Joseph Ferguson Wins 2026 RGPS Golden Expedition Joplin Main Event

Poker chips and tournament table representing Joseph Ferguson’s 2026 RGPS Joplin Main Event win.

By Sandra Gaweda · Published September 22, 2026 · 4 min read

Oklahoma’s Joseph Ferguson won the RunGood Poker Series Golden Expedition Joplin $700 Main Event for $48,516 and a championship ring.
He topped a field of 400 entries at Downstream Casino Resort near Joplin, Missouri, beating Robert Little heads-up on Sunday, September 20.
It’s the biggest score of Ferguson’s career and his second major title, after a WSOP Circuit ring in 2024.
Pocket sevens carried him home: he went all in three times with the hand at the final table and won every one.

Joseph Ferguson, a self-described hobbyist from Oklahoma, is the champion of the 2026 RunGood Poker Series (RGPS) Golden Expedition Joplin $700 Main Event. He outlasted 400 entries at Downstream Casino Resort near Joplin, Missouri, and defeated Robert Little heads-up on Sunday, September 20 to claim the RunGood ring and a $48,516 top prize from the $240,000 prize pool. It’s the biggest live cash of Ferguson’s three-decade poker journey and his second major title, following a World Series of Poker Circuit ring in 2024. His path to victory ran through one hand in particular: pocket sevens, which bailed him out again and again on a turbulent final day.

A Marathon Final Table Decided by Pocket Sevens

Ferguson returned as one of 49 players on Day 2 with 319,000 chips and later reached the nine-handed final table in the middle of the pack. Jeff Copeland led the final nine with 2,300,000, while Ferguson and Landon Mabe held 1,400,000 apiece. Ferguson drew first blood, knocking out Josh Hawkins in ninth with ace-queen against queen-jack, then watched Tricia Wu fall in eighth. Michael Varnell (seventh) and Craig Leopard (sixth) followed in quick succession.

The last five players then dug in for more than two hours without a bustout, trading the chip lead in wild swings. Copeland doubled through Ferguson twice — first by flopping a straight, then when he picked up aces — at one point leaving Ferguson on an extreme short stack. That’s when the sevens went to work. Ferguson moved all in with pocket sevens against Little’s ace-jack, watched an ace land in the window, and spiked a seven for a set to survive. A few hands later he was all in again with sevens, this time racing Copeland’s king-ten, and held once more.

Copeland’s run ended in fifth when Little made a set of eights. Ferguson then flipped the tournament on its head against Little in a monster pot, calling off with sevens full of aces to Little’s sixes full and seizing a commanding lead. Mabe bowed out in fourth, and Connor Hayward, the chip leader for much of the final table, lost a race to Ferguson’s pocket nines to set up heads-up play.

Closing It Out Against Robert Little

Ferguson took a 9,700,000 to 2,300,000 lead into heads-up, but Little refused to fold quietly, doubling once with a pair of queens before Ferguson clawed the advantage back. After nearly an hour of small pots, Little committed his last 2,000,000 with six-five suited and ran into Ferguson’s ace-queen. The board bricked out, and Ferguson’s ace-high was good enough to end the marathon and earn the ring.

“Sevens is actually my favorite hand right now, because I hit three sets on it and doubled up each time,” Ferguson told PokerNews. “It feels good. It’s the second ring I’ve won. First RunGood. They’re always fun when you can win one.”

Who Is Joseph Ferguson?

Ferguson is an Oklahoma native who first picked up the game while going to school in Iowa more than 30 years ago. He works as an estimator in the electrical field and is upfront that poker is a hobby rather than a profession. “I’m not a professional by any stretch of the imagination. I just play the tournaments here in Oklahoma pretty much, maybe go out to Vegas once or twice,” he said. The win pushes his lifetime live earnings past $100,000 and adds to a résumé that already included a WSOP Circuit ring in 2024, a Tulsa Main Event final table a decade ago, and a 10th-place finish at this same Downstream Casino Resort in 2023.

He kept things light to the end, arranging the cards for his winner’s photo to read 8-6-7-5-3-0-9, a nod to the 1980s Tommy Tutone hit. It fit a player who summed up his own style bluntly: “I’m a luckbox. Shove and pray.”

A Loaded Field at RunGood’s Birthplace

Joplin holds a special place in RunGood history. The tour launched at Downstream Casino Resort in 2014, and this stop drew a deep field of RGPS regulars. Day 1a chip leader Mostafa Ashkarkhizani had his aces cracked by Daniel Lowery’s two pair early on Day 2, while RGPS patriarch Papa Karn (32nd), defending Joplin champion Cody Hughey (26th), and Mostafa’s son Evan (21st) all missed the final table. Start-of-day chip leader Heidi Erickson ran a set of tens into Copeland’s set of aces to bust in 17th, and Lowery, the all-time RGPS ring leader, was gone in 15th. For US players who want to understand how fields like this build across multiple flights, our guide to online poker tournaments breaks down the formats that mirror these live events.

Ferguson Adds His Name To RunGood Joplin History

Stops like RGPS Joplin are the backbone of American tournament poker: affordable buy-ins, real prize money, and a shot at hardware for recreational players, not just full-time pros. Ferguson’s win shows that a hobbyist can still beat a 400-entry field for a career-best score. Live tournament poker continues to give recreational players access to major series across the US, from regional tours like RunGood to poker’s biggest stage at the World Series of Poker.

Sandra is a content writer and digital creative with 10+ years of experience across Web3, crypto, NFTs, iGaming, wellness, and media. She creates blog content, email campaigns, and brand copy for companies ranging from early-stage ventures to established platforms. She currently writes for Legal US Poker Sites, continuing to grow her presence in the digital content space.