Pokerstars Announces Latin American Poker Tour Schedule

Following in the footsteps of the hugely successful European Poker Tour and Asia Pacific Poker Tour, PokerStars just announced the launch of Latin America's first major poker tour, the Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT), promising to bring together some of the biggest names in the game to play for massive prize pools in the region's most vibrant destinations.

Season 1 of the tour is scheduled to make stops in Brazil, Costa Rica and Uruguay. Each LAPT event planned so far anticipates 250 players or more, creating total prize pools of well over $600,000.

FIRST STOP BRAZIL

The Latin American Poker Tour kicks off in the beautiful beach city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from May 3-5, 2008. This three-day, $2,500 tournament will be the largest poker tournament ever held in Brazil, with players competing for a total prize pool of over $600,000. Among the players will be Team PokerStars Pros and international poker stars Andre Akkari from Brazil and Humberto Brenes from Costa Rica.

The tour continues with the LAPT San Jose in Costa Rica from May 22-24, and then moves on to Uruguay for the LAPT Punta del Este from August 7-9.

"Poker is exploding in Latin America and the game is more than ready for its own major poker tour," said LAPT President Glenn Cademartori. "It's one of the fastest-growing poker regions and there are thousands upon thousands of players in countries like Brazil and Argentina who will love the chance to take part in events of this kind. In every regard, the LAPT is going to put Latin America on the map as the newest hotspot to play high-stakes international poker."

As well as players from Latin America, the LAPT is also set to attract top players from North America and Europe.

PokerStars already sponsors the European Poker Tour (EPT), the leading poker tour in Europe, now in its fourth season, and the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT), which launched last year to bring world-class, televised poker to the Asia Pacific region for the first time. It is the largest poker tour in Asia Pacific and a tremendous success after just one season.

Overseeing the LAPT will be Tournament Director Mike Ward. "As director of Foxwoods Resort Casino since 1996 and director of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas since its launch in 2004, I've had the opportunity to witness the dramatic expansion of tournament poker. I'm now really looking forward to bringing my skills and energy to the Latin American Poker Tour."

Team PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari stated, "It's a real honor to be representing Team PokerStars in the PokerStars Latin American Poker Tour, and even more exciting that the very first event is in my home country. The LAPT offers great opportunities for Latin American players. Poker is growing so fast in this region and now local players will have the chance to compete in major events in their own backyard."

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