Event 54 wrapped up late Wednesday Night as Tony Veckey bested a field of 2818 players to win the $673,276 first place prize.  These $1,500 tournaments have become huge moneymakers for the eventual winners and you can expect that the management may have to consider extending them into 4 day tourneys and make sure that they are always the early starting events.   After 11 hours of play, Veckey proved to be the master as he bested Jason Wheeler for one of the last bracelets of the season.

Matt Hawrilenko has the privilege of being the last person to win a bracelet before the Main Event.  He takes down an astonishing $1,003,218 by winning Event 56, the $5,000 No Limit Hold’em 6 Handed Event.  These events are always great to watch because of how fast the action moves.  When you get an elimination from one of these tables, it really picks up.  Compated to some of the other tournaments, this final table was fairly quick as the last session only lasted until just before midnight.

The heads-up action was far less than we witnessed earlier in the week with the $50k H.O.R.S.E Event as it took a mere four hands to get this thing settled.  Josh Brikis made it 300,000 from the SB and Hawrilenko took little time in making a 7 digit bet.  Brikis called all-in and Matt could not get his chips in quick enough.  He had Brikis dominated, but there were plenty of reasons to be scared as his JJ faced off against A9d for the million dollar first place prize.  The board ran out as 2h8c8d and when the 3s hit the turn the only card that could help Brikis was one of the three remaining Aces.  A 10c showed up instead and that Hawrilenko put on the jewelry for the first time in his life.

The marathon of the Main Event kicks off on Friday and we are sure to see some fast and furious action.  The pros are going to have targets on their heads at every table that they are seated at.  Patience is the key in a monster like this as you need to find a way to survive.  Normal card playing techniques go out the door as you have to keep the prize in your sights.  It should be a fun 2 weeks as we work our way down to the Final 9 that we will see later in the year battle for the most coveted title in the world of poker.