Ryan Fee, a twenty year old from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, held the chip lead when final table play began at the Latin America Poker Tour San Jose, and he would continue to accumulate chips until he held all of the chips. His victory earned him $285,773 and the LAPT San Jose title.
Final table play started cautiously, as the players were unwilling to take big risks in the opening period. Maria Stern would change the pace by moving all-in several times with her dwindling stack, and she would eventually be called by Jeff Petronack and his pocket queens. Stern showed [Kh][Jh] and would need help to survive. The flop of [5c][4h][3d] was no help, and neither was the turn card of [10d] or the river card of [6c]. Maria Stern exited in eighth place for a payday of $24,425.
Another small stack would soon see the description of small change to nonexistent. Chris Rasmussen shoved his stack into the center and Joel Micka made the call, showing pocket kings, which were easily ahead of Rasmussen’s [Qd][7d]. Rasmussen flopped a pair of queens to give him some help, the flop falling [Qc][9s][2c]. However, the turn of [10c] and the river of [6s] did not allow Rasmussen to survive. Chris Rasmussen would collect $34,195 for his seventh place finish.
In a most interesting hand, Jeff Petronack moved all-in with [Ad][Kh] and found a caller in Ryan Fee and his [As][Ks]. The flop of [Js][10s][8s] brought a flush to Fee, and the flush would improve when the [Qs] fell on the turn, giving Fee a royal flush. Then for good measure the river card delivered the [9s] to make the board a straight flush. Jeff Petronack exited in sixth, richer by $43,960.
Ryan Fee then proceeded to knock out Andrew Chen after starting the hand as the underdog. Chen risked all of his chips on his pocket queens and held a dominating edge over Fee’s pocket eights. However, the board would run out [6c][5c][4h][7d][6s] to give Fee a straight. Andrew Chen earned $61,063 for his fifth place finish.
Jesus Bertoli’s tournament would come to an end when he clashed with Ryan Fee. Bertoli was all-in before the flop with a hand of [Ad][3s] and facing the [Ks][Qs] of Fee. The flop was devastating for Bertoli as it fell [Kd][Qh][8d] to give Fee two pair. The [4s] turn and the [5c] river sealed the hand and Bertoli headed for the exits, having earned the fourth place prize of $80,603.
Brent Sheirborn found himself in a race with Joel Micka when he moved all-in with [Qd][10d] and came up against Micka’s pocket twos. The board would deliver no help to Sheirborn as it fell [7h][6c][5c][Js][Ks] and Sheirborn was gone in third place, having earned $109,913.
Heads-up play between Ryan Fee and Joel Micka came to a dramatic close when the two competitors raised back and forth until all of Micka’s chips were in the middle. Micka showed pocket fours and Fee revealed [As][10h] for a coin flip situation. Micka liked the flop of [Ks][Qc][7c] as well as the [8h] that landed on the turn. But Micka could only watch in horror as the [Ah] landed on the river to give Fee the tournament.
Joel Micka earned $148,993 for his runner-up performance while Ryan Fee captured the LAPT title and the accompanying $285,773.
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