Welcome to Day 1a of the Run It Up Reno IX $440 Mini Main Event!
It's time for 11 straight days of absolute poker euphoria here at the Peppermill Resort Hotel, as Jason Somerville's Run It Up Reno IX is set to kickoff with the $440 Mini Main Event, which carries a $100,000 Guarantee for prospective players looking to fire any of the two starting flights.
Along with the Mini Main Event, a host of other featured tournaments will take place over the course of the nearly two-week-long festival, including a $20K Guaranteed $235 No-Limit Hold'em Progressive Knockout tourney on Monday, October 14th, a $35K Guaranteed $235 Black Chip Bounty tourney on Tuesday, October 15th, a $175 Moneymaker Tour Event with a Platinum Pass added on Wednesday, October 16th, and the premier events, the $1,100 Thursday Thrilla with a $150K Guarantee on Thursday, October 17th, and the $600 Main Event with a whopping $300K Guarantee on Friday and Saturday, October 18-21st. All of the aforementioned events will be covered by PokerNews on our Live Reporting blog.
Today is the first of two starting flights in the $440 Mini Main Event. Day 1a will get underway at Noon local time with the 1b flight taking place at the same time on Saturday, October 12th. The tournament features big blind ante and starts players with 25,000 in tournament chips, an increase of 5,000 in chips from last year's iteration of the same event. Registration and re-entries are available until the start of Level 12, at which point the length of each level will increase from 30 to 40 minutes.
There will be 15-minute breaks every two hours with a one-hour dinner break at the end of Level 11. The plan for each starting flight is to play until 16% of the field remains. Here’s a look at the structure:
| Level | Big Blind Ante | Small Blind | Big Blind | Level Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 30 minutes |
| 2 | 100 | 100 | 200 | 30 minutes |
| 3 | 200 | 100 | 200 | 30 minutes |
| 4 | 300 | 200 | 300 | 30 minutes |
| 5 | 400 | 200 | 400 | 30 minutes |
| 6 | 500 | 300 | 500 | 30 minutes |
| 7 | 600 | 300 | 600 | 30 minutes |
| 8 | 800 | 400 | 800 | 30 minutes |
| 9 | 1,000 | 500 | 1,000 | 30 minutes |
| 9 | 1,200 | 600 | 1,200 | 30 minutes |
| 10 | 1,600 | 800 | 1,600 | 30 minutes |
| 11 | 2,000 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 30 minutes |
| 12 | 2,500 | 1,500 | 2,500 | 40 minutes |
| 13 | 3,000 | 1,500 | 3,000 | 40 minutes |
| 14 | 4,000 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 40 minutes |
| 15 | 5,000 | 3,000 | 5,000 | 40 minutes |
| 16 | 6,000 | 3,000 | 6,000 | 40 minutes |
Along with the aforementioned Somerville, Andrew Neeme, Arlie Shaban and Ricky Guan are all expected to make an appearance, as are Jesse Capps, Steve Roselius, Katie Lindsay and others all vying for a shot at the trophy and the Mini Main Event title. PokerNews will be bringing you all the action straight from the tournament floor, so stay tuned as we begin the journey to crowning our first RIU IX champion!
board over to Michael Trivett on the button, who bet 1,300 into a pot of 2,000. The big blind called.
completed the board on the river, and the big blind checked again. Trivett, who finished in tenth place in last year's Run It Up Reno VIII $600 Main Event, bet 4,000, and the big blind folded.
board. 
for a flopped flush.
flop, and Petzing bet 1,000 on the 
turn. Tardif and the cutoff folded.
flop was checked by the hijack, and Petzing bet 2,500. The hijack called.
turn, the hijack checked again, and Petzing fired 6,000, leaving himself just 7,300 behind. The hijack folded, and Petzing showed 
turn saw the big blind bet 5,000, and Pokrivnak called again.
river, and the big blind flipped over 
and took down the pot.
flop was checked by the middle position player, and Guan bet 1,200. The hijack called.
turn, and the 
for a flush, and Guan rolled over 
for kings-full and the knockout.
board, a player in the big blind bet 2,000, and Andrew Smith reraised all in for his last 12,000.
flop together, and action checked to the player in middle position, who bet 1,200 into a pot of 2,500. Carlos Pal, who won a freeroll here at Run It Up Reno VII last year for a PokerStars Platinum Pass, called from the cutoff, and the blinds both folded.
turn, and the 
