Paul Volpe Leads Stacked Final Table of Seven
After a long day of play in the Amazon room, the second day of Event #13 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball Championship has come to a close. The official final table is set with the only non-bracelet winner at the table leading the way. Paul Volpe bagged up the biggest stack at the table with 783,000 in chips.
While Volpe holds the largest stack at the final table, he'll find tough competition in his competitors who represent poker's elite. Also appearing at the final table are Jason Mercier (469,000), Daniel Negreanu (426,000), Brian Rast (390,000), Larry Wright (203,000), John Monnette (169,000) and Abe Mosseri (162,000).
The day began with 36 hopefuls returning for the felt with hopes of reaching this prestigious final table. The eliminations came at a rapid pace early in the day, with notable name after notable name hitting the rail. Start-of-day chip leader Jen Harman was one of the players to fall relatively early, as was 2011 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball champion John Juanda. Other players who fell as the day progressed include Phil Hellmuth, David "Bakes" Baker, Jean-Robert Bellande, Barry Greenstein, Shawn Sheikhan, Shawn Buchanan, George Danzer, Shaun Deeb, and Bob Bright.
As play quickly wound down, the field approached the money bubble. The top 14 players were guaranteed a payday, and it was ultimately Galen Hall who burst the bubble for the field. On his final hand, Hall three-bet shipped all in over the top of an open from Brian Rast. Rast went into the tank for quite some time before calling and standing pat with a ten-six low. Hall opted for one card and turned over a seventy-six draw. He slowly squeezed his card before revealing that it was the 
, giving him an ace-low and the second best hand. He was eliminated and each remaining player was guaranteed $16,601.
From there, Jon Turner and Mike Watson were quickly eliminated from play, each collecting the aforementioned sum of money. With 12 players remaining, play came to an absolute halt. The final two tables continued to play six and six-handed for over two and a half hours before a key all in pot was played. Ultimately, it was Greg Mueller who went out in 12th and was the final player to collect $16,601 in prize money. Joe Cassidy busted almost immediately after Mueller's elimination. The WSOP bracelet winner earned $19,382 for his 11th place finish. Ashton Griffin and Darren Elias busted in tenth and ninth respectively, setting in motion the unofficial final table.
The remaining players fought a hard, two-hour battle at the unofficial final table of eight, each wanting to secure a seat at the ever-elusive final table. The chip lead traded hands many times as the night wore on, but it was ultimately Volpe who steadily climbed to the top of the counts. On the final hand of the night, Volpe three-bet over the top of an open from Rep Porter. Porter called for his tournament life and each player drew one card. Volpe made a ten-eight and Porter pulled a queen, sealing his fate as the final table bubble boy.
Play resumes at 2 p.m. on Thursday where the field will play down to a champion. As always, PokerNews will be on hand to provide live updates from the tournament floor. Be sure to tune in tomorrow for all of the latest! Goodnight!