March 24 2012, Josh Bell

On Day 2 of the PokerStars.net 2012 Australia New Zealand Poker Tour Sydney Main Event, the field began with 208 players, but by the end of day, only 27 remained. The clock ticked just past midnight when it was all over on Day 2, and Nicholas Heather was the man who bagged up the most chips.

Heather knows what it takes to make a deep run in a poker tournament, boasting a WSOP final table finish on his resume. In the latter half of the night here on Day 2, Heather accumulated just under one million in chips and has placed himself in the best position to make a run at the $226,812 first-place prize.

At the beginning of the day, Tobin Ryall held the chip lead. Ryall continued his great run early in the day and then hit a plateau. He’ll still be in the tournament on Day 3, but will return with only 197,000 in chips.

Some players who won’t be returning for another day of action include Joel Dodds, Leo Boxell, Tony Hachem, Daniel Laidlaw, Mel Judah, Lee Nelson, Graeme Putt, Justin Cohen and Maria Ho.

It was a similar fate for Team PokerStars Pro Angel Guillen. He never managed to gain any momentum on Day 2. Guillen open-shoved his last 27,000 holding and unfortunately ran into . The board brought no help to Guillen and he was sent out the door.

Just a short while after Guillen hit the rail, play went hand-for-hand as the money bubble loomed. The name Luis Arrilucea may sound familiar because he was the runner-up finisher of last year’s ANZPT Sydney Main Event, but it wasn’t the same story this year. Arrilucea became the bubble boy when his went up against an opponent’s and found no help from the flop, turn, or river.

After the bubble burst, the players started hitting the rail one-by-one. A few of the notable players who finished in the money include Dean McIver (53rd), Andrew Mellado (52nd), Todor Kondevski (46th), Suzy Khoueis (38th) and Jim Sachinidis (29th).

Jim Collopy, Liam O’Rourke, Alec Smith, Gordon Huntly, and Mishel Annunu started dominating their tables after the bubble, and finished the night with enough chips to do some damage on Day 3. Also returning is 2008 APPT Sydney champ Martin Rowe, 2010 ANZPT Darwin runner-up Luke Edwards and 2010 APPT Sydney fourth-place finisher Peco Stojanovski.

One of the big stories to emerge from the night was the success of Oliver Speidel. Speidel eliminated Day 1b chip leader Tam Truong and from that point forward, he could not be stopped. The 2012 Aussie Millions Main Event champion will begin Day 3 with the second-biggest chip stack, and will be looking to continue his great run of the last few months.

End of Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts

Action kicks off on Sunday at 1400 AEST (2100 PST Saturday) for the 27 remaining players, as they each try to make a run at becoming the victor of the 2012 ANZPT Sydney Main Event. Make sure to join the PokerNews Live Reporting Team, who will be on the floor every step of the way to crowning a champion.

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