips. Levesque snap-called with [Ah][as], way ahead and destined to hold up against [ks][qs]. Although De La guardia flopped a king, he couldn't catch up and is out in 23rd place

1:09pm: Maria "maridu" Mayrinck eliminated in 24th place
Mayrinck made her last stand, getting her chips in before the flop with A-Q and found herself in a race with pocket jacks. There was no love for "maridu" on the T-5-5-8-2 board, the Brazilian contingent sighing heavily as the last Brazilian (and the last woman...and the last Team PokerStars Pro) was eliminated.

"What, you think I run good?" she laughed on her way to collect her $4,711 in earnings.

1:05pm: Quads for Keyes
Rogelio Pardo made it 15,000 to go before the flop and Darren Keyes looked him up. Both players checked the [Ks][Kc][Js] flop. The turn came the [Kh] and Pardo led out for 22,500. Keyes made the call. The river fell the [Qh] and Pardo took another shot at the pot, betting 27,000. Keyes carefully counted out a raise to 70,000 and after a few moments of deliberation, Pardo gave up his hand.

Keyes flashed [Kh][Jc], having flopped a full house and turned quads.

1:01pm: Mayrinck eliminates Daniel Fernando De Mare
Maria Mayrinck came in for raise from the button and the short-stacked Daniel Fernando De Mare shoved from the big blind with big slick. With very little more to call, Mayrinck made the call with her king-ten. She spiked a ten on the river and De Mare went out in 25th place.

12:49pm: Eduardo Hernandez doubles through Kenneth Paul Hicks

Kenneth Paul Hicks opened for 12,000 from early position and Eduardo Hernandez made the call. Hicks check-called Hernandez's 12,000 bet on the [Qc][7h][4d] flop, then check-called another 24,000 when the [Ah] hit the turn. The river was the [6d] and Hicks checked a third time. Hernandez fired out 24,000 and Hicks made it an additional 58,000 to go. Hernandez quickly called, slapping his [Ac][Qd] on the table. Hicks had an inferior two pair with [Ad][7d] and lost nearly half his stack, dropping down to 165,000. Hernandez has over 500,000 now and is the current chip leader.

12:48pm--James Casement eliminated
Bad luck for American James Casement. Short-stacked and in need of a double up, he got [kh][ts] in against Kenneth Hicks [tc][[8h]. An eight hit the river and Casement is out in 26th.

12:43pm: Nehring, Franke down
Within mere seconds, two PokerStars qualifiers hit the rail. Short-stacked German Mathis Nehring got it in with pocket fives against William Reynolds pocket sevens. Reynolds flopped his set and Nehring was out in 28th place.

Moments later, Brazilian freeroll qualifier Andre Franke got ace-queen all-in and ran right into pocket aces. He didn't catch up and went out in 27th.

12:31pm: The Graham Express derails

Rory "A.J." Graham got the rest of his chips in before the flop with [8d][8s] and earned a call from Edgar Cruz with [Ac][Kd]. Graham's eights still led on the [Jc][5c][2c] flop, though Cruz picked up the nut flush draw to go with his overcards. The turn was the [6d], safe for Graham but the [6c] on the river filled Cruz's flush and sent Graham to the rail in 29th place.

The exuberant Graham shook hands around the table before heading out.

"Hey, I'm still the CHOOOOO CHOOOO!" he laughed, chomping on his cigar.

12:12pm: Alex Gomes eliminated
It was one of those ugly blind versus blind limped pots with a board that got there for both players. In this case, the money went in on the river with the board showing [6c][7h][js][4d][9d]. Gomes held nine-six for two pair. Too bad for him, as qualifier Clayton McGuire held [ts][8d] for the straight. Gomes finishes in 30th place for $4,082.

12:16pm: One more color up
As we move up to level 16, there is no need for those pesky 100 denomination black chips. Another short break to move those off the table. Antes are now 500.

Blinds: 2,000-4,000 (400 ante)

12:10pm: Annnnnnnnd, now we're underway
After a short delay to color up, we're in action. We ended with two minutes left in this left. By the time you read again, we'll be up.

11:50am: Thirty returning
We're back at our posts and ready to move this field from 30 down to eight players. The man in front is Canadian PokerStars qualifier Eric Levesque.

Action starts in ten minutes.

Selected approximate chip counts, updated throughout the day, are available on the chip counts page. The LAPT tournament structure can be found on the LAPT tournament structure page. The full payout structure is on the prize pool and winners page.

Previous coverage: Day 1 wrap | Levels 9 and 10 | Levels 11 and 12

Blinds: 1,500-3,000 (300 ante)

6:36pm: Level ends, bubble remains
We were hand for hand for about 15 minutes, but nobody was ready to go bust. Players are now on break. We'll still be hand for hand when they come back.

6:19pm: Felipe Ramos busto; bubble time
Bad luck for Felipe Ramos. He got in on the flop of [ts][jc][5d] with [ah][ac]. Unfortunately for him, his opponent held [jd][td]. The board didn't pair and Ramos is out in 42nd place.

With 41 players remaining, we are now on the bubble and hand for hand.

6:11pm: Revenge...for love!
Team PokerStars Pro Maria Mayrinck came in for a raise, got a call from a button, and then saw the short-stacked big blind push all-in. She thought for a moment before calling. The button went away and the cards went on their backs. Mayrinck held [js][ts] to her opponent's [6h][6c]. She flopped a jack and her top pair held.

"That was revenge for my boyfriend," she said. "[The big blind] two-outed my boyfriend twice yesterday."

There are now 42 players remaining. Forty will get paid.

6:01pm: Iceland melting
All the money went in on one of those flops neither player could get away from, Daniel Mar Palsson flopping top and bottom pair with [Ah][5h] on the [As][Tc][5d] flop while his opponent, Darren Keyes hit middle set with [Td][Ts]. The turn and river blanked with the [4h] and the [Qd], Palsson shipping 92,100 of his hard-earned chips across the table.

Keyes is now up to 184,400 while Palsson slipped to 143,000

5:57pm: If not playing poker...

I stepped into the restroom a moment ago and found a sweaty, sweaty man fanning himself with his hands.

"Football, football, football!" he exclaimed. "Speak Spanish?"

I said I didn't speak enough.

"Footballllll!"

That was enough to explain the sweat. Apparently some of the busted players are nearby in a Argentina vs. Costa Rica football (yes, soccer) match.

5:55pm: Christian de Leon eliminated
Moments ago, Mexican Team PokerStars Pro Christian de Leon went out just shot of the money. His exit leaves only two Team PokerStars Pros left in the field. That's Alex Gomes and Maria Mayrinck. As the Brazillians are fond of saying....vamooooooooooo!

5:38pm: Paul pummels Wald
Matias Bienen Wald's tournament just came to an end after most of his chips evaporated on that squeeze play-gone-awry. Left with 8,400 in chips, he moved all in behind Ezequiel Guizzi's 8,100 opening raise. Kenneth Paul flat-called from the button, the big blind called, and Guizzi dribbled in three more 100-chips. The action was checked around to Paul on the [Jd][9c][2s] flop, and his 16,400 bet chased away his active opponents and the cards went on their backs. Holding [Ad][8d] Wald needed an ace or running cards to survive against Paul's [Tc][Th], but didn't get there, Paul improving to a full house when the [Js] and the [Ts] fell on the turn and river.

Four more eliminations to go before we hit the money.

Blinds: 1,200-2,400 (300 ante)

5:28pm: Bad time for a squeeze
With a raise and call in front of him, Matias Bienen Wald tried to squeeze from the small blind with ace-five. The original raiser folded, but the caller in the middle, Leonardo Emperador, called with his [jd][jh]. The board didn't do anything silly and Wald is on life support.

5:18pm: Rory resurgent
After dropping from his high-water mark of 120,000 down to around 50,000, Rory Graham found another double-up. Juan Jose Chavez moved all-in from late position and Graham snap-called, his [Ah][Kh] holding up against Chavez's [Jc][Tc] to take him up to 104,000.

5:12pm: Rojelio Pardo= your new chip leader
On a flop of [As][Jh][7h], Rogelio Pardo check-raised his opponent's lead bet only to be met with an all-in reraise. Pardo called in a shot, having flopped top set with A-A. Up against [Kh][8h], he needed to fade a heart that didn't pair the board, the turn and river falling the [4d] and the [Js] to make him the nut boat, eliminating his opponent.

With that pot, Pardo's stack rocketed up to the 370,000 mark and he is the new chip leader with 47 players remaining.

5:05pm: Slowing down

With 48 players remaining, we're just eight off the money bubble. That said, we have a new chip leader. That news coming in mere moments.

4:48pm--Salles can't win this race
The button opened for a 6,000 raise, Eduardo Hernandez flat-called from the small blind and Gualter Salles put the squeeze on, moving all in for 44,700 from the big blind. The button folded but Hernandez called, turning up [Ah][Qd] to Salles' [Jc][Jh]. Hernandez got an ace in the door and Salles couldn't find another jack, exiting the tournament just short of the money.

4:45pm: Our top three

With the players back in action, here are the top three stacks with 52 players remaining (approximated, because Fred Dykes stacks his chips like my kid stacks his Legos.

Fred Dykes: 330,000
Steven Merrifield: 270,000
Carlos Girou: 230,000

4:30pm: Almost back in action
We're just a couple of minutes from returning to action.Fred Dykes, the PokerStars qualifier from southwest Arkansas looks to still be our chip leader.

Selected approximate chip counts, updated throughout the day, are available on the chip counts page. The LAPT tournament structure can be found on the LAPT tournament structure page. The full payout structure is on the prize pool and winners page.

Previous coverage: Day 1 wrap | Levels 9 and 10

Blinds: 1,000-2,000 (200 ante)

4:13pm: Players headed to break

With 50 or so players left in the field, it's break time again.

4:00pm: No doubt, the sickest hand we'll see today
There are few bad beat stories worth listening to. The other night, somone tried to tell us how ace-queen was beat by ace-ten. We didn't blink.

This story, however, is worth telling. It was a [kc][5d][4s] flop. One player held pocket fours for the flopped set. Garoar Geir Hauksson held [Kh][qc]. They were all in and the board ran out...[ks]...[kd]. If you do a little math, Hauksson had a less than 2% chance of winning that hand when the money went in.

The man with the fours stood, looked at me, and said, "My name is Zack. I am the biggest loser in the world."

3:48pm: 10% of the field played this hand
"There's seven players at that table," said Tournament Director Greg Pappas. Six of them are in this hand.

Pappas' eyes weren't deceiving him. Six players saw a flop of [As][9c][4h]. Both blinds checked, and Carmen De Peluso moved all in from under-the-gun. Mattias Bienen Wald moved all in behind her and the rest of the table folded. De Peluso's [Ah][Qh] trailed Wald's top and bottom pair with [Ad][4d], the turn and river falling the [2h] and the [Js] to send her to the rail.

With De Peluso's elimination Team PokerStars Pro's Maria "maridu" Mayrinck is officially the last woman standing at the LAPT Playa Conchal with 54 players remaining.

3:48pm: J.C. Alvarado eliminated
Speaking of Fred Dykes, he is now likely the chip leader after sending Mexican Team Pro J.C Alvarado to the rail.

3:46pm: From 3,000 to 200,000 in less than 24 hours
Speaking of Mr. Chugga-Chugga, he just took a tour of the room and spotted his old tablemate Fred Dykes.

"Dude, you were down to 3,000 yesterday!" he exclaimed.

Dykes nodded humbly. So he was. Now he is among the top five in chips.

3:35pm: The Rory Graham Show, Part Dos
Rory "A.J." Graham just busted another player holding [as][8c] on an eight-high flop. For the past hour or two, he's been mimicking a train with his now infamous "Chugga-chugga, chugga-chugga" routine. Now that he has some chips, he has declared. "No more chugga-chugga! Now it's Whooooo-Hoooooooooo!" His train whistle is now the loudest thing in the room.

"I was quiet before," he said. "But you can't wake up a crazy man. I'm awake now!"

3:22pm: The Rory Graham Show
We meet a lot of characters in poker. Guys who wear funny hats, guys with superstitious rituals, heck, one of our own Team Pros puts on a helluva show with a menagerie of plastic sharks. Well, today, we met another. An American living in Costa Rica, his name is Rory Graham, but everyone seems to call him A.J.

Graham opened for 5,000 from under-the-gun. A middle position player raised to 14,000 and the button moved all-in. The blinds folded and with the action back on Graham, he slapped his entire stack into the middle, putting our middle position three-bettor to a decision.

"I go home now. You beat a damn good man. I'm done with it! I don't wanna see any more money! I want Drachmas. They're not worth anything anymore."

The middle position player made an anguished fold, showing [Qc][Qs].

"I got Aces!" Graham screamed.

"Yeah, I know," snapped the middle position player. "F**k!" he shouted, despite making the correct move.

Up against the button's [Jc][Js] Graham's [Ah][Ac] held on the [Kc][Ts][5d][3s][Ad] board.

"SHIP IT! SHIP IT!" he bellowed. "Every last ficha, SEND IT!"

"Man, I wanna smoke this now!" he shouted, chomping on an unlit cigar still inside its plastic wrapper.

3:20pm: Moving on up

We have now moved on to level 12 and 1,000/2,000/200 blinds and antes. Sixty-one players remain.

Blinds: 1,000-2,000 (200 ante)

3:08pm: Adios, Akkari
Andre Akkari's lengthy tableside massage just came to an abrupt end when the Brazilian Team Pro ran his pocket eights into pocket kings.

3:05pm: Bolivar Palacios Eliminated
Bolivar Palacios found himself on the wrong end of a coinflip to bring his tournament to an end. All-in before the flop, his [Js][Jd] fell to [Kd][Qh] when the board ran out queen-high.

3:02pm: The 200 Club
There are currently four players among the 65 remaining who have 200,000 or more chips in front of them.

Daniel Mar Palsson--290,000
Carlos Girou--220,000
Steven Merrifield--205,000
Fred Dykes--200,000

2:57pm: Iceland continues to roll
It's not that we don't know Daniel Mar Palsson's name, but among the media, he has simply become "Iceland." We could also continue to call him "chip leader." We just walked by his table again and picked it up on a [Jc][Ks][8c] flop. His opponent had check-raised all-in from the blinds. Palsson had to call 26,400 more and did just that.

"Do you have a king?" Palsson was asked. He nodded. "Then I lose," said his opponent, and turned over [Kd][2c]. Palsson had [kh][9h]. It held and he moved up to 290,000.

2:41pm: J.C. Alvarado flushes, then flips
J.C. Alvarado opened for 3,400 from the cutoff and Maximilliano Bassil defended his big blind. Both players checked the [Jd][4h][2h] flop. Bassil checked again when the [Ah] hit the turn, opening the door for Alvarado to fire out 4,800. Bassil called and they went to the river, which fell the [Kh], putting four hearts on the board. Bassil checked to Alvarado, who bet 12,800. Bassil used every trick in the book to try and get a read on Alvarado-- the ol' staredown, the "let me count out my chips like I'm making a call" fake-out, but Alvarado remained stone-faced. Finally, Bassil made the call, Alvarado flipping over his [Qh][Ts] for the nut flush. The hand took his stack up to 118,000.

Alvarado hadn't even finished stacking his chips when he made it 3,400 to go on the very next hand. Eduardo Hernandez three-bet to 8,500 from the button, Alvarado moved all in and Hernandez called. It was a classic race with Alvarado's [Ah][Ks] up against Hernandez's [Tc][Td], but Alvarado couldn't outrun him on the [Jd][5c][4c][4s][6d] board.

And just like that, Alvarado was back down to 69,000.

2:36pm: Netter nets nothing, apparently
American Tyler Netter looked good to go deep and at least cash in this weekend's event, but like overnight chip leader Rob Woodcock, it's not to be. We're not sure exactly what happened to Netter, but he is gone-daddy-gone.

2:34pm: Iceland grabs the chip lead again
After spending a good part of Day 1 with the chip lead, Icelander Daniel Mar Palsson gave it up before our night was over last night. Now, he's got it back. At this hour, he is sitting on 245,000. That's good for the chip lead and a bit ahead of Steven Merrifield's 210,000.

2:21pm: Alex Gomes doubles
We missed the action but our Brazilian colleagues have informed us that Alex Gomes doubled up on the last hand before the break, his pocket aces holding up against pocket nines. He's presently on 63,000 in chips.

2:20pm: Leo Fernandez eliminated
Down to 17,100, Leo Fernandez open-shoved from the hijack seat, and Ivan Freitez announced that he was all-in as well from the small blind. Freitez's [Kc][Qs] dominated Fernandez's [Qh][9d], the board running out [Kd][7s][2d][Ac][5d] to send him to the rail. Or the pool. Or maybe the bar.

2:17pm: Annnnnnd, we're back
Players are back in their seats and cards are back in the air. We hit the money when 36 more players find the rail.

2:10pm: Players finishing up break
The 76 remaining players are finishing up some chicken wings and hamburgers. They'll be back soon. While we're waiting, here's a picture of the always animated Maria "maridu" Mayrinck.

Yesterday we reported how Antony Lellouche and Jeff Sarwer were once again setting the benchmark for a successful day on an EPT, just as they had a few weeks earlier in Warsaw.

Well, not a lot has changed since then.

Tonight those two are still the leaders - all they did was swap places at the top. Yesterday it was Sarwer, today Lellouche.

Antony Lellouche

Jeff Sarwer

Lellouche (1,134,000 chips) and Sarwer (913,500 chips) were today's draw for reporters, and their progress seemed to directly affect everyone else. If either of them sneezed the players at their tables got colds and most of the time that meant another empty seat. By the whistle the closest stacks to them belonged to Ricardo Sousa (765,000) and the Team PokerStars Pro Ruben Visser (749,000).

Ruben Visser

Taking place around them was the process of going from 69 players to 24. It's often hard to predict how long that will take, but today it was as if the tournament floor had been lifted up at one end, sending players sliding uncontrollably towards the payout desk.

Within two levels we'd reached the bubble, the Russian player Sergey Lebedev claiming the dubious honour of bubble boy before the first hand-for-hand shuffle. With that popped we set a course for a final 24 and we reached that before 6pm, just half an hour after the sun set over the Algarve. There are still signs of daylight out there.

So who else got a pat on the back today?

Matt Johns had a breakthrough day at his first EPT event. The PokerStars qualifier finished on 374,000 after recovering from an earlier blow, and ultimately brought the day to a close when he busted Nicolo Calia in 25th place, flopping a straight against Calia's set of kings. Joao Barbosa secured his eighth EPT cash, bagging up 362,000 tonight. Team PokerStars Pro's new boy Jude Ainsworth continues his excellent debut. Ainsworth returns tomorrow with 491,000, joined by team mate Ruben Visser with 749,000. Jan Skampa is within sight of the leaders with 562,000, as is Claudio Coelho on 508,500.

Matt Johns

Jude Ainsworth

Flip the success coin for the list of today's eliminations, one that includes Andy Black, Alex Kravchenko, Johannes Strassmann, Johan van Til, Ljubomir Josipovic, Martin Wendt, Stefan Mattsson and Ross Boatman among others. You can find how much each of them cashed, if anything, at the prize winners and payouts page as well as all today's scores on the chip count page, which is the only place to find the official counts for all 24 remaining players.

Martin Wendt

In the meantime feel free to catch up on everything that happened today at the links below:

Level 14
Level 15
Level 16
Level 17

Our thanks to Neil Stoddart for the photography, including the three faces of Jan Heitmann, and you can find all the video blogs you like at PokerStars.tv. They're still celebrating the fact that the video blog curse has not struck Matt Johns.

That's it for today. Now it's on to day four, where we wrench up the excitement levels again and close in on the final table: from 24 players to a last eight.

Can Sarwer and Lellouche put their Warsaw demons behind them and reach that final? Or will a local man make a legend of himself in front of a home crowd? Find out when the action begins at noon GMT tomorrow. And if you need something for the time in between then there's action from the LAPT in Costa Rica right now.

Cheerio.

***
Here's something to ease you into the night. It's a football match between Germany and Spain, Team PokerStars Pro style:

It was just last year that the British PokerStars Supernova came to San Jose and ended Day 1 as the chip leader. He went on to finish in 9th place for $17,098. While a good finish, he certainly hoped for more. Now, he's apparently decided to go for the final table again.

In a day that saw the chip leader change like the Costa Rican breezes, Woodcock has emerged again as the Day 1 chip leader. After starting the day on 20,000, he beat Brazilian Marcelo Dabus in a 120,000 pot and ended the day on 147,600. He will lead the other 120 players left in the field as Day 2 begins tomorrow.

Playa Conchal, this beautiful place along the Costa Rican Gold Coast, forces people to confront an age old issue. Although poker is as fun a game as we've found, it's nearly impossible to concentrate on flops and rivers when there is a beautiful ocean just yards away from the poker room. Among the 259 starters today, at least half the field found themselves thinking more about the beach than poker. They are all now free to enjoy the beach, pool, fruity drinks, and the ubiquitous pineapple plates around the resort. The other half will come back tomorrow to fight toward the money.

Today, the LAPT was full of Team PokerStars Pros, including the likes of Andre Akkari, Angel Guillen, Alex Gomes, Jose Barbero, Christian de Leon, J.C. Alvarado, Leo Fernandez, Gualter "stockcar99" Salles, and Maria "maridu" Mayrinck. We were also happy to see Veronica Dabul and local godfather Humberto Brenes. Of all the Team Pros in the field, we only had to bid goodbye to Dabul. She took down Brenes' Shark Hunt Charity tournament last night and must have used up all her run good.

Chasing Rob Woodcock for the chip lead is American Tyler Netter who held the top spot for most of the day and finished the day with more than 120,000 chips. Sitting on almost an identical stack is Icelander Daniel Mar Palsson.

Those players and about ten dozen more are now free to enjoy a good dinner before bedding down for the night to dream of making the money.

And what will they be playing for when the come back on Day 2? Well we've detailed that over on our LAPT Playa Conchal prize structure and winners page. If you don't feel like clicking through, here it is in brief: The top 40 players will get paid. The player who makes it to the end will cash for $172,095. Not bad for four days work.

We've posted a short list of selected chip counts over on our LAPT chip counts page. When the tournament staff provides a full list of counts tonight, we'll post a link to it in the little black box at the top right of this page.

If you're into reading this coverage in the language in which the LAPT might imply, feel free to head over to PokerStarsBlog.la for coverage in Spanish and PokerStarsBlog.net/br for coverage in our Brazilian's version of Portuguese.

Or, if you'd prefer to stick to English, you'll find a complete list of our coverage from Day 1 at the end of this post.

We'll be back at noon Central Time on Friday to start Day 2. In the meantime, have yourself a good night.

Easing into it
Shaking off the morning
Wipeout for the surfer boy
BrenesWatch Part 1
Adios, Maria
Ramdin needs a new belt
BrenesWatch Part Two, Alex vs. "Obama"
I'll follow the sun
Tres reinas
They've been there before
Gomes flushes Lerner
Better to be Netter
BrenesWatch Part 3

If you don't know Netter (that's tnetter on PokerStars), you probably don't ever play tournaments online. The kid puts in some volume. Just counting his online cashes in November, we saw more than 30 in-the-money finishes in the last 19 days. That includes two fist place finishes in the high four figures and a massive fifth place finish in the Sunday Million for $63,000.

Now, he has spent most of Day 1 quietly eviscerating his opponents and at this hour sits on 130,000 from the starting 20,000 stack.

Netter, apparently is the real deal. That's how he ended up representing his country in poker's biggest national battle. A couple of years back, Netter represented Team USA in the World Cup of Poker. And, as expected, he and his team won.

Now he's on the LAPT and working on a title here. If the way he's been running in November is any indication, we might be using the old "better to be Netter" line more than a few times.

Perhaps the most recognizable of the players in the field is local favorite Alex Brenes. His record on the LAPT, at least in terms of final tables, is unmatched. In the first two seasons of the LAPT, Brenes has made two final tables. Both happened in season 1 when he took fourth in the now-defunct event in Rio and then placed runner-up in Punta del Este, Uruguay. Those two cashes earned him around $200,000.

The same year Brenes made the final table in Punta, he was up against now-Team PokerStars Pro Alex Gomes. The Brazilian placed fourth that year for a $68,000 win. Since then, he's signed on with Team Pro and won big just about everywhere he's been.

The only LAPT champion in today's field is Fabian Ortiz. In the Season 2 event in Vina del Mar Chile, Ortiz came back from a single small blind at the final table to win the entire thing for more than $141,000.

We also have the possibility of some final table rematches. The starting field today included players who have met before on previous final tables. Last year in Costa Rica, Brent Sheirbon and Jesus Bertoli placed third and fourth respectively. A few months later in Punta del Este, Mexico's Angel Guillen took third and Bolivar Palacios placed seventh. Finally, at the season 2 grand final in Argentina, we saw Leo Fernandez (6th), Derek Lerner (7th), and Jose Barbero (9th).

Finally, we can't let this list of notables end without mentioning the man with the most creative hair stylist among LAPT final table players. That, of course, is Steven Thompson who made the final table of the Costa Rican event in season 2.

Who's to say we won't see these guys meet again at a final table. After all, they've been there before.

So, it's not as if three guys from Iceland would need much reason to escape their icebox so far north of here. Frankly, there are probably some people in Minnesota right now who wouldn't mind being here, too.

Still, weather aside, we've discovered there's a reason Gardar Geir Haukson, Daniel Mar Palsson, Hilmar Solvensson all showed up here this morning. Apparently the Icelandic trio knows how to play cards.

Just last week, they all played in the World Poker Showdown and Solvensson managed to walk away with the win and $30,000. So, he's freerolling the LAPT, not having to freeze his chips off in Iceland, and still has a shot at an LAPT title.

To grab first place, however, Solvensson will have to fight through his buddy Palsson. In just the first four levels of play today, Palsson managed to turn his 20,000 starting stack into a staggering 120,000. It the past little bit, he's fallen back below 100,000, but if you take a look a the photo below, you'll see that he doesn't look too worried.

At this hour, Palsson is among the chip leaders on Day 1. He's joined at the top by Brazil's Marcelo Dabus and American Tyler Netter.

We're just past the midway point of Level 5 with 192 of the initial 259 players left in the field.

We're expecting to play two or three more levels before breaking for the night. At that point, it should still be pretty warm outside, so we're not expecting the Icelanders to button up their shirts anytime soon.

When he's sitting behind a table, it's sort of difficult to tell what's making the difference. And if I hadn't ridden in from the airport with him, I might still be wondering what's making him so happy. Fortunately, we had 45 minutes to chat during the ride to Playa Conchal, and I have the scoop.

A few months back, Ramdin entered into a weight loss bet with one of his friends for a fairly substantial amount of money (you can ask him how much if you really want to know). What at first became an attempt to win some dough off his buddy became something more of a lifestyle change.

We all know the effect poker can have on the human body and we've seen many a player take on some pretty drastic measures to drop the points. Players like Howard Lederer, Robert WIlliamson III, and Thomas Keller all had gastric bypass surgery and dropped a lot of weight. Team PokerStars Pro Betrand ElkY Grospellier entered a weight loss bet of his own and went from pudgy to svelte in just a few months.

Ramdin did the same, at first combining a low carb diet with a decent amount of exercise. He started shedding pounds like a Brit on a bender. Then he went to London for the EPT and put on a little weight. When he came back, he went to a spa where he went on a specialized no-salt-no-sugar diet. He was also working out 4-6 hours per day.The pounds went off and after a few more lifestyle changes, Ramdin discovered he was about as healthy as he'd been in his life. His blood pressure was at an all-time low. His cholesterol was something the healthiest of men would envy. In just a few months, the Team PokerStars Pro had shed 30 pounds.

Alas, it was not enough to win the bet. And Ramdin? Well he couldn't seem to care less about losing the money.

"No complaints," he said with a smile. Because for Ramdin, it's not about the money. He is well-known for his charitable giving. He's also spent a lot of time in recent months supporting the Poker Players Alliance the the political candidates the advocacy ground supports. In short, even if it takes spending some of his hard-earned cash, the end is results makes it all worthwhile. In this case, it cost him a decent amount of money, but he's happy and healthy (and looking pretty good, too).

Now he's sitting among this LAPT crowd after a last-minute decision to fly down from New York and play in this Season 3 opener.

And he expects to do well.

"This is my old stomping grounds," he said, the memory obviously still clear in his mind. "I used to be a surfer.

Sitton, known as "Hardway Hank" on PokerStars, is a serial qualifier for PokerStars events. We've seen him just about everywhere, including the underground games in Greenville, SC where this writer used to play. The owner of a major car dealership back in the U.S., Sitton likes to spend his spare time playing cards. He's done alright for himself. His most recent score was a third place finish at the Gulf Coast Poker Championship in 2007 for $210,000.

If that win is in the past, Sitton is enjoying his memories of ancient history, of his time on the waves along the Guanacaste coastline.

"Back then, none of this was here. It was gravel roads all the way from Tamarindo to here," he said. "And that airport we flew into? It had a thatched roof. A tiki hut!"

Just last night, Sitton was sure he would make a big splash here in the place of his youth. Alas, the scream of "Seat open, Table 2" meant an early wipeout for the one-time king of the waves.

Sorry, Hank. But, look at it this way...it's more time for the beach.

***

In other news, Jean-Robert Bellande must have been hungry for some pool time. He busted in the first level of the day.

Though there are still a number of empty seats at the tables, they are quickly being filled in with the likes of Andre Akkari, Angel Guillen, Felipe Ramos, Christian de Leon, J.C. Alvarado, Leo Fernandez, Gualter "stockcar99" Salles, and Maria "maridu" Mayrinck. Victor Ramdin flew in yesterday, as did Veronica Dabul, who took down Humberto Brenes' "Shark Hunt" tournament last night, which raised $9,650 for charity, a sum that will be matched by Brenes and matched again by PokerStars.

Speaking of the first family of Costa Rican Poker, no fewer than five Breneses have been spotted on the premises, including Alex, Eric, his son Eric Jr., Humberto, and his youngest son Roberto, who made a deep run Season 2's stop in Vina del Mar, Chile. Family last-longer honors are once again up for grabs.

PokerStars player Shirley Rosario made the long trek to Guanacaste from her native Los Angeles, as did U.S.-based players David Plastik, Paul "X-22" Magriel, and George Lind III. We have also spotted at least one Season 2 champion in the room-- Vina del Mar winner Fabian Ortiz, who made one of the greatest comebacks we've ever witnessed in tournament poker, rallying from half a big blind to take down the title.

The PokerStars video blog team put together this reel highlighting our luxurious new venue, the Paradisus Playa Conchal. Check it out below:

Watch LAPT S3 COSTA RICA: Welcome to Paradise on PokerStars.tv

We stood above the water of a small lagoon and underneath a blanket of red light and the steady buzz of Costa Rican Imperial. Men with the name Brenes surrounded us. It was like a family reunion with an Eric, an Alex, and a godfather named Humberto. This was, in fact, the opening party of LAPT Playa Conchal, the place where players and their families mill about eating meat on a stick and sipping fruity cocktails before the first of this four days of championship poker.

And then, yes, the sky exploded.

Across the lagoon, two men with blowtorches ran like soldiers in a firefight, from mortar to mortar, ducking and covering with each explosion in the sky. For five full minutes, the bomb blasts shook the the 2,400 acres of the Paradisus Playa Concha, the signal that, in the parlance of our time, it was on.

When the party started to wind down, the crowd worked its way toward the poker room, where Humberto Brenes hosted his signature 'Shark Hunt' Bounty Charity Tournament. The $100 rebuy event drew a solid crowd and raised nearly $10,000 in buy-ins which Brenes matched and then PokerStars matched again. When it was all said and done, one of PokerStars own, Veronica Dabul walked away with the title (and apparently, an inflatable shark).

Now, we've all had a bit of rest and are settling down for the first hand of the main event. The 240 or so players expected to show up for this $2,700 buy-in event have four days of play ahead of them. If they bust out today, they probably won't be too happy, but we've found there is something to comfort them. It's about a five-minute walk from the poker room and is sitting under a sunny sky.

Action begins at high noon CT. We're tableside and ready to roll as soon as the cards go in the air. Now, if we could just find those fireworks guys, we could make this joint really pop.