It's hardly ever you spot a whole poker site stop and applaud for somebody they're still competing with. However, when the player in question is as popular as Oscar Alache, it is not surprising at all.

A Chile native who currently sits fourth at the country's all-time money list, Alache has had quite a year. The icing at the cake came right before our Day 1B players here at LAPT9 Chile returned to play after their dinner break:

Alache was officially named our LAPT Player of the Year.

Oscar Alache (right) with Santiago Gandara

When that message was announced over the microphone, all 200-plus of the rest Day 1B field started clapping and cheering. Alache looked touched, but remained as cool as ever.

So, how did Alache get thus far? Let's look at just a few of his results over the last 12 months.

- LAPT8 Chile Main Event - 1st place for $131,962

- Two side event wins

- Six final tables for a combined $70,532

Needless to say, Alache is an overly worthy winner of Player of the Year. He also has another LAPT title too, one he won in Peru back in 2014. That implies he's at the short list of players who're chasing their third title alongside Fabian Ortiz, Jose Barbero, and Mario Lopez.

Oscar Alache winning his second LAPT title in Chile, 2015

And Alache's not done yet - there's still the problem of LAPT9 Chile, through which Alache remains to be playing.

"I have seven LAPT trophies now, but I even have loads of room for more," Alache said over the mic.

When you have got the talent, and the support of even the folk you're playing against, we wouldn't bet against Alache scooping more trophies over the following year.

Follow the entire action from LAPT9 Chile with our live coverage.

Photos by Carlos Monti.

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Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: Latin American Poker Tour]