You descend a dark staircase and enter a tunnel made entirely of greenery, as dried leaves crunch underfoot. Body-painted women emerge from the foliage and you pass by, mesmerized by the flashing lights, the powerful hip-hop beat, the booze flowing freely and beautiful people everywhere. Reminiscent of a tropical hurricane, the room pulses and vibrates, and you can't help but watch as the throng of mainly 18- to 25-year-old men drink it all in -- as if it's the party to end all parties.
Welcome to the Latin American Poker Tour.
The aforementioned scene occurred Wednesday night, when PokerStars welcomed the world to San Jose, Costa Rica, home of the LAPT's second stop. It's as fitting a place as any to call the LAPT's home. After all, it's the birthplace of the modern Latin American poker movement -- one that's growing every day.
The LAPT is the latest innovation from PokerStars, an industry leader that constantly grows its brand in ways that also grow the game. PokerStars is the company that gave birth to the European Poker Tour and the Asia Pacific Poker Tour, as well as the first to introduce regular live feeds to online viewers from its events. On Wednesday, the company announced the opening of the PokerStars Macau Poker Room, in cooperation with the Grand Waldo Casino. It's the first live room opened by an online site, and the first poker room in the city many industry experts predict will eclipse Vegas as the world's gambling capital. Players in Macau will be able to pre-register for live tournaments with online dollars -- another first.
The LAPT event brought in 398 players from 35 countries. All entrants put up their $2,500 buy-in, either by virtue of cash, or -- in 175 cases-- online qualification through the PokerStars Web site. Among the entrants were five celebrity guests – producer Sam Simon, baseball players Orel Hershiser and David Wells, TV host Montel Williams and Brazilian driver Gualter Salles -- and five members of team PokerStars Pro. Daniel Negreanu is the biggest name among those on a world scale, and he started the day in his usual good mood. "I love the people here," Negreanu says, "they're totally into poker. We have the APPT and the EPT and there are enough people playing around here that it made total sense. Every experience I've had here has been positive."
As big a deal as Daniel is, no one is bigger in Costa Rica than Humberto Brenes. In the wake of Humberto's shark-aided exploits at the tables, people tend to forget that he is one of the true powerhouses in tournament poker history. With 49 cashes, 25 final tables and two WSOP bracelets to go with three WPT final tables, Brenes has put together a remarkable run of consistency over the last twenty years. Now, playing unofficial host to his hometown's first major event, he looks on with the pride of a father.
It was in 1987 when Brenes first made his way to Las Vegas with two other godfathers of Latin American poker, Jose Rosencrantz and Max Stern. "We thought we knew so much," Stern remembers, an infectious smile on his face. "We heard about the World Series and said, 'Let's go take the tourists' money.'"
But a week into their trip, the three amigos found that all was not what they had expected: They had lost a fortune at the tables and were starting to recognize it wasn't just a bad run of cards. "Soon," says Rosencrantz (not a minute after his early elimination here), "we realized we were the tourists!" They returned home with copies of "Super System" and other texts -- their arrogance replaced by a willingness to learn. A year later, when they came back to Vegas, Humberto finished fourth in the main event won by Johnny Chan. He's returned every year since, and has never returned home with less money than he arrived with.
"I'm so proud that people wanted to be here," Brenes says through translator Brian Green. "It's not only because of me. Max and Maria Stern have bracelets. Jose Rosencrantz won a WPT [event] and both of my brothers did, too. The quality of poker here is very good." Costa Rica isn't the only Latin American nation that's raising its level of play. "Brazil and Argentina's pride is hurt by our being the best," Brenes says, his mustachioed grin growing even wider. "It hurts them, but they know. We've been playing a lot longer than they have. In the future, Brazil and Argentina may eventually surpass us."
Having barely finished boasting about his homeland's regional superiority, Humberto listens good-naturedly as a member of the Spanish press points out that Spain has a world champion (Carlos Mortensen, winner of both the 2001 WSOP main event and the 2007 WPT Championship event), while Costa Rica has none. His challenger chortles as Humberto falls back on Costa Rica's four bracelets, but when it's pointed out Mortensen was actually born in Ecuador, the Spaniard relents. Spain ain't got nothing on Costa Rica.
If the other countries in the region are to catch up, they'll have to go through a new generation of college-educated players who are slowly asserting themselves within the local community. "The players coming out now are coming from schools -- students of math, engineering and science -- so we're building well," Humberto says. "My son [Jose] is one of them. He's playing today. He's studying to be an industrial engineer." He says this with the same proud look on his face as when he talks about the community he helped found.
Humberto's brother, WPT champion Alex, was among 19-year-old Jose Brenes' Day 1 victims. Alex had to hide a bit of a smile, but Humberto didn't hide his at all. For him, this moment was the zenith as a proud father to Jose -- and as a proud godfather to the Costa Rican poker community. He's at the middle of poker's newest party, and it's just getting started.
Gary Wise is a regular contributor to ESPN.com, Bluff magazine, worldseriesofpoker.com and other publications. His podcast, Wise Hand Poker Radio, can be heard at roundersradio.com and airs at 8 p.m. Wednesdays.