PokerStars today announced the launch of Latin America’s first major poker tour, the LAPT. With stops in Brazil, Costa Rica and Uruguay, the tour is set to bring world-class poker action to some of the most beautiful destinations in the world.

The Latin American Poker Tour kicks off in the beautiful beach city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from May 3-5, 2008. This three-day, $2,500 tournament will be the largest poker tournament ever held in Brazil, with players competing for a total prize pool of over $600,000. Among the players will be Team PokerStars Pros and international poker stars Andre Akkari from Brazil and Humberto Brenes from Costa Rica.

The tour continues with the LAPT San Jose in Costa Rica from May 22-24, and then moves on to Uruguay for the LAPT Punta del Este from August 7-9.

As well as players from Latin America, the LAPT is also set to attract top players from North America and Europe. Each LAPT event planned so far anticipates 250 players or more, creating total prize pools of well over $600,000.

PokerStars already sponsors the European Poker Tour (EPT), the leading poker tour in Europe, now in its fourth season, and the Asia Pacific  poker Tour (APPT), which launched last year to bring world-class, televised poker to the Asia Pacific region for the first time. It is the largest poker tour in Asia Pacific and a tremendous success after just one season.

Visit http://www.pokerstars.net for more information.