LAPT San Jose result

A former college student turned poker pro won his first major tournament today. Ryan Fee, a 20-year-old online poker player from Philadelphia, PA won one of Costa Rica’s biggest poker events ever. The international poker tournament, which attracted players from five different continents and 33 different countries, was the first event of Season Two on the Latin American Poker Tour sponsored by PokerStars.net.

Fee topped a highly-competitive field of 219 players and won the top cash prize of more than a quarter million dollars. The tournament which cost $3,700 to enter was one of the highest buy-in events ever held in the Latin America. In fact, this year’s entry fee was $1,000 more than last year – which served as the inaugural LAPT offering. Nonetheless, Fee – who plays poker regularly at PokerStars and who admitted he had very little live tournament experience – won a most impressive victory.

The three-day event was held at the Ramada Plaza Herradura Conference Centre in San Jose. Adorned in Costa Rican flags and PokerStars banners, the tournament room provided the flavor of an international sporting event. The tournament’s final hand was typical of three exciting days of poker action. Fee was dealt A-10. His opponent Joel Micka was dealt 4-4 and was out-chipped by a small margin. It appeared Micka might win the big hand until the fateful river card was dealt – an ace which gave Fee the Costa Rican poker championship. The final board showed K-Q-7-8-A, giving Fee a winning pair of aces.

Fee says that he plans to play in more upcoming LAPT tournaments, including next month’s tournament in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico. But first, Fee will return to his home in Philadelphia. “I want to be home for Thanksgiving,” Fee said. “But after that, I am going to play as many LAPT events as I can. This victory feels just great.”

Based on yet another successful LAPT event, poker in Latin America is here to stay. “We are extremely excited to have launched LAPT Season 2, by returning here to San Jose, surrounded by the beautiful tropics of Costa Rica,” said Glenn Cademartori, LAPT President. “We were fortunate enough to host such a great tournament in a spectacular venue for our Latin American players, as well as players from 33 countries around the globe.”

“Ryan Fee is a great young champion and was quite taken aback having won our biggest first prize to date. He is a sharp guy and has certainly made his mark in the poker industry with this win. We look forward to seeing him in Mexico next month,” Cademartori added. “We are quite pleased with how smoothly the tournament ran and received plenty of praise from our satisfied players. Many of them will be joining us for our next stop in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico, December 5-7. We’re breaking new ground in Mexico, just as we did in Brazil last Season. We have created the new standard for the Latin American poker experience.”

Last year’s LAPT Season One attracted 1,063 players in just three events. Season 2, will include as many as six events and promises to be considerably bigger with tournaments planned for Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina.

Satellites for the LAPT Neuvo Vallarta event are available daily at PokerStars. Players have the chance to win a prize package which includes a main event buy-in, accommodation for four nights, and spending money for expenses. Please visit www.lapt.com for more information and updates on the tour dates and how to qualify.