Andres Carrillo were one cool customer all of the week. A chip leader early and always a few of the big stacks because the Latin American Poker Tour Panama Main Event moved towards its final stages, he always seemed in charge of himself and frequently the table as well.

That sense of calm continued all the strategy to three-handed play with Aaron Mermelstein and Ruben Suarez, and remained the case as Mermelstein fell in third and Carrillo took a lead during heads-up.

But for a moment things began to look doubtful for the Colombian. Suarez' loud rail of supporters, some waving Venezuelan flags, won't have rattled him, but losing a couple of pots -- including once folding the most productive hand after Suarez had bluffed him -- might well have.

But Carrillo regrouped. He found a place and pushed it. And he won. 

Andres Carrillo - LAPT9 Panama Main Event champion

Carillo becomes the second one Colombian ever to win an LAPT Main Event title, following Weider Gutierrez who won in Medellin back in Season 6, and earns a handsome first prize of $138,225 for his efforts.

When the general eight arrived for today's final day -- all that was left from a 553-entry field -- it was the Spaniard, Raul Paez leading the crowd chip-wise with Mermelstein of Philadelphia not far behind to begin the day. 

The final table begins

Meanwhile Alcides Gomez brought the shortest stack to today, and it only took a few half-hour for him to position all of it in danger with ace-jack. Alas for the Miami-based pro, Austin Peck picked up kings within the small blind, and five cards later Gomez was at the rail in eighth.

Alcides Gomez - 8th place

 

Paez continued to keep up his lead as Carrillo became the fast stack. But Carrillo -- sitting to the left of Paez -- started to accumulate while Paez started to lose chips, and while there have been no busts it was Carrillo ascending to take the lead while Suarez found himself in seventh position.

The Colombian Anderson Blanco -- at one time a chip leader himself early on Day 3 -- then got short as well, and got all his chips in on a ten-high flop holding pocket aces while Carrillo had an open-ended straight draw. 

Blanco desired to see blanks, however the turn card filled Carrillo's straight and shortly Blanco was out in seventh.

Anderson Blanco - 7th place

With six left Carrillo looked in control, however the short stacks kept doubling, perhaps most dramatically in a hand that saw Mermelstein all-in with pocket fours against Paul Cukier's kings, and spike a four at the river to outlive. Not too long after that Mermelstein -- like Carrillo -- had gone from worst to first within the counts because the blinds and antes got bigger and the stacks more shallow.

That hit helped end Cukier's run more quickly than he'd have liked. The Costa Rican grandson of WSOP bracelet holders Max and Maria Stern would put his chips in behind jack-ten, get called by Suarez who had queen-ten, and fail to enhance to fall in sixth.

Paul Cukier - 6th place

Moments later Suarez took care of another short stack, stopping Paez in fifth after the latter's king-jack couldn't improve versus Suarez's pocket nines.

Raul Paez - 5th place

And right at the heels of that hand came another flip, this one between Mermelstein's king-queen and Peck's pocket tens. A king on board sent Peck all the way down to only a single blind, and one hand later Mermelstein won that, too, to send the 20-year-old out in fourth.

Austin Peck - 4th place

Three-handed play between Mermelstein, Suarez, and Carrillo lasted for much longer than it seemed it would. The stacks were shallow to start, but they made it through a few levels to peer them get even shallower, with the lead changing hands constantly and all-ins changing into day-saving double-ups over and again.

Indeed, in a single hand Carrillo was all-in with ace-king against the king-ten of Suarez, and a 10 at the flop looked as if Carillo was destined to complete third. But an ace fell at the turn and Carrillo kept his seat.

Finally Mermelstein -- a two-time World Poker Tour champ on the lookout for an LAPT title so as to add to his collection -- saw his run stopped in third when his queen-ten did not catch as much as Carrillo's ace-queen.

Aaron Mermelstein - 3rd place

Suarez had the threshold to start out heads-up play, but as noted above Carrillo seized it, lost it, seized it again, and eventually sealed the deal. The overall hand was a heart-stopper -- Suarez all-in at the flop with a couple and Carrillo drawing to a flush, with the river card completing both the flush and Carrillo's quest for an LAPT title. Meanwhile Suarez came one spot shy of changing into the tour's first Venezuelan champion.

Ruben Suarez - 2nd place

Carrillo greater than triples his career tournament earnings with this win. Indeed, after earning that gigantic six-figure score, it is not surprising to peer Carrillo looking cool and calm once more.

Andres Carrillo - LAPT9 Panama Main Event champion

LAPT9 Panama Main Event final table results
Entries: 553
Places paid: 79
Prize pool: $721,6651. Andres Carrillo (Colombia) $138,2252. Ruben Suarez (Venezuela) $86,8803. Aaron Mermelstein (USA) $62,2004. Austin Peck (USA) $48,5005. Raul Paez (Spain) $30,0406. Paul Cukier (Costa Rica) $29,8807. Anderson Blanco (Colombia) $22,3008. Alcides Gomez (USA) $15,440

Thanks for following our coverage all week from the Sortis Hotel, Spa & Casino. Listed here are each day's live updates, where you'll be able to relive it all:

Day 1A live updatesDay 1B live updatesDay 2 live updatesDay 3 live updatesFinal table live updatesFinal table profiles

The LAPT takes a break for a couple of months before returning in late September in Punta del Este for LAPT9 Uruguay. Until then, beunos noches from Panama!

Want to compete in your own online championship? Click here to get a PokerStars account. Martin Harris is Freelance Contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

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