button in SafariPhuong Ta Goes Wire-to-Wire to Claim the RunGood Poker Series Jacksonville Main Event Title
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Phuong “Peter” Ta began the day as the chip leader. He ended it as the newest RunGood Poker Series Golden Expedition Jacksonville $1,200 Main Event champion.
The nail salon owner from Bluffton, South Carolina survived a marathon final table that went past 2 a.m. before beating out Corey Major heads-up to claim the title and $71,353 top prize, the largest of his poker career. “A lot of fun. A little tired, but a lot of fun,” Ta said after his victory over the 394-entry field. “All the people are good players. I love to play with them.”
RGPS Jacksonville Main Event Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Phuong Ta | United States | $71,353* |
| 2 | Corey Major | United States | $66,353* |
| 3 | Sandro Sa | Brazil | $40,486 |
| 4 | Dustin Bennett | United States | $30,118 |
| 5 | Sokol Curri | United States | $22,680 |
| 6 | Afnan Chowdhury | United States | $17,290 |
| 7 | Grant Palmer | United States | $13,347 |
| 8 | Mary Darnell | United States | $10,434 |
| 9 | Antwan Prince | United States | $8,262 |
*denotes heads-up deal
Ta's Chip-and-a-Chair Story Began on Day 1
Ta’s path to the title wasn’t always certain. On Day 1b, he was down to just 3,000 at one point but came back to seize the overall chip lead. “I lost 90 percent of my money. I got down to 3,000, then I got a triple up, then I got a double up,” he said.
He began playing poker more than 20 years ago but only started focusing on tournaments within the past year. He made the final table at the Wynn Fall Classic in Las Vegas in 2021, where he won a then-career best $67,000. He was also at the final table of the WSOP Circuit Main Event in Cherokee, North Carolina, last year, and finished 14th in this event here at bestbet Jacksonville in 2023. Ta came into this year’s festival with nearly $200,000 in total live earnings, according to the Hendon Mob.
A major title had so far eluded him, however, and Ta was determined to change that this year. “He said he was going to win one this year. But lately he’s been going bad, and he was like, buddy, not good, not good,” one of his supporters on the rail explained after the tournament.
Despite his regular job, poker is Ta’s passion, and he’s going to continue to pursue it after this career-defining accomplishment. “Yeah, I come back all the time. I’ll come back any time. I play poker for fun. I play a lot,” he said.
“I love it. I really love it. I love to play with good players and good people.”
WPT Champs Ellinghaus, Adkins Among First Day 2 Bustouts
Ta stood atop the leaderboard as 50 players returned to bestbet Jacksonville for the start of Day 2 at noon local time. WPT champion Blake Ellinghaus (48th), Kelley Slay (47th), 2024 runner-up Ricky Patel (45th), Chris Conrad (39th) and his wife Katerina Lukina (37th), and Caleb Powell (32nd) were among the first bustouts. Josh Adkins had a set cracked by Sokol Curri’s straight in a massive pot before the WPT champion was eliminated in 22nd place.
Andrew Difeo (15th), the entertaining and boisterous Sean Etheridge (14th), and Edward Mroczkowski (12th) fell just shy of the final table, while Mike Scalice busted in 10th place to set the lineup that would make their way to the main feature table. Antwan Prince won this event in 2023, and he seemed poised to do it all over again as he began the final table with the chip lead with 1,950,000.
Prince Goes From Penthouse to Basement Quickly at the Final Table
Ta, though, moved atop the leaderboard when he rivered the nut flush against Prince. Prince never recovered from that hit, and he was all in for 565,000 with ace-five against Major’s two eights. The board brought no help, and Prince went from chip leader to out in ninth place.
Mary Darnell, who qualified for the event in a $200 flip n’ go, got in her last 340,000 with top pair of aces, but Curri spiked a flush on the turn to win the pot. Darnell, though, managed to turn her ticket into a $10,434 payday for an eighth-place finish. Major then turned a Broadway straight to crack Grant Palmer’s aces for a bustout.
Major Separates From the Pack
Major began to run away from the field, taking out Afnan Chowdhury in sixth and then Curri in fifth as he controlled nearly 65 percent of the chips in play four-handed. The first blow he took came when he tried a bluff on the river, only for Sandro Sa to pick him off with a pair of aces. The final four played for 90 minutes until a short-stacked Dustin Bennett was all in against Ta. Ta made two pair by the turn to leave Bennett drawing dead and off to the rail in fourth place.
Sa coolered Major with aces against jacks to double up, knocking Major down to less than 1,000,000. He found one double up with ace-jack against Ta. “Still in the game, baby,” he declared before hitting a flush on the river against Ta’s sevens to double again. Ta was then all in with ace-king and racing against Sa’s sixes. Ta picked up straight and flush draws, and he hit his flush on the river to stay alive.
Ta Seizes Back the Lead After Wild Swings of Fortune
It was then Sa’s turn for a little luck. He was all in and a card away from elimination holding ace-five against Major’s ace-king until a five appeared on the river to keep his tournament hopes alive. Those dreams quickly vanished, however, as he was all in again with ace-ten against Major’s queen-jack. Major hit top pair on the flop, and Sa couldn’t catch up as he was eliminated in third place.
Ta led Major 7,725,000 to 4,100,000 at the start of heads-up. Major doubled up once and took the chip lead after flopping trip kings. With the clock pushing 2 a.m. and the day going into its 14th hour of play, the two opponents then agreed to evenly chop the remaining prize pool and leave $5,000 for the champion. Ta opened up after the deal and began constantly applying pressure and shoving on Major.
Major fell to just 2,025,000 when he shoved with eight-six. Ta looked down only at an ace and called. He hit top pair on the flop, and Major was drawing dead by the turn.
The poker room inside bestbet Jacksonville is lined with autographed photos of some of the game's top players who have come through the doors to play big events here. It's been a regular stop on the WPT for nearly 15 years. Today, it crowned a new champion, and Ta will get to show off his flashy new ring at his nail salon tomorrow.
That concludes PokerNews' coverage of the RGPS Jacksonville Main Event. Check out the RunGood app for a full schedule of upcoming stops.
