A whirlwind level-and-a-half after the dinner break quickly reduced the Latin American Poker Tour Peru Main Event down to 32 players, and having reached Day 2’s scheduled stopping point play was accordingly halted a little over halfway through Level 18.

Bagging the most of those left was Chile’s Andres Herrera who returned from the dinner break with a top five stack, then accumulated steadily to finish the night with 535,000. Known online as “gmcrafter” where his recorded tournament earnings have exceeded $800,000, Herrera will be looking tomorrow to better his previous-highest LAPT Main Event finish of 25th at LAPT5 Panama.

Andres HerreraIt was a little less than 10 hours ago that 129 players — survivors from the 366-entry field in this $2,500 event — took their seats amid a celebratory atmosphere here in Lima as the nation continues to observe the Fiestas Patrias and Peru’s independence.

The gamesmanship began in earnest shortly thereafter, and as the field whittled down we watched the action spin round and round like so many luggage carousels.

Day 2 action in the LAPT Peru Main EventDuring the afternoon we enjoyed a visit with World Series of Poker Asia Pacific champion Scott Davies, who battled gamely today before falling shy of the cash. Others joining Davies on the rail before the bubble’s bursting included Renata Teixeira, Nacho Barbero, and Team PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari.

Just before they reached the money, Peru’s Gabriel Diaz earned a big double-knockout to surge into the chip lead. His countryman Walid Mubarak then became the unfortunate one to burst the bubble, as the Argentinians Andres Dos Santos and Ramiro Patrone moved up into the chip lead.

The parade to the cashier’s desk soon followed, matching the one happening outside, with no less than 18 players falling in the first hour after dinner. Then Marko Popovich (36th), Emanuel Marso (35th), Felipe Morbiducci (34th), and Erick Uriel Garcia (33rd) went out (earning $4,760 apiece) to bring an end to the proceedings. Click here for an updated list of payouts.

Herrera’s nearest challengers to start play tomorrow will be Patricio Rojas (493,500), Andres Dos Santos (478,000), andthe Norwegian Leiv Kare Johannessen (477,500). Click here for a full list of counts for the 32 returners for Day 3.

Leiv Kare JohannessenThey’ll start back at 12 noon tomorrow with intentions of playing down to an eight-handed final table. Join us again then to see who makes it to Tuesday’s final day of play to have a shot at becoming the next LAPT Main Event champion.

Photography from LAPT8 Peru by Carlos Monti. You can also follow the action in Spanish here and in Portuguese here.

Martin Harris is Freelance Contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

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