Irishman Robbie Renehan Wins LAPT Columbia

Ireland’s Robbie Renehan has won the Latin America Poker Tour Colombia, after overcoming a field of 337 players on his way to lifting the title, and collecting the Col$284.7 million (USD$147,877) first place prize.
The numbers were down on the previous tournament which fielded 681 players, but this was by design as the organizers wanted to avoid the squeeze experienced by players at last year’s tournament. Consequently, the entries decreased inversely with an increase in the buy-in, which rose from $1,100 to $2,500. Nevertheless, the top prize was well in excess of the $64,710 won by last year’s champion Julian Menendez from Argentina.
Amongst the notable names cashing in at the Allegre Casino in Medellin, was Team PokerStars Pro Angel Guillen (Mexico), who finished 47th for $3,614, and Humberto Brenes (Costa Rica), who earned $5,028 for his 22nd place finish.
By the time the final table had been reached, 5 Columbians, as well as a Brazillian, a Spainyard, and of course Irishman Robbie Renehan still remained in contention. Up until then Renehan, 29, had only earned $6,000 from live tournaments but was already guaranteed a minimum of $17,441 for making through to the final table.
After a patient start, in the later stages Robbie Renehan then eliminated a player to give himself enough chips to apply pressure to the other players. Eventually, Renehan went heads-up against Jayr Fregona Jr (Brazil), who finished second best after pushing his A-8 into the pocket queens of his opponent.
The final table finishes were as follows:
1: Robbie Renehan (Ireland)2: Jayr Fregona Jr (Brazil)
3: Raul Paez (Spain)
4: Weider Gutierrez (Colombia)
5: Cristian David Velasqez (Colombia)
6: Hernan Dario Villa (Colombia)
7: Ruben Ospina (Colombia)
8: Luis Felipe Perez Herrera (Colombia)
9: Liam McMillan (Canada)