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RunGood Poker Series Keeps Wildly Surpassing Guarantees

Written by Jennifer Newell
Last updated on
Jennifer Newell

The RunGood Poker Series has been on fire since its post-pandemic return. And it started the new year the same, kicking off 2022 with a new record for its tour.

Thunder Valley Casino was the first stop of the 2022 season, and it brought players from around the country to the Northern California poker room. The RGPS put a $200K guarantee on its $575 buy-in Main Event, but the tournament delivered a huge field. The 890 entries pushed the actual prize pool to $445K. It set a RGPS Main Event record.

Since then, the RunGood Poker Series hosted three more events, just wrapping its latest one. Further, it added more stops to the 2022 schedule.

Let’s catch up.

RGPS Jamul

Sunny Southern California at the beginning of February was the place to be. The RGPS action featured the signature $575 buy-in Main Event, this one with three starting flights. The third was the largest of them, and altogether, they totaled exactly 500 entries. And, as at the previous stop, they crushed the guarantee.

With the final table in sight, players like Lena Evans and Gianluca Pace busted. Forrest Kollar took tenth place on the official final table bubble. After dinner, the final nine returned with Noel Eicher holding a substantial chip lead but defending champion Andrew Moreno with his eyes on the prize.

However, Rafi Azam ousted Moreno in eighth place. Eicher busted Katerina Grishakova and then Shane Truesdale. After Dillon Najor sent Jacob Mendelsohn out in fifth place, the four remaining players agreed to an ICM chop with $4K and the trophy left on the table. Azam then took out Najor and Eicher did the same to Azam. Eicher had a nine-to-one lead, and David Van Reyk pushed all-in on the first hand of heads-up. Eicher had pocket kings to beat the 9-7 of Van Reyk to take the title.

February 1-6 $575 buy-in RGPS Jamul San Diego Main Event
Total entries: 500
Total prize pool: $250,000 ($100K GTD)
Players paid: 63
Minimum payout: $890
Final table results: 1st place: Noel Eicher $38,390
2nd place: David Van Reyk $34,310
3rd place: Rafi Azam $30,800
4th place: Dillon Najor $23,838
5th place: Jacob Mendelsohn $11,735
6th place: Shane Truesdale $9,780
7th place: Katerina Grishakova $8,145
8th place: Andrew Moreno $6,520
9th place: Christopher Smith $4,055

 

RGPS Council Bluffs

Without much ado, the RunGood crew headed to Iowa for the RGPS Council Bluffs stop. Iowa in February may not have been the dream destination, but the Horseshoe Council Bluffs knows how to run a good tournament. That contributed to the Main Event accumulating 813 entries. That surpassed the $100K guarantee several times over with $413,840 to pay out.

Day 2 took the top players into the money but still had 20 players in action at the dinner break. Eventually, Raymond Yoder busted in 11th place to put ten players at one table, and then Vicki McKee busted Chris Fraley in tenth place to set the final nine.

A few eliminations into that action, Guanyun Cheng started to take over. He eliminated Rob Palacios in seventh place and doubled through Donale Nimneh before busting him in sixth place. Cheng then eliminated the player closest to him in the chip counts, Vicki McKee, in fifth place. The final four then agreed to an even chop, despite Cheng having a massive chip lead. They played on for the trophy and Pro-Am seat, which Dakotah O’Dell won.

February 15-20 $575 buy-in RGPS Council Bluffs Main Event
Total entries: 813
Total prize pool: $413,840 ($100K GTD)
Players paid: 90
Minimum payout: $937
Final table results: 1st place: Dakotah O’Dell $48,771
2nd place: Guanyun Cheng $48,771
3rd place: Kaleb Dunn $48,771
4th place: Eric Kyle $48,771
5th place: Vicki McKee $20,765
6th place: Donald Nimneh $15,901
7th place: Rob Palacios $12,331
8th place: Mike Henrich $9,682
9th place: Nick Barksdale $7,696

 

RGPS Tunica

After a short rest, the RunGood Poker Series headed south to another Horseshoe, this one in Tunica, Mississippi. Hundreds of players showed up, enough to generate more than 600 entries and a prize pool that surpassed $300K. That – again – busted through the guarantee as if it wasn’t even there.

On the Day 2 dinner break, there were still 26 players in action with Max Le as one of the shortest stacks. Eventually, Julie Cornelius busted to leave just two tables, and then James Hart bubbled the unofficial final table. David Lee had a strong chip lead and only increased it by ousting Jay Gray in tenth place. Max Le busted Kenneth Douglas and Edward Fisher, as Matthew Kassela took out Myke Hibler.

Six-handed action went on for awhile with no bustouts, though Lee remained in the lead with Kassela second. Teresa Lammie-Anders soon took over the lead with a double through Kassela, and then Le doubled through Lammie-Anders to take the lead. They finally got impatient and agreed to a six-way even chop. Max Le took the trophy and RunGood Pro-Am seat because of his chip lead.

March 1-6 $575 buy-in RGPS Horseshoe Tunica Main Event
Total entries: 602
Total prize pool: $301,000 ($100K GTD)
Players paid: 63
Minimum payout: $1,023
Final table results: 1st place: Max Le $31,234
2nd place: Teresa Lammie-Anders $31,234
3rd place: David Lee $31,234
4th place: Matthew Kassela $31,234
5th place: Brock McCoy $31,234
6th place: Kyle Cartwright $31,234
7th place: Edward Fisher $10,686
8th place: Myke Hibler $10,686
9th place: Kenneth Douglas $6,171

 

What’s Next?

The series show just two series coming up, one to finish out April and one in mid-May. That will lead up to the WSOP in Las Vegas, with which most poker tours don’t care to compete. For now, the action goes to:

–Seminole Casino Coconut Creek in Florida (April 21 – May 2)

–Downstream Casino Joplin in Missouri (May 17 – May 22)

 

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