by Mario Alfonsi | Published on Mar 26, 2012 | Updated on Mar 26, 2012Aliro Diaz battled past a field of 651 players to take down the Latin American Poker Tour Chile Main Event. Diaz, who hails from Chile, was one of three countrymen who finished in the top 4 spots of the tournament. After a deal was struck between the final six players, Diaz would ultimately take home $76,500 for his first place finish.The LAPT is just starting its fifth season, as the Chile stop at the Enjoy Casino & Resort was the first tournament of the year on the tour. The majority of the final table was made up of South American talent, though one American – Nicholas Batt – also made it through to the final eight.Coming into the final table, there was a virtual tie for first between Sergio Escobar of Colombia and Felipe Velasquez of Chile, and it seemed likely that one of the pair would take down the $129,470 set aside for first place.But things changes after a couple of early eliminations. Batt was taken down in 8th place ($13,040), followed by Halysson Sala in 7th ($17,470). At this point, the players decided to start dealing, with Velasquez claiming a guaranteed $60,000, while each of the other five players taking home $40,000 regardless of their finish.However, that still left a significant amount of money to play for, and the six players put money aside for each of the six finishing positions, ranging from $7,000 for the sixth place finisher up to $36,560 for first.Ultimately, Velasquez would finish in fourth place. However, his larger stake in the deal meant he would go home with $74,000 – the second largest prize awarded.When the tournament moved down to heads-up play, it came down to two Chileans: Diaz and Leonardo Olivares. The heads-up battle lasted just seven hands, after which Diaz made a call on a J99 flop with J7, putting him ahead of Olivares’ AQ. A five on the turn gave Olivares no help, and the river jack clinched Diaz’s first ever notable poker title. Olivares took home $66,000 for his second place finish.
