We caught up with a hand on the flop involving Mattias Scaffo, Nicholas Malandre, and two other players on the flop. There was already 1,150 in the pot and the dealer rolled out the flop of . Scaffo lead out with a bet of 650 and only one of his opponents called.
The turn was the and both players checked to see the on the river. There, Scaffo's opponent put out a bet of 1,050 and Scaffo thought for a bit before just calling. The player showed but Scaffo had that beat with for the other two kings. That earned Scaffo the small pot, while his opponent was forced to send over the chips.
With about 1,000 chips already in the pot and the board reading , the big blind checked, the under-the-gun player checked, the next player to act checked, and Francisco Araujo bet 500 from the hijack. The under-the-gun player was the only caller.
The fell on the river and the under-the-gun player checked. Araujo bet 1,300, his opponent folded, and Araujo took the pot.
The Buenos Aires native has over $370,000 in live tournament earnings, including a deep run in the Main Event at the 2016 World Series of Poker, where he finished 106th.
The first of two starting flights for the Main Event at the inaugural PokerStars Festival Uruguay at the Conrad Punta del Este Resort & Casino gets underway Monday at noon local time. Players will receive 25,000 starting chips in exchange for the $1,650 buy-in (the local currency is the Uruguayan Peso, but USD operates in parallel, and all tournament buy-ins and payouts are expressed in USD) and are scheduled to play 10 one-hour levels with 20-minute breaks every two levels. There will be an 80-minute dinner break following the end of level 6 and unlimited re-entries are available until late registration closes at the start of level 9.
Players who bag chips at the conclusion of Day 1a may not play Day 1b, but those who don't find a bag in Monday's starting flight can try their luck again on Tuesday when Day 1b gets underway. The second and final starting flight will be structured identically to Day 1a, and both flights will combine for Day 2 play. The tournament is scheduled to play down to 24 players on Day 2, then to 8 on Day 3, and the new champion will be crowned on Day 4.
Keep it here for updates on the action in the Main Event, as well as the $3,300 High Roller which starts on Thursday, at the first-ever PokerStars Festival Uruguay.