Luis Alberto Peluso looks back on Mar del Plata's inaugural official poker tournament

The Argentine city and coastal resort of Mar del Plata has only relatively recently been officially introduced to the world of poker.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, UNITED STATES, June 14, 2018 /EINPresswire.com/ -- "The city has hosted FIFA World Cup games, the Pan American Games, and the Rugby World Cup Sevens in the not too distant past," explains lottery and casino industry expert Luis Alberto Peluso. "It wasn't, however, until the arrival of the Latin American Poker Tour that Mar del Plata would play host to its first officially recognized poker tournament," he continues.

The event, largely orchestrated by Peluso and his team, and sponsored by online poker platform PokerStars, was hailed as a great success for the city. "I was delighted with the development of the Latin American Poker Tour event as it arrived in Argentina, held in beautiful Mar del Plata," he remarks.

Discussing preparations for the event, Peluso reveals that the tournament's croupiers prepared for months for the poker tour, with a significant part of that preparation carried out in Las Vegas, USA – a city whose economy is primarily driven by tourism, gaming, and conventions.

"This was a key aspiration of the resort of Mar del Plata at that time," Peluso remarks. "The city sought to grow its economy through the gaming and entertainment sectors, which in turn would bolster the city's restaurant and retail industries."

Peluso, himself a fan of poker, explains of the game, "Hundreds of millions of people around the world now enjoy poker."

He continues, "Rather than merely a game of chance, poker is instead a game of skill and ability – it's a mathematical game, like a variation of chess."

The top prize in the Mar del Plata leg of the Latin American Poker Tour event, as organized by Peluso and his team, was scooped by Dominik Nitsche, who at the time was just 18 years old, and who had traveled to Argentina from Germany for the tournament.

Played alongside the European Poker Tour, Asia Pacific Poker Tour, and North American Poker Tour, the Mar del Plata Latin American Poker Tour event saw Nitsche take home a total of over $380,000. "Coming into the event, I wanted to play my best poker," Nitsche remarked shortly after winning. "I have no plans for the money. Maybe I'll save it, or maybe I'll buy a nice car!"

A major fishing port and part of Buenos Aires Province, the resort city of Mar del Plata has since gone on to host the FIBA Americas Championship and the World Transplant Games, as well as acting as the starting point for the Dakar Rally when it arrived for the first time in Argentina.

To read more about Luis Alberto Peluso, you can read more here.

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