Joey Weissman took down last year's edition of the event for $224,236 after defeating Paul Hoefer at heads-up play.
One hand that propelled Weissman to victory was when he rivered a Royal Flush to send out Michael Wang, who had a full house.
The inaugural tournament saw 343 entries, creating the $1.1 million prize pool.
On a completed board of 9♣A♦4♣9♦Q♦, Eric Yanovsky was faced with an all-in bet from his opponent, whom he covered.
After thinking about it for only a few seconds, he set his chips in the middle to put his opponent at risk, who then sheepishly turned over 3♣5♣ for a bricked flush draw while Yanovsky proudly slapped down 8♦4♦ for a rivered flush to scoop the pot. His opponent was sent to the rail while Yanovsky's large stack grew to 135,000- one of the largest in the room.
The hijack opened to 800 before the cutoff three-bet. Drew O'Connell then jammed for 9,500 from the button and only the cutoff called.
Drew O'Connell: A♠Q♦
Cutoff: 10♦10♣
The 7♦6♦3♥ flop kept the pocket pair well ahead, while the 4♦ turn gave O'Connell the superior flush draw. The 5♦ river put a straight on the board but also gave O'Connell the flush to scoop the pot.
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Level: 3
Blinds: 200/400
Ante: 400
The players are now on a brief 15-minute break and will return to action shortly. The clock shows that there are 248 entrants so far with 224 remaining.
Alan Goasdoue, who was reduced to crumbs by Eric Yanovsky, just found a pre-break double-up. There was 7,000 in the middle on the 7♣3♠6♦9♣3x board, and Goadoue jammed for 4,800 from the small blind. His opponent, in middle position, called.
Goasdoue tabled his 9♦8♥ for a pair of nines. It was good enough to scoop the pot as his opponent had a pair of sevens with his Q♣7♦.
On a heads-up turn board of K♦Q♠8♣Q♦, Ben Brown bet 10,000 into the pot of around 14,000 after his opponent checked to him.
After thinking about it for about 15 seconds, his opponent made the call and they went to the river J♥, where the action went check-check.
Opponent: A♣K♠
Ben Brown: A♥Q♣
Brown took down the pot with his trip queens to boost his stack to 80,000 while his opponent was left short with around 10,000.
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