Phil Galfond Leads Final 12, Mercier Close Behind
Day 2 of Event #5: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball Championship has come to a close! The field popped the money bubble late in the night, guaranteeing the final 12 players a payday. Online legend Phil Galfond bagged up the chip lead at the end of the night with 604,000 in chips.
While Galfond leads the positively stacked final 12, two-time WSOP bracelet winner Jason Mercier is right on his heels. Mercier, who went into the bubble as the shortest stack in the field, ran up his stack and bagged up 561,000 which is good for second in chips. Alexandre Luneau rounds out the top three with 386,000.
Galfond assumed the chip lead late in the day after a key confrontation with Todd Brunson. Brunson lost most of his chips to the 2008 WSOP $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha w/ Rebuys bracelet winner and was eliminated from play soon after. Later in the day, Galfond butted heads with 2013 $50,000 Poker Players Championship winner Matthew Ashton. Galfond once again came out on top, making a wheel and crippling Ashton in the process.
A total of 52 players returned to the felt today with hopes of being among the top 12 and racking up a WSOP cash. As the day progressed, players like Shawn Sheikhan, Chris Klodnicki, Doyle Brunson, Freddy Deeb, Jennifer Harman, Larry Wright, Billy Baxter, Barry Greenstein, David Chiu, Ismael Bojang, David Bach, and John Hennigan were all eliminated from play with nothing to show for it.
The bubble period occurred late in the evening and lasted around two hours. Mercier began the bubble as the short stack but managed to work his stack back up and thrive as the day progressed. At one point, Eli Elezra, who won last year's $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw event looked as if he may wear the title of bubble boy. Fortunately for the two-time bracelet winner, he was also able to thrive during bubble play and will return in eighth chip position tomorrow.
The most bubble drama surrounded two-time bracelet winner Nick Schulman, who after a confrontation with Jon Turner, was knocked down to just two big bets. Schulman managed to come through in the clutch, however, and by the end of the night bagged up fifth in chips with 304,000. In the end, it was four-time bracelet winner Tom Schneider who was eliminated as the bubble boy. Schneider fell to Mercier when he paired up while drawing to a ten-low.
The final 12 players will return to the Amazon Room at 2 p.m. on Saturday where they will play down to a champion. Be sure to return to PokerNews as we document the exciting conclusion to this prestigious event!
and sweated out a 
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