Season 8 of PokerStars Latin American Poker Tour concluded last night after five intensive days of play in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Two Brazilian players, Yuri "theNERDguy" Martins and Afonse Henrique, played heads-up for the title.
Martins had a 2-1 lead when the battle started. Henrique, who had held the chip lead for nearly the entire final table, managed to narrow down the gap between him and Martins after some time of play. At one point, their stack were so even that they struck a deal that left R$118,638 for the winner.
Henrique dominated play after that and eventually had Martins down to just 8 big blinds. Martins doubled up a few hands later with A7 against J9. This was the beginning of an incredible comeback by Martins.
In the final hand, Henrique open-raised his final stack of 5.645 million from the button. Martins made the call.
Henrique: K
9
Martins: K
Q
The board ran out 5Q97K to give Martins the pot and the title! According to PokerStars Blog, Martins has over $5 million in online earnings, including a runner-up finish in the World Championship of Online Poker Main Event in 2014. The win of this year's LAPT Grand Final was by far his biggest live cash.
"Being able to win here in Brazil is great," he explained afterwards. "Getting to celebrate with friends makes it very special."
LAPT8 Brazil - Grand Final Main Event final table results:
Entries: 426
Prize pool: R$3,760,300
1. Yuri Martins (Brazil) -- R$652,509*
2. Afonso Henrique (Brazil) -- R$533,871*
3. Andrés Herrera (Chile) -- R$329,030
4. Ricardo Chauriye (Chile) -- R$261,340
5. Alexandre Rivero (Brazil) -- R$204,940
6. Carlos Alves (Brazil) -- R$160,540
7. Bruno Kawauti (Brazil) -- R$120,700
8. Gustavo Lopes (Brazil) -- R$85,730
*= reflects the results of a two-way deal that left R$118,638 in play for the winner
