Eli Elezra denied Daniel Negreanu his second gold bracelet of the year in the finale of the $2,500 2-7 Triple Lowball event at the 2013 WSOP today.

The air was electric in the Rio as poker fans packed into the stands, hoping to see Kid Poker win what would have been his sixth bracelet.

It was an incredibly tough final table that included David Chiu, David “ODB” Baker and Scott Seiver but the crowd was certainly behind Negreanu. Instead it was veteran cash–gamer Elezra who overcame Negreanu heads-up.

“I’m glad for the second bracelet,” said Elezra after winning. “I’m going to try for about five more.”

Elezra took down $173,236 for winning while Negreanu settled for $107,055.

Elezra: “I Feel Bad for Daniel”

Known more for his cash game chops, it was Elezra’s second WSOP bracelet. He won his first in 2007.

Prior to tonight, Negreanu had five cashes in this year’s WSOP in Las Vegas but no final tables.

The inaugural WSOP Asia-Pacific in Australia was another story, however, as Negreanu made one final table and then won the Main Event there for $1.03 million.

Even Elezra admitted it felt a little wrong beating the likable Canadian.

“I feel bad for Daniel,” he said. “He’s a good friend and he’s the best ambassador for poker.

Despite the strong finish, Negreanu still trails recent $50k Players Championship winner Matthew Ashton in the WSOP Player of the Year race.

After busting Negreanu immediately ran over to take his seat in the $10k Pot-Limit Omaha event, which is the last prelim of the summer. The $10k Main Event is set to begin tomorrow.

Here’s a complete look at the final-table payouts:

• 1st: Eli Elezra – $173,236
• 2nd: Daniel Negreanu – $107,055
• 3rd: Brian Brubaker – $70,743
• 4th: David Chiu – $48,077
• 5th: David “ODB” Baker – $33,399
• 6th: Scott Seiver – $23,698

Perrins Scores Second Bracelet

With Main Event buzz building the remaining few preliminary events took a bit of a back seat but some fantastic storylines developed in their own right.

In Event #57, $5k No-Limit Hold’em Brit Matt Perrins cruised to his second career bracelet win and $792,275.

With the usual raucous British rail supporting him Perrins dominated a final table that included Joe Serock, Randal Flowers, Matt Berkey and Event #3 runner-up Seth Berger. Final results and payouts:

• 1. Matt Perrins $792,275
• 2. Arthur Pro $489,451
• 3. Seth Berger $315,529
• 4. Antonio Buonanno $231,147
• 5. Matt Berkey $171,822
• 6. Thomas Muehloecker $129,447
• 7. Randal Flowers $98,715
• 8. Joe Serock $76,164
• 9. Kent Roed $59,398

Paul Pierce and Nate Silver Run Up Big Stacks

The $10k Pot-Limit Omaha Championship also got underway with a massive 386 players buying in — among them former Boston Celtic and new Brooklyn Net Paul Pierce.

Pierce, who’s been a regular at the WSOP the last couple of years, even ran up a stack of 143,100 to sit among the leaders heading into Day 2.

In the last $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em event New York Times writer and election prediction guru Nate Silver did likewise, bagging up 134,600 for a top 5 stack.

Both will be back at the Rio today looking to make deep runs before taking a stab at Day 1b or 1c of the Main Event.

Follow our Day 1a Main Event coverage and catch updates on Pierce and Silver on our WSOP Live Coverage page. Top 10 stacks from ongoing events below:

Event #58, $1,111 Little One for One Drop

• 1. Joseph Wilson 983,000
• 2. Nghi Tran 803,000
• 3. Roberto Romanello 781,000
• 4. Mikolaj Zawadzki 715,000
• 5. Andrey Pateychuk 552,000
• 6. Brian Yoon 537,000
• 7. Gregory Brewer 526,000
• 8. Davide Catalano 516,000
• 9. John Gulino 497,000
• 10. Alexander Case 492,000

Event #60, $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em

• 1. Joe Froehle 144,200
• 2. Malek Kalayli 143,000
• 3. Nate Silver 134,600
• 4. Lauren Kling 123,200
• 5. Henry Lu 108,400
• 6. Ben Yu 107,500
• 7. Ryan Hughes 107,000
• 8. Emil Olsson 103,000
• 9. Gregg Merkow 98,800
• 10. Bao Dao 81,000

Event #61, $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha

• 1. Matt O’Donnell 269,200
• 2. Jonathan Duhamel 253,000
• 3. Jared Bleznick 246,500
• 4. Alexey Rybin 245,600
• 5. Joseph Cheong 244,800
• 6. Morten Stenheim 191,700
• 7. Scott Palmer 190,300
• 8. Mihails Morozovs 172,000
• 9. Mike Watson 158,500
• 10. Tony Lay 156,000
• 12. Paul Pierce 143,100