Renata Teixeira Runner-up in LAPT Chile Main Event

When the final table of LAPT Chile began it was not written in the stars that Brazil’s Renata Teixeira would finish runner-up. Teixeira was the short stack going into the final table with only 17 big blinds and she was facing strong competion with two-time LAPT champion Nacho Barbero and LAPT Peru Grand Final winner Oscar Alache among the final eight players. But what she lacked in chips she certainly had in support from friends and followers sporting the same purple hair color as Teixeira.

The event saw 411 entries, but when day 4 began just 8 of them were left:
Seat 1: Oscar Alache (Chile), 1,275,000
Seat 2: Rodrigo Oliver (Chile), 546,000
Seat 3: Justo Esquivel (Chile), 893,000
Seat 4: Rodrigo Quezada (Chile), 864,000
Seat 5: Renata Teixeira (Brazil), 532,000
Seat 6: Fabian Chauriye (Chile), 1,638,000
Seat 7: Javier Venegas (Argentina), 1,045,000
Seat 8: Nacho Barbero (Argentina), 1,166,000

It only took three hands before the first player, Rodrigo Oliver, was eliminated. But Teixeira was not going to sit back and wait for another elimination, and soon after she was all in. The action began when Teixeira raised UTG and received a call from Rodrigo Quezada in the big blind. The flop brought

and Quezada checked-called a c-bet of 100,000 from Teixeira. The turn was the and now Teixeira announced “all in” after Quezada had checked the turn. Quezada called and the cards were turned over. Teixeira had for trip aces, while Quezada had flopped a flush with . Teixeira was in bad shape, but a fortunate on the river paired the board and gave Teixeira a full house, while Quezada was sent home a couple of hands later in 7th place.

With six players left Teixeira was second in chips, while the chip leader at the start of the day, Fabian Chauriye, was in trouble. He was eliminated in 6th place when he shoved

from UTG and got a call from Teixeira in the big blind with a pair of jacks and failed to improve.

Justo Esquivel was sent to the rail in 5th place, and down to four players Teixeira was involved in a huge pot with Javier Venegas that gave her the chip lead. The action began with Teixeira raising to 155,000 from the small blind. Venegas 3-bet to 355,000 from the big blind and Teixeira responded with a 4-bet all in for her remaining 1.42 million chips.  Venegas made the call and showed

, while Teixeira tabled . The board ran out to ensure Teixeira the double up.

Four-handed Deal
After this hand the tournament was paused and the players made a deal that gave Teixeira $113,460, Alache $111,962, Barbero $100,073 and Venegas $86,505 – leaving $20,000 and the trophy for the winner. Soon after it was over for Nacho Barbero, who exited in 4th place, when his AJ failed to improve vs. Venegas’ AQ.

The last Argentine at the table, Javier Venegas, was eliminated in 3rd when he was in the big blind and decided to call a shove from Teixeira in the small blind. Teixeira was in front with

vs. Venegas’ . The flop gave Teixeira a pair of aces and when the fell on the turn to give Teixeira two pair it was over for Venegas.

Teixeira and Alache Heads-up
At the start of heads-up play Teixeira was in front with 4,305,000 vs. Oscar Alache’s 3,655,000. Alache was hoping to become the third two-time LAPT champion, while Teixeira was aiming at becoming the first woman to win a LAPT Main Event title.

In the first 30 minutes of heads-up play Teixeira remained in the lead, but Alache was able to turn things around in a hand where he hit a full house and later when he got value from a pair of kings. In the last hand of the night the action began with Alache opening from the button to 250,00. Teixeira responded with a 3-bet to 700,000, but Alache was not going anywhere and he announced “all in”. Teixeira called and showed her

, while Alache had picked up . The flop of was not a good one for Teixeira and the on the turn and the on the river sealed the deal.

Teixeira takes home $113,460 for her historic second place finish; no other woman has ever come this far in a LAPT Main Event. The score is by far the largest in the 28-year old poker player’s career (her biggest cash until today was back in February when she took home $2,664 for her 54th place finish in the Brazilian Series of Poker Main Event).

Huge congrats to Renata Teixeira for her impressive run!

Photo: Renata Teixeira, LAPT Chile.