Valdemar Kwaysser, from Budapest Hungary, outlasted 397 other players to capture the Costa Rican stop of the Latin American Poker Tour’s first season. The 24-year-old, who won his way into the tournament via a $200 satellite, earned $274,102 US.

The runner-up performance of Max Steinberg pocketed the American $144,773. The total prize pool for the three day event was $965,150, the largest prize pool ever for a Central American event.

The £2,500 buy-in tournament was held at the Cariari Country Club, just outside of San Jose. A total of 45 Costa Rican players entered the tournament with the best finish coming from Steven Thompson who finished ninth.

“We were expecting a robust field of players full of enthusiasm, but having nearly 400 players turn up is truly overwhelming. Costa Rica is a recognized leader of poker in Central America . We have very skilled players with a great deal of experience, and that has certainly been demonstrated here in San José,” said LAPT President Glenn Cademartori.

Six of the final nine players had qualified via PokerStars online satellites. The final stop on the first season of the LAPT will be the Punta del Este from August 7-9.

LAPT San Jose Final Table Payouts

1. Valdemar Kwaysser -$274,103
2. Max Steinberg - $144,773
3. Steven Silverman - $106,167
4. Alex Soderland - $77,212
5. Alec Torelli - 57,909
6. Pawel Sanojca -$38,606
7. Ashton Griffin - $28,955
8. Joe Ebanks - $19,303
9. Steven Thompson - $14,477

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