Congratulations to Matthias Habernig, Winner of LAPT Florianopolis ($247,441)!
When the final table began just about four and a half hours ago, Matthias Habernig was the clear favorite. He came into the day with nearly half of the chips in play and almost four times more than his closest competitor. This time, the final-table favorite was able to pull it off as Habernig captured the title and walked away with the first-place prize of $247,441! Quite the hefty payday for the youngster who qualified online from Austria.
Right from the get go, things were fast and furious. There were eliminations left and right -- three within the first hour! Rudy Blondeau went first and he was followed by Rodrigo Scartezini and Andre Luiz Scaff.
After that, things slowed down for only a little bit before the next bunch of players hit the rail and we were down to three-handed play. It took a little while before Alexandre Richard Martins was sent to the rail at the hands of Habernig, which set up a heads-up battle that had Habernig with about a 4:1 chip lead over Dayan Vandanega.
Vandanega was able to pull himself to the lead about halfway through the match and it seemed as though Habernig was getting a little rattled. Rightfully so as this was his first live tournament. A timely break came in the action where Habernig had a chance to regroup and also chat a little bit with Team PokerStars pro Victor Ramdin. The break and the chat must have helped as Habernig returned and took over the chip lead shortly thereafter. Then, after a two-pair-versus-two-pair confrontation, Habernig was able to close the deal.
Habernig made sure to follow through with his massive chip lead coming into the day and wound up the last man standing holding the trophy. He walks away nearly a quarter of a million dollars richer as another great event along the Latin American Poker Tour comes to a close.
For all of us here in Brazil from PokerNews, we thank you for following along and hope you get a chance to check out our coverage from the next stop!