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Guarantee Smashed as 37 Advance from Final Flight of $400 PokerNews Cup
The last chance to build a stack in the first major event of the RunGood Passport Season Finale has come and gone, with a busy and action-packed day at Thunder Valley Casino Resort.
The final opening flight of the $400 PokerNews Cup attracted 365 entries, bringing the overall total to 901 for the week. That saw the guarantee passed with ease, finishing with a prize pool of $306,340.
Of those Day 1d entrants, just 37 survived to earn a seat, bringing the total to 88 players still in contention. Leading the way after completing 14 levels was Khamla Kounlavouth, who bagged up an impressive stack of 655,000 chips. That will be good for fourth overall once players converge on Sunday, July 19.
Sitting in second spot on the day was Christopher Rudd (532,000), the only other player to collect more than 20 starting stacks. Rudd has earned cashes in each of the past two years at this RGPS series, and has now locked up three in a row at Thunder Valley.
Rudd was followed by Francis Nguyen (471,000) and Jason Palmer (438,000), while Nicholas Colvin (428,000) rounded out the top five spots.
Day 1d Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Khamla Kounlavouth | United States | 655,000 |
| 2 | Christopher Rudd | United States | 532,000 |
| 3 | Francis Nguyen | United States | 471,000 |
| 4 | Jason Palmer | United States | 438,000 |
| 5 | Nicholas Colvin | United States | 428,000 |
| 6 | Christopher Johnson | United States | 417,000 |
| 7 | Teng Vang | United States | 383,000 |
| 8 | Jesse Ledoux | United States | 373,000 |
| 9 | Jaime Haletky | United States | 365,000 |
| 10 | Chuc Nguyen | United States | 360,000 |
Among the notable names lurking on the leaderboard is Jaime Haletky (365,000), who is no stranger to success at Thunder Valley. Haletky earned his second WSOP Circuit Main Event ring in this very poker room earlier this year, and is also coming off a sixth-place finish at the 2026 World Series of Poker in Event #72: $1,000 Mini Main Event in Las Vegas. He'll carry a top-20 stack into action on Sunday, with a great chance at another deep run.
Another prominent player was RunGood Ambassador Julie Cornelius, who returned to the felt after an unsuccessful try in Day 1c. Cornelius got off to a solid start after flopping an early flush, but was unable to maintain that momentum and made her exit before the final break of the night.
The latest to participate in our Share Your Story campaign was Dennis Carlson, who was fresh off a deep run in the $10,000 WSOP Main Event . Carlsson spoke to Chad Holloway about his poker journey, but was unable to navigate his way into the money on this day.
The final flight came to a swift conclusion, as hand-for-hand play was not even needed near the money. After relatively lengthy bubbles in each of the first three opening days, the clock had not even been pause when three players fell on separate tables.
Jagdeep Bal, Noel Rodriguez and Kody Edens all lost their stacks at the same time to share a piece of the $700 minimum cash.
Day 2 Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $48,340 | 13-15 | $3,440 |
| 2 | $32,000 | 16-19 | $2,880 |
| 3 | $23,800 | 20-23 | $2,420 |
| 4 | $17,800 | 24-31 | $2,020 |
| 5 | $13,500 | 32-39 | $1,680 |
| 6 | $10,300 | 40-47 | $1,420 |
| 7 | $7,900 | 48-55 | $1,200 |
| 8 | $6,100 | 56-63 | $1,020 |
| 9-10 | $4,820 | 64-76 | $860 |
| 11-12 | $4,080 | 77-88 | $760 |
Everyone returning on Sunday has locked up $760, while Ricky Flora bagged two flights to earn an additional Day 2 minimum payout. The bulk of the prize pool is still to be distributed, including the $48,340 first-place prize to go along with the PokerNews Cup trophy.
Players will return at 11:00 a.m. local time, as tables are trimmed to eight-handed action. Levels remain 30 minutes long, with action starting on blinds of 5,000/10,000 and a 10,000 big blind ante.
The tournament clock will resume at the beginning of Level 15, and breaks are scheduled after every two hours of play.
Just one day of action remains before crowning a champion, so stay tuned to PokerNews for continuing live coverage from Thunder Valley.