Leo Fernandez's arm is sticking out like a sore thumb. A green sore thumb at that.
For the past three days, the Team PokerStars Pro has shown up to play with a green band around his bicep. Speculation ran rampant. Was it a fashion statement? Was it something akin to a green Livestrong bracelet? Was Fernandez simply losing his mind?
They were probably all fair assumptions, but none of them spoke to the real story.
As it happens, Fernandez is buddies with Argentinian soccer superstar, Jose Chatruc, who is now one of the stars of Pura Química (Pure Chemsitry), an ESPN program in Latin America.
As the story is told, one day, one of Chatruc's co-hosts took the soccer captain's armband and declared himself captain of the show. It's a gag Fernandez reprised here on Day 1 of the LAPT Panama main event with an armband provided by Chatruc here this week.
The arm band served Fernandez well. Today, with ten players remaining, Fernandez remains the chip leader and contention to be the second Team PokerStars Pro to win an LAPT event.
That said, if he hopes to be captain of the Argentinean team, he has a long road ahead. Countryman Jose "Nacho" Barbero has two LAPT titles and has been hanging around the rail today keeping close watch. That is a long way of saying, Fernandez may be wearing the captain's armband, but he's going to have to talk to Barbero before he gets the official title.
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Brad Willis is the PokerStars Head of Blogging