The final table of Jason Somerville's 2015 Run It Up Reno $565 Main Event was set just before midnight on Saturday with the elimination of Survivor legend, Rob "Boston Rob" Mariano in ninth place. On the final hand, Mariano failed to hold with pocket sevens against the of Mike Murphy after the money went in preflop. Murphy hit a jack on the flop and stayed in the lead from there. Mariano scored $2,760 for his finish.
Leading the final eight was Jesse Capps, but only by a very slight margin over Suja Juice co-founder Eric Ethans. Capps is a 26-year-old poker pro from Nevada with just under $250,000 in live tournament earnings. He fired two bullets into this event and made the second one work by bagging up the chip lead heading into Sunday's final table. Capps finished Day 2 with 2.16 million in chips. Ethans finished hot on his heels with 2.03 million.
The other faces at the final table belong to Murphy (1.1 million), Gina Stagnitto (950,000), Kristin Kane (685,000), Nick Aguilera (585,000), Steve Kujubu (375,000), and David Carey (205,000). Carey is the only non-American at the final table, hailing from the UK.
With a field of 318 entries and a prize pool of $159,000, there's plenty that will be on the line Sunday. The top prize is set at $42,830 and there's the pride of being the Run It Up Main Event champion. All of the remaining players have guaranteed themselves $3,830.
The final table live stream will be hosted by Jason Somerville on RunItUp.tv. The stream will begin with pre-roll at 12:50 p.m. local time, and then the action can be viewed starting at 1:30 p.m. complete with hole cards. We'll also have live updates right here on PokerNews. Until then, have a goodnight!
From early position, Mike Murphy raised to 100,000. Steve Kujubu made the call from middle position, and then play folded over to Survivor legend Rob "Boston Rob" Mariano. Mariano announced that he was all in for 314,000. Play moved back to Murphy, and he received the count before reraising all in over the top. Kujubu folded, and it was Mariano with his tournament life on the line.
For all of the "surviving" experience that Mariano has, it would take all of it for him to double up in the race he was in holding the . Murphy had the .
The flop paired Murphy and gave him the lead. Although Mariano pleaded quietly for a seven, the on the turn and the on the river missed. With that, Mariano was out in ninth place for $2,760.
Nick Aguilera raised to 51,000 and Valerie Hanley called from the small blind after which Jesse Capps three-bet from the big blind to 150,000. Aguilera opted to fold his cards after which Hanley made the call.
The flop brought out and Hanley lead out for 300,000 before Capps moved all in on her. Hanley had only 230,000 chips left behind, and she called off the remainder of her stack.
"You've got a pair?" Capps asked.
"No," Hanley shook her head.
Capps jumped up out of his seat, and was visibly happy with the way this played out.
Hanley:
Capps:
The board ran out , and Capps' ace-high held up to rake in another massive pot. We are now redrawing for the final nine, and the seating and chip counts will be posted shortly.
Jill Hoelting raised from the cutoff to 55,000 and Eric Ethans called from the button after which David Carey called from the big blind as well.
The flop came down and Carey checked after which Hoelting paused for a bit before betting a hefty 175,000.
"All in," Ethans said right away.
"Call!" Hoelting yelled.
"Hold up! There's still action," the tournament director yelled, as David Carey had yet to make a decision. All the fireworks however sent him a clear message, and he folded quickly, after which Hoelting called and a pot worth 1.8 million was created.
Hoelting:
Ethans:
A loud 'wow' erose from the rail, as Ethans had put the cooler of coolers on his opponent, and the turn, the , nor river, the changed this. Ethans is back in the lead and we're down to 11 players.
After preflop action saw Suja Juice co-founder Eric Ethans raise and get reraised by Robert Fein, Ethans called to see the flop with just about 200,000 in the middle. Fein open-shoved for a little over two times the pot, and that sent Ethans deep into the tank. Eventually, Ethans made the call with the for top pair, but he was in a world of hurt against Fein's .
Needing a miracle to pull this one out, Ethans picked up a straight draw when the hit the turn. It was still very much a long shot for Ethans to win, but he nailed the river when the rolled off. The crowd surrounding the table erupted when they saw what had happened, while Fein was left sitting motionless with his mouth agape.
"That was very lucky," said Rob Mariano to a group of onlookers. "I'm lucky, but that was very, very lucky!"
The tournament staff counted Ethans' stack and verified that he was all in for 433,000 on the flop. When they counted down Fein's stack, they revealed that he had the exact same amount, 433,000. With that, Fein was eliminated and Ethans shot to up over 1 million.
With the players all in the money, they're now on a one-hour dinner break. Action will return to play down to the final table of eight at approximately 7:40 p.m. local time, and we'll see you back here then.
From under the gun, Martin Kampmann raised to 20,000. Two seats over, Marty Gorenc reraised all in for a little over 200,000. Play folded back to Kampmann, and he called to put himself at risk for right around 160,000 with the . Gorenc had the for the race.
The flop kept Kampmann in the lead, the the on the turn nailed Gorenc. The river was the , and Kampmann was knocked out.
From under the gun, Eric Ethans raised to 13,000. Oskar Sandberg, who won the $125 Survivor No-Limit Hold'em event earlier this week, reraised from the hijack seat to 29,500. Play then folded to Dustin Zech, and he called out of the big blind. Ethans then called to complete the action and send the three players to the flop.
The dealer spread the , and Zech immediately went all in for approximately 175,000. Before he could even finish saying "I'm all in," Ethans yelled that he was all in and popped up out of his chair. Rather unaware of the action before him because it was so abrupt, Sandberg asked the dealer what his opponents did.
"They're both all in," said the dealer.
"Umm..." Sandberg said in surprise as he double checked his hand. "I call."
Just like that, a massive pot was born. Sandberg held 220,500 in his stack.
Sandberg had flopped the nut flush with the . Ethans had also flopped a flush with the , and then Zech was bluffing with the .
The turn was the , and the river was the . Those cards kept Sandberg's hand best, and he scooped the massive pot to move over 700,000 in chips. Zech was eliminated with the smallest stack of the trio, and Ethans took a big hit to drop to 390,000.
"Well that was a bad time to represent hearts," Zech would later say as he hopped in a side event.
William Recker will not get his fifth straight cash at Run it Up Reno, but his run this week was very impressive to say the least. Recker just came up to our table and explained how he shoved for his last 40,000 chips and got called by a player holding . Recker tabled and his inferior ace could not mount a comeback.
of Mike Murphy after the money went in preflop. Murphy hit a jack on the flop and stayed in the lead from there. Mariano scored $2,760 for his finish.
. Murphy had the 
.
flop paired Murphy and gave him the lead. Although Mariano pleaded quietly for a seven, the 
on the turn and the 
on the river missed. With that, Mariano was out in ninth place for $2,760.
and Hanley lead out for 300,000 before Capps moved all in on her. Hanley had only 230,000 chips left behind, and she called off the remainder of her stack.
, 
and Carey checked after which Hoelting paused for a bit before betting a hefty 175,000. 
, nor river, the 
changed this. Ethans is back in the lead and we're down to 11 players.
and Sandberg was sent to the rail right after reaching the final two tables.
.
rolled off. The crowd surrounding the table erupted when they saw what had happened, while Fein was left sitting motionless with his mouth agape.
for the race.
flop kept Kampmann in the lead, the the 
, and Kampmann was knocked out.
, and Zech immediately went all in for approximately 175,000. Before he could even finish saying "I'm all in," Ethans yelled that he was all in and popped up out of his chair. Rather unaware of the action before him because it was so abrupt, Sandberg asked the dealer what his opponents did.
. Ethans had also flopped a flush with the 
, and the river was the 
. Those cards kept Sandberg's hand best, and he scooped the massive pot to move over 700,000 in chips. Zech was eliminated with the smallest stack of the trio, and Ethans took a big hit to drop to 390,000.
and his inferior ace could not mount a comeback.