The players are back from their break and ready to play just one more level. Those who survive will take an extended three-hour break before combining with the eventual survivors from Day 2c. Stay tuned to find out who survives the afternoon.
Richard Lancaster started the day with an average stack, but has since managed to increase top the dizzying heights of well over 100,000. The latest addition to Lancaster's stack came courtesy of eliminated Ben Richardson. We arrived at the hand in question with a board out on the felt, with the river card being dealt and Richardson seemingly all in for his short stack on the turn. Richardson held for a flopped open-ended straight draw, while Lancaster's would come up with the goods by the time the hand was over.
Here is how a few of the players are currently fairing on Day 2a. World Series of Poker gold bracelet winner Andrew Hinrichsen has been among the casualties.
Laurynas Levinskas has been on a tear this afternoon, increasing his stack to a commanding 160,000, although he’s just given a few chips back to Kiwi Cole Swannack.
Levinskas raised to 1,800 from under the gun and action folded to Swannack who defended his big blind with a call to see a flop of . Swannack checked and Levinskas bet 2,200. Swannack made the call and the fell on the turn.
Swannack checked again and Levinskas bet another 4,200. Swannack sat motionless for a moment or two before sliding all of his chips into the middle. Levinskas quickly folded to concede the pot to Swannack.
Ricky Kroesen didn't have a great start to the day, losing a chunk of his stack during the early stages of Day 2a. He has now managed to get some of those chips back, courtesy of the following hand that we recently watched.
When we arrived at the table, Kroesen and one opponent were busy checking the flop, with around 5,000 already int he pot. Kroesen was in the blinds and would lead for 2,000 on the turn. Kroesen's opponent, from late position, made the call and a completed the board on the river.
This time Kroesen would lead for 5,100 and his opponent asked, "will you show?" Kroesen, with his headphones in, didn't respond. Eventually the player opted to fold, turning over as he did so. With that, Kroesen scooped up the pot.
Here is a remainder as to what all the remaining players are at the tables for. A field of 149 players (51 from Day 1a; 49 from Day 1b; 49 from Day 1c) created a NZD$402,300 prize pool - the largest in the history of ANZPT Queenstown. The top 15 players will earn at least a $7,050 min-cash, while the first-place prize is worth NZD$110,600. The final table payouts can be seen below.
Laurynas Levinskas is one of the many international players who made their way to Queenstown, New Zealand this week. Levinskas, from Lithuania, finished his Day 1 flight with a healthy top-ten chip stack and has now managed to storm the leader board with around 120,000 in chips.