LAPT8 Peru: Chile’s Claudio Moya grabs lead at day’s end for final table

There were 32 players left from a 366-entry field to start today’s Day 3 of the Latin American Poker Tour Peru Main Event. Then we blinked, and 24 of them were gone.

In just four-and-a-half hours — essentially four one-hour levels — a final table was reached, the day punctuated by Chile’s Claudio Moya cracking one-time LAPT Peru Main Event champion Patricio Rojas’s pocket kings with the ol’ seven-five, collecting a handsome-sized pot to send Rojas out in ninth and enter tomorrow’s final table with the chip lead.

Rojas congratulates Moya before departing in ninthIt was a hand that emblematized the “mighty have fallen” theme for the day in which the kings of the chip counts at the start all managed to be dethroned and defeated before the afternoon was through.

Rojas had begun the day in second position, nearly getting through to tomorrow if not for Moya’s big blind special. Meanwhile Andres “gmcrafter” Herrera started the day on top, but would eventually slide to fall in 15th.

Andres HerreraDiego Dos Santos was in third position back at noon, but he’d fall in 14th. And the amiable Norwegian, Leiv Kare Johannessen, was fourth of 32, but would be knocked out in 13th.

The day started much more reasonably, it seemed, with several of the short stacks going out early, including EPT/UKIPT London champion David Vamplew who began in 32nd after one hand was collecting 32nd-place money.

David VamplewTwo-time LAPT champion Fabian Ortiz was among the next wave of knockouts, finishing in 25th. Then LAPT3 Argentina winner Martin Sansour kicked off the next round of eliminations by finishing 21st.

Meanwhile it was Daniel Ramirez of Colombia collecting chips at the fastest pace early on, swiftly moving up from the middle of the pack to pass Herrera at the top of the counts.

Daniel RamirezHelio Neves enjoyed an even more dramatic boost at the start, beginning the day 30th of 32 but having already moved into the top tier of the counts by the day’s first break.

Ramirez held onto the lead right until the day’s final hand when the 51-year-old businessman from Chile passed him with his knockout of Rojas. Click here for a full updated list of payouts thus far.

Claudio MoyaThat sets up a somewhat historic final table for the LAPT, the first we can remember in which no player from the host country will appear as Jose Espinoza was the last Peruvian standing before finishing in 11th. Meanwhile half the seats will be occupied by Chileans, with a couple of Brazilians in the mix as well.

Here’s how the leaderboard will look when the final table begins:

1. Claudio Moya (Chile) — 1,673,000 (105 BBs)
2. Daniel Ramirez (Colombia) — 1,503,000 (94 BBs)
3. Chadi Moustapha (Lebanon) — 900,000 (56 BBs)
4. Hélio Neves (Brazil) — 827,000 (52 BBs)
5. Cristian Aceiton Ruiz (Chile) — 826,000 (52 BBs)
6. Marcus Martinez (Brazil) — 815,000 (51 BBs)
7. Jose Ili (Chile) — 382,000 (24 BBs)
8. Ricardo Chauriye (Chile) — 320,000 (20 BBs)

We’ll share more about all eight prior to play tomorrow with profiles of each, then will see if today’s short day portends a long one tomorrow or if the torrid pace will continue.

Come back mañana, and we’ll find out together.

Photography from LAPT8 Peru by Carlos Monti. You can also follow the action in Spanish here and in Portuguese here.

Martin Harris is Freelance Contributor to the PokerStars Blog.