Florida-based pro Nick Schwarmann snagged the overall chip lead with 413,600 but both Merson and Brunson stayed above average.
Merson, who won this whole thing last year, amassed a stack of 275,600.
Meanwhile the venerable Brunson continued his campaign in the WSOP he wasn’t even going to play.
Brunson had a great day and, after hitting 250,000, eventually ended with 224,000 although he admitted feeling like a truck ran him over by the end of the play.
Some of the other notables to survive with above average chip stacks were Erik Seidel, Annette Obrestad, Kenny Tran, Jason DeWitt, Ludovic Lacay, Rupert Elder, Ronnie Bardah and Cliff Josephy.
Hille Finishes in Top 100 Chip Counts, Baumann Hits the Rail
Second-to-last woman standing in last year’s Main Event, Elisabeth Hille, booked a solid day that saw her peak at 150,000 but eventually finish with 114,300.
Meanwhile the actual last woman standing last year, Gaelle Baumann, busted with king-jack against ace-seven midway through the day.
Luca Pagano, Andy Black, Bjorn Li, Mike Sowers, Vicky Coren, Jake Balsiger, Dan Smith, Mike Sexton, John Juanda and Johnny Lodden were also among the players who busted on Day 2A/B.
Play ended with exactly 800 runners still in the field. They'll rejoin the entire field on Day 3 on Thursday.
Tomorrow promises to be a huge one as poker’s Big Three – Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth and Phil Ivey – are all scheduled to return to action.
The event begins at noon Las Vegas time tomorrow. Be sure to check our Main Event live updates for ongoing coverage.
Here are the top 10 chip counts at the end of play according to WSOP.com:
1. Nick Schwarmann – 413,600 2. Jason DeWitt – 382,900 3. Aage Ravn – 370,900 4. Sergio Castelluccio – 360,500 5. Rupert Elder – 342,500 6. Michiel Brummelhuis – 330,000 7. Ian Gordon – 324,600 8. Raj Vohra – 322,200 9. Jonas Lauck – 308,300 10. Marty Mathis – 305,000Visit www.pokerlistings.com