2023 RGPS Council Bluffs

$700 Main Event
Day: 2
Event Info

2023 RGPS Council Bluffs

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
109
Prize
$68,799
Event Info
Buy-in
$700
Prize Pool
$363,000
Entries
605
Level Info
Level
29
Blinds
100,000 / 200,000
Ante
200,000
Players Info - Day 2
Entries
74
Players Left
1

$700 Main Event

Day 2 Completed

Joshua Kopp Wins The RunGood Poker Series Council Bluffs Main Event For $68,799

Level 29 : Blinds 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante
Joshua Kopp
Joshua Kopp

A total of 605 players tried their luck in The $700 RunGood Poker Series Checkpoint Main Event at The Horseshoe Casino In Council Bluffs Iowa. That tally created a prize pool worth $363,000 that only 74 players were lucky enough to see any piece of.

After the dust cleared it was local player Joshua Kopp who stood with the ring wrapped around his finger, and a sum of $68,799 for a prize. “I feel pretty good,” the newly crowned champion said after winning his ring “It’s still pretty surreal.”

Kopp is a local player who’s only prior Hendon Mob cash was his 29th place finish in the last iteration of The RGPS Main Event in Council Bluffs last October. “I play a lot of home games, and a couple Saturdays a month I play the fat stack tournament,” he said when discussing his experience playing, “The main thing I tried was just to be calm and not do anything stupid, eliminate as many mistakes as I could.” Kopp also becomes the latest winner of the free roll to the dream seat tournament at the end of the year, of which he says “I will be making whatever arrangements I need to for that tournament.”

Final Table Results

PlacePlayerPrize
1Joshua Kopp$68,799
2David Caron$48,232
3Renato Spahiu$31,015
4Matt Morfitt$22,147
5Terry Williams$16,999
6Nick Stille$13,957
7Matt Donaldson$11,503
8Angela Jordison$9,173
9Jared Langbehn$6,882

Final Day Action

It did not take long for the players to start dropping. Many accomplished players saw their days end earlier than their hopes as players like Caitlin Comeskey (74th-$917), two time RGPS champion Dakotah O’Dell (64th-$1,074), Jared Ward (54th-$1,441), Kevin Berthelsen (44th-$1,641), and last year’s runner up Mark Homan (13th-$4,577) all fell on the outside of the final table. The last player to fall before the final table was Michael Brewer, who had flopped top pair top kicker on an ace-high board, only to be drawing nearly dead against Renato Spahiu’s flopped wheel. Brewer collected $5,725 for his efforts and the final nine players took their seats.

Final Table Action

It did not take too long to see the first casualty of the final table.Jared Langbehn spent most of his time at the final two tables as the shortest stack, but managed to navigate up several pay ladders. The bell tolled for him when he moved in his final 4 big blinds over a raise from Nick Stille, only for Renato Spahiu to isolate in the big blind. Langbehn’s jack-ten could not improve against Spahiu’s queen jack and collected $6,882 for his ninth place finish.

Angela Jordison was the next one out the door after a few hands had already passed. She defended her big blind against an open from Joshua Kopp from under the gun. She check-jammed her king-jack on a turn that gave her a pair of jacks, only to run into Kopp’s pocket kings. She was unable to improve and Jordison added a RGPS final table to her already illustrious resume. She collected $9,173 for her eighth place finish.

Renato Spahiu
Spahiu had taken the chip lead multiple times throughout the final table, before ultimately ending his run in third place.

A few hands of jockeying over the lead occurred over the next level. At the end of it, it was one of the chip leaders at the start of the final table Matt Donaldson who ended his run in seventh place. He lost a big pot to Matt Morfitt at an earlier point in the final table which had sent him down the chip counts, but at the end of it he got in his pocket nines against Spahiu’s ace-queen, only for an ace-high board to dash his hopes and send him to the payout cage to collect $11,503.

Though he dropped out of the lead for a bit, Spahiu would regain the lead when Stille four-bet shoved in a multiway pot on a nine-high two clubs board with king-queen of clubs, only for Spahiu to call with a nine-eight for top pair. The turn queen of diamonds put Stille squarely in the lead with top pair, but the river eight gave Spahiu the lead with two pair and he once more took the lead while Stille exited the tournament in sixth place for $13,957.

In fifth place it was Terry Williams who was eliminated. He was left with under ten big blinds and moved in his final chips on the button with king-queen of clubs only for Kopp to call with pocket sixes and flop a set. Though a flush draw appeared on the turn, Williams could not find the river club to scoop and he collected $16,999 for his efforts.

Start of day chip leader Morfitt was the victim of many beats throughout the day. He had actually nearly knocked out David Caron when he got in his aces in against Caron’s queens. A river queen kept Caron alive and left Morfitt with the shortest stack in the tournament. He survived even left short and a few timely double ups saw him get to four-handed play. He got in his final chips against Caron when he moved all in with ace-three, but could not improve against Caron’s pocket fours. The 2017 RGPS Council Bluffs third place finisher exited the tournament in fourth place for $22,147.

What followed was three handed battle where both Spahiu and Kopp took their shot at the chip lead. Caron eventually doubled through both of them and it was Spahiu who could not hold up against Kopp when he got in his final chips with ace-ten against Kopp’s king-four. A four on the flop sent out the decorated grinder out in third place for $31,015 and the heads up battle commenced.

Caron held the chip lead for the beginning portions of heads up, but a costly pot where Kopp held pocket queens marked the end of his lead. At the end of it all, Caron got in his final chips with pocket sixes against Kopp’s nine ten suited, but an all diamond flop gave Kopp the flush and left Caron drawing dead on the turn. Caron shook hands with Kopp and the RGPS regular finished his deep run in second place for $48,232.

Series Event Winners

Event NumberNameEntrantsPrizepoolWinnerPrize
1$250 Warm Up115$23,000Duster Ellis$4,497
2$250 Series Kick Off802$160,400Taylor Howard$28,758
3$300 Black Chip Bounty177$26,550+$17,700Tony Poma$3,967
4$300 Omaha Eight Or Better97$24,250Henry Johnson$7,389
5$250 Single Day NLH89$17,800Stefan Kegley$5,646
6$200 Seniors178$28,480Philip Arbie$7,379
7$200 Fat Stack158$25,280Jacob Widman$6,794
8$300 HORSE Event47$11,750Matthew Harder$4,582
9$200 Tag Team EVent98$15,680Hanna Roppe-Guerdut$4,784
10$300 Fatter Stack166$39,840William Wagoner$10,591
11$200 Ambassador Bounty126$20,160Daryl Oppelt$4,735
12$400 Deepstack289$93,925Trevor Henery$12,799
13$300 Six-Max NLH140$35,000Ashley Frank$9,779
14$250 Double Green Chip Bounty138$20,700Krysta Groves$5,789
15$700 Main Event605$363,000Joshua Kopp$68,799

Be sure to check out next week’s updates when The RunGood Poker Series Checkpoint heads to Reno, Nevada for the $600 Main Event at Atlantis Casino. Be sure to check out all of the updates, only here on PokerNews.

Tags: Angela JordisonAshley FrankCaitlin ComeskeyDakotah O’DellDaryl OppeltDavid CaronDuster EllisFat StackHanna Roppe-GuerdutHenry JohnsonJacob WidmanJared LangbehnJared WardJoshua KoppKevin BerthelsenKrysta GrovesMark HomanMatt DonaldsonMatt MorfittMatthew HarderMichael BrewerNick StillePhilip ArbieRenato SpahiuStefan KegleyTaylor HowardTerry WilliamsTony PomaTrevor HeneryWilliam Wagoner

David Caron Eliminated In 2nd Place ($48,232)

Level 29 : Blinds 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante
David Caron
David Caron

David Caron moved all in from the small blind for 1,700,000 and Joshua Kopp called in the big blind.

David Caron: 66
Joshua Kopp: 109

The board ran out A7586 and Kopp flopped a flush to knock out Caron in second place.

Joshua Kopp wins the RGPS council bluffs main event. Stay tuned for a full recap.

Player Chips Progress
Joshua Kopp us
Joshua Kopp
18,150,000 3,200,000
David Caron us
David Caron
Busted

Tags: David CaronJoshua Kopp

Caron Doubles Up

Level 29 : Blinds 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante

Joshua Kopp raised to 500,000 on the button and int he big blind, David Caron moved all in for 1,450,000 and Kopp called.

David Caron: A7
Joshua Kopp: 55

The board ran out AK8109 and Caron survived to double at the expense of Kopp.

Player Chips Progress
Joshua Kopp us
Joshua Kopp
14,950,000 2,050,000
David Caron us
David Caron
3,200,000 -2,050,000

Kopp Takes The Lead

Level 29 : Blinds 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante
Joshua Kopp
Joshua Kopp

David Caron raised to 500,000 on the button and Joshua Kopp three-bet to 1,000,000 which Caron called.

The flop of 696 saw Kopp bet 1,500,000 and Caron called.

The turn 6 checked through to the K river where Kopp checked to Caron who bet 2,000,000. Kopp called and showed QQ for sixes full of queens which was better than Caron's 87 and Kopp took the lead.

Player Chips Progress
Joshua Kopp us
Joshua Kopp
12,900,000 4,225,000
David Caron us
David Caron
5,250,000 -4,225,000

Tags: David CaronJoshua Kopp

Level: 29

Blinds: 100,000/200,000

Ante: 200,000

Renato Spahiu Eliminated In 3rd Place ($31,015)

Level 28 : Blinds 75,000/150,000, 150,000 ante
Renato Spahiu
Renato Spahiu

Joshua Kopp raised to 400,000 on the button and in the big blind, Renato Spahiu moved all in for 2,600,000 and Kopp called.

Renato Spahiu: A10
Joshua Kopp: K4

The board ran out 429Q8 and Kopp made a pair of fours to eliminate Spahiu and Spahiu ended his run in third place.

Player Chips Progress
Joshua Kopp us
Joshua Kopp
7,600,000 2,625,000
Renato Spahiu us
Renato Spahiu
Busted

Tags: Joshua KoppRenato Spahiu

Caron Doubles Through Spahiu

Level 28 : Blinds 75,000/150,000, 150,000 ante
David Caron
David Caron

Renato Spahiu raised to 400,000 on the button and Joshua Kopp called in the small blind. In the big blind, David Caron moved all in for 4,425,000 and Spahiu moved all in for more which saw Kopp fold.

David Caron: AQ
Renato Spahiu: AJ

The board ran out K10487 and Caron took over half the chips in play while Spahiu dropped down the counts.

Player Chips Progress
David Caron us
David Caron
9,075,000 3,625,000
Renato Spahiu us
Renato Spahiu
2,900,000 -3,350,000

Tags: David CaronJoshua KoppRenato Spahiu