Compared to other big poker series, qualifying for the Latin America Poker Series LAPT is relatively easy. All in all, to my personal experience, the competition is relatively soft, both in the online satellites as well as during the actual live events.
South American players in general tend to play for fun, with little strategic skills and lack of discipline. On the other hand, they are great guys and fun to be at the poker table with. The ambience during all LAPT tournaments I have participated in so far is really enjoyable, and you will easily make friends there.
In order to qualify online, you must sign up with Pokerstars - they have the most qualifiers on offer. Since they are the company that organizes LAPT, having a Pokerstars account makes absolute sense. Click here to register a new account today. By the way, they still have a $600 bonus offer (100% of your first deposit), or an immediate bonus of $20 after depositing $20 upon registration.
For both bonuses, you have to enter marketing code PSA2046, and after that choose bonus code FREE20 or STARS600, depending which bonus you want. Be advised that the $600 bonus has to be earned by playing real money games, while the $20 bonus will be credited to you within 36 hours.
The online qualifiers for LAPT at Pokerstars are set up so that you can start with satellites from under $1 buy-in. All satellites feed to the $55, $ 105 or $215 qualifiers. Those will have one seat guaranteed, and most of the time you will have around 40 players competing. Those qualifiers are Rebuy tournaments, so that at the end you will often have up to 4 winners here.
One thing you need to be aware of: there are "seats" and "package" qualifiers on offer. If you win a seat, you will still have to book a hotel and a flight. The packages include hotel booking and app. $600 in cash for your flight. Another huge advantage of having a Pokerstars account is the fact that you can pay your buy-ins via Pokerstars, and get your live winnings paid out to Pokerstars as well. That is a big plus, since you don`t have to bring much cash.
The LAPT series has tournaments in Vina del Mar (Chile), Panama City, Sao Paulo (Brazil), Lima (Peru), Punta del Este (Uruguay) and finally in the Bahamas at the Atlantis Resort. All those places are great for sightseeing, so plan for a couple of extra days to do the tourist thing!
Ok guys, time to go ahead and give it a try. And if you make the cut, you will probably meet me at the tables at most of the 2015 events!
