LAPT Cancelled in Chili

In light of the huge earthquake that killed hundreds of people in February, PokerStars (www.pokerstars.com) has canceled its Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT) Chile. The event was to be held from March 19 to March 23 in Vina del Mar.

The 8.8-magnitude quake was centered about 175 miles north of the Viña del Mar Casino and resort. In a statement Thursday, poker stars said anyone who had qualified or who bought into the tournament would be fully refunded both their out-of-pocket expenses and their buy-in money. The next stop on the Latin American poker tour is Argentina, which will host the grand final.

This isn’t the first newsworthy event to center around the PokerStars tour. Last week, a pack of armed robbers broke into a casino in Berlin, which was hosting a stop of the European Poker Tour. There was a panic as tables were turned and chips flew; the robbers have not yet been caught and an American, Kevin “ImaLucSack” MacPhee won the main event.

In 2008, the LAPT Mexico was postponed when Mexican government officials shut down the tournament on the second day of play. PokerStars officials were forced to distribute the prize pool to the remaining 89 players in the event and to hold an online freeroll to decide who would play at the final table. The final table players were flown to Punta del Este to play the final table with a revised $50,000 prize pool.

Anyone with questions about the cancellation of the Chilean stop on the Latin American poker tour should send an email to lapt@pokerstars.com