LAPT Nuevo Vallarta cancelled - updated

<img align="right" src=http://admins.liquidpoker.net/user_pictures/f8c9328c57d213f62c240c56b9e06bc2.jpg style="margin:5px; border: 0px solid black;">The PokerStars.com LAPT-event of Nuevo Vallarta had one of the most bizarre endings of a poker tournament. The $2500 buy-in tournament, hosted in the Marival Resort & Suites Resort was canceled during Day 1 play!

At 10:30 p.m local time there were still 89 out of the starting 242 players playing when they suddenly were asked to stop playing and leave the tournament room. Media, TV crew and dealers were told to leave as well and after four hours, players were informed what really happened here. The Mexican government decided to take away the license for this LAPT and thus not allowing them to play any further! After a lot of negotiation between tournament directors and the local gaming officials, it appeared there was no other outcome than to cancel the event entirely.

The prize money will be distributed between the remaining 89 players. They all get at least $5,000 and the remaining money will be distributed between the players according to their chip-count. Every player will receive an additional $500 on top of this distribution.

The LAPT directors also released the following official statement:
The Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT) confirms that it is canceling the poker tournament in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico, due to an indefinite suspension served on one of its local partners.

The LAPT states it has cooperated fully and in good faith with the requirements outlined by the Mexican government. The LAPT respects and abides by local regulations in each market.

LAPT's partner in Mexico obtained a formal ruling from the Mexican Ministry of the Interior (SEGOB) allowing the event to take place. As the LAPT compiled with every rule stipulated by the Code of the Mexican Federal Law of Games and Raffles, the reasons for suspension are being reviewed by lawyers of all parties.

This meant Baal and sTrAtO cashed in this event, they both had a slightly below-average stack when the tournament got cancelled.

Update

According to <b>Strato</b> the reason for the suspension of the tournament was that some people - not LAPT/PokerStars - were running cash games in the Casino, what is totally forbidden by Mexican laws.

wow lol

Sick beat, tournament cancelled in the middle of play lol

Pics of Baal and sTrAtO in this event:

that is so bad for lapt and poker in mexico T_T

crazy. tis bullshit

well.. mexico..

i guess they didn't bribe the right authorities

lolz sick. only in mexico

lmao, now i guess mexico will never hold a pokerstars tournament ever again.

On December 08 2008 14:21 Liquid`Meat wrote: i guess they didn't bribe the right authorities

lololol

pinche weones, how gay :/

simply classic

i think you're idiots if you think ps is done with mexico... poker rooms are everywhere now.

ps don't really care much about laws or enforcements as we have seen.

BTW, it was not a government issue, pokerstas was allied with a company that has been associated with several poker scams in the past, getting tourneys shut down, never getting them started and stuff... they allegedly had permission to make a tournament but this crooked company started cash games which were not allowed, they broke the agreement and got closed, what you expected? they might as well could have started cock/dog fighting.

get your news straight imo

On December 08 2008 15:56 Pinos wrote: i think you're idiots if you think ps is done with mexico... poker rooms are everywhere now. ps don't really care much about laws or enforcements as we have seen. BTW, it was not a government issue, pokerstas was allied with a company that has been associated with several poker scams in the past, getting tourneys shut down, never getting them started and stuff... they allegedly had permission to make a tournament but this crooked company started cash games which were not allowed, they broke the agreement and got closed, what you expected? they might as well could have started cock/dog fighting. get your news straight imo

lol it was not a government issue? who suspended the tournament then? you? ok

As <b>the LAPT complied with every rule stipulated by the Code of the Mexican Federal Law of Games and Raffles</b>, the reasons for suspension are being reviewed by lawyers of all parties.

the lapt maybe but there were cash games going on, that was not permitted... if you hit and run, and you get arrested is that a government issue?

they broke the agreement, they got shut... its simple math

the fact that were legally having a tournament didnt give them the permission to do whatever they want to, think of it as if they would have put a bingo and some slots.

maybe i dont know how to use the word "issue", but what i mean is that it was not the government fault, they just had the law enforced... except the part of arresting everyone involved and seizing the furniture and electronic devices used in such ilegal activities as expressed in the Federal law of games and raffles which i have been reviewed over and over in mexican forums.

there are very stupid laws in mexico as in any other country on the world, its stupid to have bingos and bookies but not poker, but that's what we have and there's no point in arguing about it.

Yes I know what you mean, but LAPT/PokerStars said that the causes of the suspension were unidentified, and it's the only official source. No reason in saying "get your news straight" when all the poker news sites are saying the same thing, as they all have the same source of what happened: lapt.

If you have another official source saying it was because of the cash games then go ahead and tell us. As far as I know the cash games thing are all speculation.

omg this sucks, baal was supposed to win and save my life

PS will come back next year because they have already made a ground-breaking move. What does this mean? That PS getting LAPT cancelled here will allow them to not make the same mistakes next year and get someone to get the goverment requirements in line. They made a mistake when they hired this third party company from Mexico that has previously run very fraudulent events. They should have definitely look more into these guys profiles and past experience.

The cash games that were organized there weren't played under the name of Pokerstars. The hotel had like 4 towers. And the cash and LAPT games were run in different towers. The guys doing the cash games took advantage of Pokerstars LAPT players by running them illegally in another tower, Pokerstars tournament directors for sure knew about it but they just didn't do a thing to stop them, even when they knew it was totally illegal. I played $2/$5 there and won barely a buyin

I cashed like 6.5k and baal something around that number too. Since Pokerstars sponsored me the hotel, travelling expenses and tourney buyin, i freerolled the tournament and had paid vacations so I'm cool with that

A few names I played with in the LAPT were Marc Karam, stevie444, DrCaligula and a bunch of other young guys that I didn't talk to.

We can now only pray that the federales captured baal and are now torturing him.