2011 PokerStars.net APPT Melbourne Day 2: Willcocks Leads Remaining 37
After eight hours of play, Day 2 of the PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour Melbourne Main Event came to a close with 37 players having survived to bag and tag their chips. Of those 37, nine will be unlucky enough to go home empty handed when play resumes on Sunday.
Towering over all the competition at the top of the chip leader board and primed to make a run at the victory is New Zealander Phillip Willcocks. He will return Sunday with a monster 770,400-chip stack. Willcocks will be looking to take down a title in Australia after tasting the bittersweet success of second place at the 2009 ANZPT Gold Coast Main Event, where he took in $112,050 for his efforts.
While no player is close to Willcocks' stack, quite a few prominent players will return for Day 3 action with plenty of chips. These include the young James Obst, known for crushing online tournaments under the name “Andy McLEOD.” Obst will return with a handsome 452,900 in chips.
Koray Turker will also return with a nice 424,400 in chips, and the last remaining woman in the field, Norah Greer, will kick off Day 3 with 382,000 in chips.
Also bagging an impressive stack was Australian PokerStars Team Online Pro Keiran Harris who managed to finish the day with 389,000 in chips. Harris, known online under the screen name “K_Man2307”, will be looking to use his position in this tournament to make a name for himself on the live circuit.
Tony Hachem is lucky to be bagging any chips at all. He will return with a healthy stack of 161,400. Hachem managed to double-up when he was all-in holding AxQx against the AxKx of Jonathan Karamalikis, with a queen on the flop kept Hachem alive. Hachem then managed another double-up late in the day when he woke up with KxKx.
Also returing for Day 3 action include Antonis Kambouroglou (279,200), Reza Vakili (231100), Michael Guzzardi (230,100), Leo Boxell (168,400), Ricky Kroesen (157,400), Van Marcus (123,900) and Mitch Carle (172,300).
All 37 returning players will, of course, have their eyes set on taking home the $330,000 first-place prize and becoming the winner of the first stop on the fifth season of the PokerStars.net APPT. The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be in the middle of all the action so be sure to follow along for all the reports.
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