“Can’t we put the races on the TV? It’s Golden Slipper Day!” came the cry from local larrikin Sam Khouiss as he was unbagging his chips before play on Day 2 of the ANZPT Sydney Main Event.
“Are you here to watch the races or play poker?” came the response from The Star Poker Room Manager Stephen Ibrahim.
“Well, both!” exclaimed Khouiss.
It’s a big day of horse racing here in Sydney, but it’s also a big day of poker, and at the moment, the poker clock remains on the screens around the poker room, so there’s no excuses of distractions for our players today.
If this tournament was a horse race, we’ve jumped out of the barriers and settled into our positions in the run, but there’s still a long way to go.
Taking up the front running is our Day 1A chip leader Sayed Jabbour.
Jabbour had a massive day out on Thursday to amass 157,400 chips, and despite the Day 1B field producing a significantly larger field, they were unable to get anywhere near that mark with Sam Ruha’s 102,200 the best of the day.
But this race isn’t a sprint and there are plenty of thoroughbreds ready to make their move in the back straight.
The likes of Ronnie Bardah, Michael Kanaan, Anthony Legg, Luke Brabin, Gary Benson, Billy Argyros, Leo Boxell, Tony Hachem, Manny Stavropoulos, Michael Guzzardi, Octavian Voegele, Jarred Graham, Xuan Liu and Iori Yogo are all still in contention, while Team PokerStars Pro Bryan Huang comes into Day 2 in decent shape with 40,700.
Those players are back in The Star Poker Room and unbagging their chips in preparation for a big day ahead here at the ANZPT Sydney Main Event.
When the final numbers were tallied, a total of 445 players were confirmed and after the first day of play, that has been reduced to 212. We’re still a long way from the money, but another full eight levels of play today should give us a clearer picture of who will have a chance to rocket into the home straight and cross the finish line.
Follow the PokerStars Blog throughout the day for stories on an off the felt with live updates coming to you in the ANZPT Sydney live reporting feed courtesy of PokerNews.
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