Davis and Abernathy Lead; McCracken, Petree, Al-Saden, Barnes, and Tucker Bag
Today the final two flights of the RGPS $800 Main Event played to their 12.5% each out here at Hard Rock Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Day 1b dragged out a total of 197 entrants and Day 1c pulled out 180 entrants, seeing a total of 46 players make their way into Day 2. They will join the 17 players from yesterday’s flight to bring a grand total of 63 players to play tomorrow at 12:00 to battle for the title.
The biggest stack of the tournament came from the first of the two flights as Mike Travis ended his day with 722,000. Many of those chips came courtesy of a rather large pot late in the day where his queen-ten rivered a full house against his opponent’s pocket jacks. This propelled him to be the only stack above half a million in the whole tournament and he now sits poised to make a deep run for his first ever RunGood Series cash.
Leading the second flight is none other than 2018 RunGood Tulsa Main Event Champion Byron Abernathy (618,000). Abernathy has been a staple of the series for many years, and he now sits second in chips with 62 other players between himself and another RGPS title.
Day 1bc End of Day Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Hometown | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mike Travis | Tulsa, OK | 722,000 |
| 2 | Byron Abernathy | Noel, MO | 618,000 |
| 3 | Todd Tucker | Van Buren, AR | 458,000 |
| 4 | James Pupillo | Springfield, MO | 444,000 |
| 5 | Michael Skimbo | Claremore, OK | 414,000 |
| 6 | Greg Henry | Goldsby, OK | 380,000 |
| 7 | Kiet Tran | Tulsa, OK | 349,000 |
| 8 | Ryan Anderson | Elmhurst, IL | 337,000 |
| 9 | Ha Bizzy Tran | Fort Smith, OK | 323,000 |
| 10 | Brian Craig | Olath, KS | 309,000 |
One thing that was noticeable was the number of former RGPS Main Event champions finding bags in their quest to become a two-time main event champion and carve their names deeper into midwestern poker lore. William McCracken (288,000) won his championship out at Kansas City just over a year ago for $83,099 and he has final tabled many Mains from KC, Joplin, and even here at Tulsa. Iman Al-Saden (152,000) won her title nine months ago with the St. Louis Main Event for $77,192. She also final tabled the most recent RGPS Tulsa Main Event and will be looking to make her second FT here. Pete Petree (164,000) is one of the former champions of the Main Event here, winning a career best $62,911 just two years ago. He is the only one of the champions to have another RGPS ring on top of his Main Event win, and he will be joining the ranks to look for another title. Tyler Barnes () won the 2023 fall iteration of this event for $52,692 and will looking to claim his second RGPS ring. Todd Tucker () began 2024 becoming the first RGPS Main Event champion winning the main event here $73,242. History could repeat itself as he aims to become the first champion of 2025 as well.
A who’s who of Tulsa and RunGood regulars occupy the seats of Day 2 as players like James Pupillo (444,000), Ashley “PokerFaceAsh” Frank (365,000), Brant Jolly (347,000), Michael Perrone (280,000), Wesley Jones (268,000), and Forrest Kollar (100,000) join the ranks of the players coming into Day 2. Many holding rings, with some looking for their first and to snag a massive first place prize.
Dreams of RunGood glory came to an end to quite a few today. Eric Bunch would not be going back to back for his title. He, along with Daniel “Donk” Hughes, Caitlin Comeskey, Duster Ellis, Ricky Gebhart, and RGPS POY Front Runner Michael Johns all were unable to snag a bag this trip. Their wishes for a Main Event title will have to come at another stop, which they will be able to do on many of the upcoming stops this year.
Play ended with 7:22 left in Level 13 with blinds at 3,000/5,000 with a 5,000 big blind ante. At 12:00 tomorrow, the 63 players will return and play until a winner is crowned. Stay tuned to PokerNews for all of the exciting updates here on the floor.