$1,200 Main Event Day 1a | 2024 RGPS Destination RunGood Jacksonville

03-21-2024 21:24 UTC-4

Chip Counts From the Final 12

Matt Hansen

Level 12 : Blinds 1,500/2,500, 2,500 ante

Day 1a will end when eight players remain or at the end of Level 14, whichever happens first.

Player	Chips	Progress
Brian Winter	391,500 -14,000	-14,000

Raminder Singh	359,000 104,000	104,000
John Connors	267,000 36,000	36,000
Charles Phillips	112,000 30,500	30,500
James Ollis	111,500 50,000	50,000
Dimas Martinez Jr	102,000 -16,000	-16,000
Bradley Beetz	93,000 9,000	9,000
Matthew Wright	92,000 40,500	40,500
James Leonard	64,000 -44,500	-44,500
Caleb Larsen	47,000 30,000	30,000
Joshua Harrison	44,000 10,000	10,000
Sean Conklin	29,000 -32,000	-32,000

03-21-2024 21:13 UTC-4

PokerNews Podcast: Dwan Drama, Women in Poker, Boston Rob & Brantzen on Reality TV

Matt Hansen

Level 12 : Blinds 1,500/2,500, 2,500 ante

In the 821st episode of the PokerNews Podcast, Chad Holloway, Mike Holtz & Kyna England come to you from Level 9 Studios in Las Vegas to discuss the latest poker news, stories, and gossip. That includes the recent drama surrounding Tom "durrrr" Dwan, who recently talked to PokerNews in a 45-minute in-depth conversation about debt allegations recently leveled against him by Peter Jetten and Haralabos Voulgaris.

You can read everything Dwan had to say in our feature article here but suffice it to say he didn't give clear answers. Some say he spouted a word salad to most of the questions, and our crew took a look at some clips and offered their thoughts. We also asked Dwan point blank if he's ever been kidnapped by the Triads, an urban legend of sorts in the poker world.

Mike and Kyna then talked about their respective tournament successes since the last show, which led to a larger talk about women in poker and how the industry sometimes struggles to market to such a large segment of the population. From there, it was on to a discussion about the recent uptick of poker-related names venturing into the reality TV space including Boston Rob Mariano, Brantzen Poker, and Athena Jett.

Finally, the crew touched on Kevin Martin's 24/7 stream while attempting to win $5,000 playing online and close it out by offering their thoughts on the often-critical Allen Kessler.

Listen to the New PokerNews Podcast Here!

Did you know the PokerNews Podcast is no longer just audio? That's right, we've added a video show as well that you can view on the PokerNews YouTube Channel.

Level: 12

Blinds: 1,500/2,500

Ante: 2,500

03-21-2024 20:47 UTC-4

Singh Busts McGarity

Matt Hansen

Level 11 : Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

Raminder Singh raised to 5,000 before Mark McGarity got his last 15,500 into the middle. The rest of the table got out of the way and Singh put McGarity at risk.

Mark McGarity: Q♦8♠ All in
Raminder Singh: A♠J♣

The board ran out 10♥3♥6♣A♦A♣ and Singh picked up the knockout with three aces.

Player	Chips	Progress
Raminder Singh	255,000 94,000	94,000
Mark McGarity	Busted

Tags: Mark McGarity Raminder Singh

03-21-2024 20:33 UTC-4

Danny Kaminsky Wins Event #2: $400 PKO Bounty ($7,000+$2,500)

Matt Hansen

Level 11 : Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

https://twitter.com/bestbet_jax/status/1769789479856836726

03-21-2024 20:24 UTC-4

Valdivieso Springs Winter and Falls

Matt Hansen

Level 11 : Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

Just before blinds went up, Pablo Valdivieso raised to 4,000 before Brian Winter made it 12,000 from the button. The blinds got out of the way and Valdivieso made it 40,000.

Winter called and Valdivieso pushed his stack into the middle before the flop appeared. Winter called that, as well, and the cards were turned up.

Pablo Valdivieso: A♣Q♣ All in
Brian Winter: A♦A♠

The board ran out 3♥7♥7♣Q♦10♦ and the aces held to secure another big pot for Winter.

Player	Chips	Progress
Brian Winter	405,500 119,500	119,500

Pablo Valdivieso	Busted

Tags: Brian Winter Pablo Valdivieso

Level: 11

Blinds: 1,000/2,000

Ante: 2,000

03-21-2024 20:13 UTC-4

Michael Esquivel Earns a Vacation With Destination RunGood Tunica Win

Matt Hansen

Level 10 : Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante

The latest Destination RunGood series stop came at Horseshoe Tunica, where Michael Esquivel was crowned the champion after a deal with Loi Hoang at the start of heads-up play.

The event drew a total of 662 entries - one more than the previous trip in November 2023 - and the top 82 players split up a prize pool of $337,620. Esquivel dominated a wild final table to finish with the big stack for a top prize of $55,321, along with the RGPS ring.

2024 Destination RunGood Tunica Final Table Results

Place	Player	Prize (USD)
1	Michael Esquivel	$55,321*
2	Loi Hoang	$45,608*
3	Brian Duffy	$30,337
4	Michael Chilton	$22,614
5	Chris Cochran	$17,047
6	Walker Miskelly	$12,996
7	Brian Winter	$10,022
8	Chris Dandrea	$7,819
9	Dorothy Crossman	$6,172

_{* Denotes heads-up deal}

Tags: Michael Esquivel

03-21-2024 20:03 UTC-4

Winter Leads the Final 17 Players

Matt Hansen

Level 10 : Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Brian Winter	286,000 -9,000	-9,000

John Connors	231,000 170,000	170,000
Raminder Singh	161,000 32,000	32,000
Pablo Valdivieso	153,000 110,000	110,000
Mark McGarity	125,000 10,000	10,000
Dimas Martinez Jr	118,000
James Leonard	108,500 108,500	108,500
Bradley Beetz	84,000 -46,000	-46,000
Charles Phillips	81,500 81,500	81,500
James Ollis	61,500 26,000	26,000
Sean Conklin	61,000 61,000	61,000
Corey Hastings	52,500 52,500	52,500
Matthew Wright	51,500 -2,800	-2,800
Huilin Chen	42,000 42,000	42,000
Joshua Harrison	34,000 34,000	34,000
Dustin Bennett	27,000 7,500	7,500
Caleb Larsen	17,000 17,000	17,000