Latest Vina del Mar Post

While the field will have to shrink a bit more before the Brenes family has to worry about being seated together, paterfamilias Humberto was recently moved to a table that already boasts two members of Costa Rica's poker royalty. Brenes is now seated to the left of the "first lady"...more

About every fifteen minutes, we weren't sure if it was dinner time or if Juau Parra Garces needed someone to bring him a cup of tea. No matter how significant the hand he played, if he won (or needed some luck) he rang the little bell. It was quite a...more

Humberto Brenes knows what's up when a camera crew moves in on a table in rapid fashion-- someone must be all in. And just a few moments ago, that someone was his son, Jose Humberto. The elder Brenes folded his hand and quickly scooted over to his son's table,...more

We've just received the official numbers from the tournament staff. Here's how the LAPT Vina del Mar prizes look. Two hundred sixteen people sat down this morning to play. The top 27 of those players are competing for the $523,800 prize pool and will walk away with at least $5,238....more

J.C. Alvarado's day was starting nicely. He doubled up during the first level, taking his stack past the 20,000 mark, giving him some added ammunition with which to work his tricky, loose-aggressive style. However, sometime just past the first break, things began to turn the wrong way for the young...more

Riddle time! What's platinum blonde, has a shovel in the back of its head, and has made an LAPT final table? If you guessed Maria Stern, you would be close. She lacks the shovel. a better guess...Costa Rican Steven Thompson. Thompson made the final table of the Sane Jose event...more

Now that two levels have passed, the blinds have risen to 75-150, and some players' early jitters have worn off, big pots are finally materializing. J.C. Alvarado was the recipient of an early double-up and now sits comfortably around the 25,000 chip mark while Team PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari just...more

It's no big surprise anymore to see Humberto Brenes walk into an LAPT tournament room. The only real shocker would be if he didn't show up. He, his visor, and his sharks are now a fixture on this circuit. Furthermore, seeing brother Alex alongside the Shark is a pretty common...more

Tom "Aln_The_Kid" Alner lives with his mom. Still in his early 20s and full of love and respect for his mum, the kid from the UK has no real problem with his current living arrangements. Nonetheless, there comes a time in every guy's life when it's time to get out...more

There are more than a few bleary-eyed faces in the field this afternoon after last night's welcome party-- a raucous fiesta that left the bar completely out of Cristal (not the premium champagne, but rather the name of the local brew). As our 215 starters made their way through the...more

While our fellow PokerStars bloggers shiver through a French winter, we here in Chile had a day to enjoy a Chilean summer. After a Monday of sunburns, 90 degree weather, and southern hemisphere sweating, it's now time to get to the poker. Chilean skies show us a different pattern of...more

Walking into the vast, four-story atrium that greets you upon entering the Hotel del Mar, here on the sun-splashed Chilean coastline, the clatter of chips is unmistakable. Players are milling about, tall leggy women in tight orange dresses are handing out goody bags and inside the Enjoy Casino, dealers are...more

It's easy to throw a party in the wintertime. People are cold, bored, and generally uninterested in all things interesting. In the summertime, though, things are much different. It's hard to throw a party and make people show up. If PokerStars throws a party, though, people come out with bells...more

There may be no way to properly explain what it feels like to fly over the Andes mountain range. It's natural awe conflicted with the trailer for the the movie "Alive." Anyone who has seen that flick knows how those folks ended up. So it's enough to make one happy...more