Brazilian poker player Hilton Laborda held the sixth largest chip stack entering Day 7 of the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event at the Rio in Las Vegas with 7.16 million. Interestingly enough, 2011 marked Laborda’s first ever foray in the annual tournament series, which emanates from the Nevada desert, and he was shooting to become the third WSOP bracelet winner ever from his home nation of Brazil.

Laborda’s 2011 WSOP Main Event run ended in 36th place for $242,000. He ran a flush into Matt Giannetti‘s full house twice to silence his November Nine run on Day 7.

In case you’re wondering, no one from South America has ever made the final table of the Main Event, a trend Laborda seemed poised to buck as the $10,000 buy-in tournament entered its final days. He was also looking to become the first November Nine member from the nation of Brazil and was gunning for an $8.7 million top prize.

Laborda entered Day 7 of the 2011 WSOP Main Event draped in a green Brazilian flag, much to the delight of his countrymen in attendance. He’s a spectacle to behold in person and will be one of the most searched people when coverage of the tournament airs on ESPN in the United States and on other television networks around the world.

Laborda struggled early on Day 7 in a hand against online poker whiz David Doc Sands Sands. Pre-flop, Sands 3bet to 275,000 and Laborda made the call to bring a flop of K-10-4 with two hearts. Laborda checked, Sands fired out a bet of 235,000, and Laborda put in a check-raise to 650,000. Sands shoved all-in for 1.72 million and Laborda got out of the way.

According to WSOP coverage, it marked the latest setback for Laborda, who had fallen quite a bit on Day 7 from his starting stack of over seven million: “[The all-in bet from Sands] sent Laborda deep into the tank, but he eventually released and let Sands take it down. Laborda has had a sluggish start to his day, down more than 1.5 million from his starting count.”

Brazil features a variety of online poker players, including a pair of PokerStarspros in Andre aakkariAkkari and Alexandre Allingomes Gomes. Whether Laborda’s name will rise to the top of the Brazilian poker scene remains to be seen.

Picture courtesy WSOP.com