Schedule announced for 2016 Latin American Poker Tour

(PRESS RELEASE) -- The Latin America Poker Tour (LAPT) Monday announced the schedule for its ninth season, which features an increased number of tournaments and new game formats. The LAPT is sponsored by PokerStars, an Amaya brand.

The new season of Latin America's richest poker tour kicks off in January as part of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA), which features 104 events and is the biggest PokerStars live poker festival ever held. The tour then visits Chile, Panama and Uruguay, before finishing in Brazil.

SEASON 9 CHANGES

LAPT Season 9 will introduce some key changes in an effort to improve the player experience and attract a greater number of competitors to the tour. The principal difference from last season is that the Main Event buy-in has been reduced and set at $1,500 for each event, with the exception of the Bahamas event, which has a $2,200 buy-in.

A new $400 No-Limit Hold'em Cup event will make its debut, offering a moderately-priced championship event with an excellent structure. Season 9 will also feature an increased number of poker variants, with mixed games and multiple pot-limit Omaha tournaments offered at each stop.

"The poker industry is booming in Latin America and by providing the best live poker experience in the region we will contribute to this growth for many years," said Edgar Stuchly, director of live events at PokerStars. "Every poker player will want to compete in the LAPT next year. The tour attracts some of the world's best poker players, along with Team PokerStars SportStars such as Ronaldo and Neymar Jr, while offering more tournaments than ever before and buy-ins starting from as little as $50 to cater for our recreational players."

"Over the past 10 years I've been playing poker tournaments all around the world and it's great to see games that are popular in North America and Europe make their way to Latin America," said Brazilian Team PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari. "Other games besides Texas Hold'em, such as pot-limit Omaha, will only become more popular if they are made available to play. With more variety available, the LAPT will appeal to more online grinders, recreational players and mixed game players, which will mean more players, larger tournament fields and bigger prizes."

TOUR SCHEDULE

The LAPT Bahamas Main Event runs from Jan.7-9 and is expected to draw a record number of participants. A total of 736 players participated in the LAPT 8 Bahamas Main Event, creating a prize pool of $1.9 million. The first prize of $367,928 was won by Joshua Kay, who beat German poker pro Martin Finger heads up. The tour returns to the same destinations as last season – Bahamas, Chile, Panama, Uruguay and Brazil – with only Peru absent from the schedule.

-- LAPT Bahamas: Atlantis at Paradise Island Resort and Casino, Paradise Island, Jan. 7-9, $2,200 Main Event buy-in
-- LAPT Chile: Enjoy Casino & Resort, Vina del Mar, March 4-8
-- LAPT Panama: Sortis Hotel & Casino, Panama City, May 12-16, $1,500 Main Event buy-in
-- LAPT Uruguay: Conrad Punta del Este Resort & Casino, Punta del Este, Sept. 23-27, $1,500 Main Event buy-in
-- LAPT Brazil (during BSOP Millions): São Paulo, TBD, $1,500 Main Event buy-in