Today is a celebration of a beginning, the marking of the end, and a whisper of what's to come. As fireworks outside celebrate the birth of America's independence, the poker world's brightest stars stare at each other across the felt in the last of the preliminary events, a $5,000 rebuy 2-7 draw lowball affair. All of it comes less than 48 hours before this year's World Series Main Event begins.

The 2-7 event is happening in the farthest corner of the Amazon Room. It's away from too many prying eyes and the rowdiness that goes along with a holiday night here at the Rio. It's studied work--if betting your entire stack on the draw of a card can be described as studied. It is a game reserved for the very best and is not the type of thing you should try without a flak jacket and athletic cup.

Among the top pros in the field are Team PokerStars' Barry Greenstien and Daniel Negreanu. Neagrenu is looking for his second final table of the year. If Greenstein gets there, it will be his third.

A two-day event, the $5,000 2-7 event will play down to the final table tonight and return tomorrow to finish it off. If neither man is fortunate enough to get there, it will mark the end of the search for preliminary event bracelets and begin the wait for the Main Event.

Good luck, gentlemen. Here's to having another day to play before the big one.

Update: The players didn't play down to the final table as expected. With three tables remaining, Barry Greenstein remains alive with a very playable stack. Players will return tomorrow afternoon at 2pm to see who will wiin the final bracelet before the Main Event.