Yesterday players might've been rattled awake at 10:00am.
There were sirens and people on the street. Some had backpacks with supplies and everyone was staying away from tall buildings. Everything pointed towards "earthquake," except for the fact that the ground didn't shake.
It is possible that the entirety of the LAPT, players and staff, were in such a collective comatose state from the free food and alcohol provided at the PokerStars party the night before. But that theory was quickly debunked by an elevator, more specifically, a sign in an elevator.
All of Peru was having an earthquake simulation. The government conducts sporadic earthquake simulations to prepare its population for the inevitable. In addition to practicing building evacuations, there are plenty of signs in every building indicating which zones are earthquake safe.
But there were no earthquakes or earthquake simulations to rattle players awake today. Something else dragged them out of bed and into the tournament. It was a smell (no, not that smell), the sweet smell of money. Day 2 of LAPT Lima is starting at 12:00 ET today and we're playing down to 24 players.
Along the way, we'll be hitting the 56-player mark. Usually, that number is quite uneventful, but here, that's when we hit the money. The final 56 players will cash for a minimum of $3,710 while our champion will get a payday of $187,300.
Currently leading the field is Peru's very own Marcelo Marchand. Marchand finished Day 1 far ahead of the field with 306,900. Marchand is hoping to keep the trophy home and become the first Peruvian LAPT champion since Martin Sansour won the Grand Final in Season 3.
But we'll be deciding more than a champion in this event. The player-of-the-year race is highly contested and ends here. Team PokerStars Pro Angel Guillen is currently in the lead with 1,650 points, 400 points ahead of his closest contender, Christian Alejandro Sare. Daniel Ospina, who's starting Day 2 second in chips, is 10th in the POY race with 945.
A deep finish here could give Ospina the title. Or not. Every event counts towards the title and we still have the second chance, the high roller and several other events to go.
Team PokerStars Pro is also hanging in there. Yesterday we saw Chris Moneymaker, Vanessa Selbst, Angel Guillen, Christian de Leon and Leo Fernandez fall, but Humberto Brenes and Jose "Nacho" Barbero are still alive and well.
Brenes is starting the day with 27,600 while Barbero will sit down with a bit more, 44,700. While both players are looking for the win, Barbero is looking for his second victory in Lima. Back in Season 3, Barbero took down LAPT Lima right after winning LAPT Punta del Este, becoming the first LAPT back-to-back champ.
Now he'll be looking to become the first player to win the same venue twice.
Stay tuned for more LAPT action as we play down to the money and reach our final 24 players.
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Peru en español? Haz click aquí.
Alexander Villegas is a freelance contributor to the PokerStars Blog