What a day!

The plan going into today was to minimize to the cash but because the action bogged down when the bubble approached, the decision was made that we wouldn't play greater than eight levels regardless.

The bubble was reached with 36 minutes left of that level and the sweat for a $3,200 return began. It was hand-for-hand and players were out in their seats in between the action in a bid to scope how things were developing on other tables.

It would take only 20 minutes for the bubble to burst when a cooler was dealt on Table 28. Minh Nguyen opened the action to 10,000 and Kenn Langcake next to behave popped it as much as 25,000. It folded back around to Nguyen who pushed all in for about 100,000 and Langcake called to position him in danger. Players needed to wait to expose their hands as per hand-for-hand play and once they got the greenlight to position the cards on their backs Nguyen saw the bad news.

Nguyen: K♠K♦Langcake: A♠A♦

Nguyen was chasing a king to bypass bubbling but he couldn't find one because the crowd gathered around and the dealer fanned out the Q♦5♥4♥5♠2♣ board. He would finish 64th just off the money and the hand would see Langcake sneak through because the end of day chip leader with 440,500.

Current chip leader Kenn Langcake

Joining Langcake with a return tomorrow might be Team PokerStars Pro Chen-an Lin on a stack of 238,500, and former ANZPT Sydney champion Jim Psaros with 277,500 in play. Also coming back for Day 3 are Hall of Famer Leo Boxell's son Danny (88,000), Van Marcus (239,500), Liam O'Rourke (44,500), Rory Young (32,500), and reigning Aussie Millions Main Event champion Manny Stavropoulos (186,000).

While the lucky few rest up before the action tomorrow, for some it was a unique story. There have been an entire horde of eliminations today as 178 number fell in need of securing a payday. ANZPT Player of the Year current point leader Raiden Kan found the exit, as did APOY hopefuls Stevan Chew, Anthony Legg and James Rann. Familiar faces Joe Hachem, Tony Hachem, Jackie Glazier and Tino Lechich were also eliminated this afternoon.

Leader at the ANZPT POY leaderboard Raiden Kain

ANZPT7 Melbourne Top Ten Chips CountsKenn Langcake (Australia) - 440,500Mario Doria (Australia) - 422,000Samuel Higgs (Australia) - 416,500Hyeong Wook Choi (South Korea) - 401,500Peter Matusik (Australia) - 373,000Ricardo Jardim (Australia) - 330,000Josh Spooner (Australia) - 329,000Mark Schmelcher (Australia) - 292,000Ivan Zalac (Australia) - 280,000Jim Psaros (Australia) - 277,500

Now there are just 63 still left looking for the last-ever ANZPT Main Event title and the record $261,200 first place prize. Players have ensured themselves a minimum of $3,200 but it's still a protracted road ahead to the highest spot.

We'll be back here at Crown Melbourne tomorrow from 12:30pm as Day 3 begins. You'll want to join us as we play down until our final seven players. Stay tuned!

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: Australia New Zealand Poker Tour]