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RunGood Poker Series Doubles Numbers in 2022

Written by Jennifer Newell
Last updated on
RunGood Poker Series

If a live poker tournament series is good, it will grow over time. People hear about it, see good value, find a nearby location or a way to travel to one, and they will collectively grow the series.

Of course, it also takes a team to run that series with growth in mind, to nurture it and care about it enough to keep pushing. Those in charge need to have fun with it and show players that there are more than just standard poker tournaments to be found on the tour.

That series is the RunGood Poker Series (RGPS).

A quick look at the totals for its 2022 season showed an impressive one.

Hurdles and Challenges

A poker tournament series with mid-stakes buy-ins has competition in America. There are other tours, one with the biggest name of them all – WSOP. That’s a challenge that Tana Karn was ready for when he founded RunGood Gear and the RunGood Poker Series.

The last few years, however, brought challenges that no one could have predicted.

There has been economic instability, increasing political divides, and something else…oh yeah…a global pandemic that shut down most of the world. All of poker, along with most other industries deemed non-essential, shut down in the first months of 2020.

Of course, RunGood was one of the first entities to step in to help support those in dire financial need. Alongside Poker Central and Global Poker, they started the “Keep the Lights On” campaign to garner donations via livestreams to benefit poker media personnel. Karn and Hayley Hochstetler also worked with the United Way to help others.

?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>April 23, 2020

Meanwhile, most casinos and poker rooms stayed closed for much of 2020. Poker tournament operators waited longer to resume its action. And even when Karn and his team felt ready, some partner casinos were not. RGPS began to play the “Comeback Tour,” though it didn’t actually get underway until nearly halfway through 2021.

When they did, the numbers were strong. Poker players were fired up to return to the tables.

RGPS Numbers

There were some RGPS tournaments at the beginning of 2020 before the shutdowns, and there was a half-year of tour stops in 2021. But this 2022 year was the first full year since 2019.

So, we looked at 2019 and 2022 numbers to compare and show the tour’s progress. We already knew that most of the RGPS stops this year crushed their prize pool guarantees, but we didn’t know by how much.

Number of Main Events:

-17 in 2019

-16 in 2022

Total number of Main Event entries:

-6,507 in 2019

-10,119 in 2022 (up 55.5%)

Total number of payers paid in Main Events:

-725 in 2019

-1,237 in 2022 (up 70.1%)

Total Main Event prize pools generated:

-$3,050,347 in 2019

-$6,168,379 in 2022 (up 102%)

That is growth.

2022 Season

RGPS just wrapped its season finale for 2022 at Thunder Valley Casino in California. Oddly enough, that was the only Main Event of the year with a $1M guarantee, and there was an overlay. But all other events throughout the year surpassed their guarantees, usually substantially.

For the record, this is a list of the Main Events of the 2022 RGPS season with relevant stats and winner information”

January$575 buy-inRGPS Thunder Valley Main Event
Total entries:890
Total prize pool:$445,000($200K GTD)
Players paid:112
Minimum payout:$780
Winner:1st place:Kasey Orr $65,728
February$575 buy-inRGPS Jamul San Diego Main Event
Total entries:500
Total prize pool:$250,000($100K GTD)
Players paid:63
Minimum payout:$890
Winner:1st place:Noel Eicher $38,390
February$575 buy-inRGPS Council Bluffs Main Event
Total entries:813
Total prize pool:$413,840($100K GTD)
Players paid:90
Minimum payout:$937
Winner:1st place:Dakotah O’Dell $48,771
March$575 buy-inRGPS Horseshoe Tunica Main Event
Total entries:602
Total prize pool:$301,000($100K GTD)
Players paid:63
Minimum payout:$1,023
Winner:1st place:Max Le $31,234
April-May$1,100 buy-inRGPS Seminole Coconut Creek (Florida)
Total entries:608
Total prize pool:$589,760($200K GTD)
Players paid:76
Minimum payout:$1,469
Winner:1st place:Vladimir Grechnikov $80,268
May$600 buy-inRGPS Downstream Casino Joplin (Missouri)
Total entries:794
Total prize pool:$412,880($100K GTD)
Players paid:97
Minimum payout:$970
Winner:1st place:Scott Brand $72,260
June$420 buy-inRGPS Hard Rock Tulsa (Oklahoma)
Total entries:559
Total prize pool:$201,240($50K GTD)
Players paid:70
Minimum payout:$664
Winner:1st place:Stephen Culpepper $37,761
August$420 buy-inRGPS Council Bluffs (Ohio)
Total entries:826
Total prize pool:$297,360($50K GTD)
Players paid:103
Minimum payout:$636
Winner:1st place:Derrick Plumage $51,888
September$600 buy-inRGPS Bay Area Graton (California)
Total entries:1,144
Total prize pool:$594,880($200K GTD)
Players paid:144
Minimum payout:$800
Winner:1st place:Kulwant Singh $100,070
September-October$800 buy-inRGPS Jack Cleveland (Ohio)
Total entries:712
Total prize pool:$491,280($200K GTD)
Players paid:72
Minimum payout:$1,620
Winner:1st place:Derek Bowers $86,560
October$500 buy-inRGPS Horseshoe Tunica (Mississippi)
Total entries:591
Total prize pool:$310,440($100K GTD)
Players paid:73
Minimum payout:$962
Winner:1st place:J.W. Carter $58,110
October$600 buy-inRGPS Hard Rock Tulsa (Oklahoma)
Total entries:472
Total prize pool:$245,440($100K GTD)
Players paid:61
Minimum payout:$933
Winner:1st place:Shantanu Garg $40,555
October$600 buy-inRGPS Horseshoe Council Bluffs (Iowa)
Total entries:576
Total prize pool:$299,520($200K GTD)
Players paid:73
Minimum payout:$779
Winner:1st place:Derrick Plumage $56,931
October-November$600 buy-inRGPS CardPlayer Cruises (Caribbean)
Total entries:155
Total prize pool:$76,539
Players paid:18
Minimum payout:$1,026
Winner:1st place:Maria Scardaville $20,664
November$600 buy-inRGPS Jamul San Diego (California)
Total entries:460
Total prize pool:$239,200($150K GTD)
Players paid:59
Minimum payout:$875
Winner:1st place:Nova Baghdasarian $40,950
November-December$2,5000 buy-inRGPS Thunder Casino Finale (California)
Total entries:417
Total prize pool:$1,000,000($1M GTD)
Players paid:63
Minimum payout:$3,550
Winner:1st place:Brett Murray $172,845

 

?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>December 8, 2022

Not Quite Over for 2022

The RunGood crew is headed to Las Vegas for the 2022 All-Stars ProAM presented by PokerGo. On December 15, there will be a single-day tournament at Aria’s poker room on the Las Vegas Strip. The $240 buy-in event will award a RGPS ring and two seats to the ProAM.

That ProAM is a freeroll for all poker players who qualified throughout the year at RGPS Main Events and festivals. Invited poker players, celebrities, and members of the poker community can also play for a $550 entry fee. The event will take place at the PokerGO Studio December 16-17.

?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>December 9, 2022

 

 

 

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