Mario Lopez Leads After Day 2 of LAPT Uruguay

Here at PokerTube we said that the Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT) Uruguay was set to get even more competitive on Day 2, and that 's exactly what happened. Although 95 players made it to the second day of play, only 24 made it to Day 3 after a cutthroat day (and night) on the felt.

The player that finished Day 2 with the chip lead was Mario Lopez. If that name sounds familiar it is likely because the Argentinian player recently took out the coveted and highly popular Estrellas Poker Tour Main Event in the Spanish city of Barcelona.

Lopez – who has a day job as a medical doctor - outlasted a total field of 3,292 at the mammoth event to win the tournament and the €408,000 (around US$451,105) cash prize for first place. He also took out last year’s LAPT Chile Main Event, where he topped a field of 609 players to win, and has three WSOP cashes to his name.

While Lopez’s vast poker experience and strong chip lead gives him a good chance to win the LAPT Uruguay, he has no shortage of solid competitors in the remaining field. Chadi Moustapha lost his chip lead during the second day of play, he made the cut to Day 3 and his own experience makes him one to watch as the event continues.

While Moustapha is relatively new to the world of live tournament poker, he quickly started to make a name for himself as a shark in the Latin American poker scene. He was the runner-up in this year’s LAPT Peru Main Event and took out the High Roller event in last month’s Brazilian Series of Poker.

One of the best female Latin American poker players will also come back for Day 3 in an attempt to take the chip lead from Lopez and win the event. Renata Teixeira has competed in numerous poker events in her native country Brazil and came second in this year’s LAPT Chile Main Event.

However, a major event win eludes her, which is likely to motivate her to come back strong on Day 3 so she can advance to the final table.