$440 Mini Main Event | Run It Up Reno VIII

04-14-2019 09:49 UTC-7

Who Will Walk Away with the RIU Reno VIII Mini Main Trophy?

Chad Holloway

The final table stage is ready for action!

Today the Run It Up Reno VIII Event #1: $440 Mini Main Event, a tournament that started with 285 entrants, will see the final 64 players return to action at the Peppermill Casino. The top 46 players will earn a min-cash worth $720, while the eventual winner will walk away with a $26,065 first-place prize.

Starting today with the big stack is Day 1a chip leader Alan Mastic with 310,000. Joining him is Day 1b chip leader Ivan Zarate (185,000), Andy Pokrivnak (242,000), Jesse Capps (194,000), Michael Trivett (184,000), Kyle Keating (181,500), Jovanny Jayme (166,500), and Stanley Wang (148,500), who round out the top five. They were joined by Ben “Spraggy” Spragg (126,500), Patrick Tardif (117,000), former RIU Reno Main Event champ DJ Fenton (106,500), Albert Ng (85,00), and Kevin Martin (49,500).

Day 2 will get underway at Noon local time on Sunday with 4:42 left on the clock in Level 12. The RunItUp.TV dynamic live stream (that means breaks and other downtimes will be edited out for an action-packed broadcast) will begin at 5 p.m. local time, but you can tune back into PokerNews straight away for live updates.

This marks the first of five tournaments PokerNews will live report at the RIU Reno VIII. Others include $235 Pro Bounty (April 15), $235 Black Chip Bounty (April 16), $1,100 Thursday Thrilla (April 18-19), and the $600 buy-in, $250K GTD Main Event (April 19-22).

Be sure to follow @runitupreno on Twitter and runituptv on Instagram for more behind-the-scenes covereage of the eight edition of Run It Up Reno!

04-14-2019 12:03 UTC-7

Sarah Sherman Wins 6-Max NLO8 Tournament

Chad Holloway

Level 12 : 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

The PokerNews Live Reporting Team is focused on five events at the RIU Reno VIII, but there are plenty of side events throughout including Saturday’s $125 6-Max NLO8 $5K GTD. That tournament attracted 91 entrants and created an $8,827 prize pool.

Among those to make a deep run but fall short of the final table were Eric Nelson (15th - $180), Doug Charles (14th - $180), John Lewis (13th - $180), Michael Postle (12th - $220), Patrick Tardif (11th - $220), Albert Ng (10th - $220), Sean Lukito (9th - $270), Joe Brindle (8th - $330), and Richard West (7th - $330).

In the end, Sarah Sherman of Ashland, Oregon came out on top to win the title and a $2,000 top prize.

NLO8 Final Table Results

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Sarah Sherman	Ashland, Or	$2,000
2	Tony Bigcharles	Reno, NV	$1,787
3	Eric Goldstein	Las Vegas, NV	$1,200
4	Peter Dirksen	San Francisco, CA	$715
5	Vincent Newland	Pine Plains, NY	$555
6	Richard Aiple	Montgomery, TX	$440

04-14-2019 12:25 UTC-7

In Real Life: "Bald Spraggy" Makes His Live Poker Debut

Chad Holloway

Level 13 : 1,500/2,500, 2,500 ante

There’s no denying Benjamin Spragg, known to the masses as “Spraggy,” is a good sport. Today, he is going bald for Day 2 of the Run It Up Reno VIII $440 Mini Main Event. It’s not necessarily by choice though, but rather the result of losing a prop bet rooted in a simple, albeit hilarious, fan-created emoji.

“The first time I saw it an online player had it as his picture on PokerStars,” Spraggy told PokerNews. “He got put on my table and it popped up with me looking bald. Everyone on the table thought it was hilarious. They said I should make it an emote. I contacted the guy who made it and I had it as a Twitch emote. People will post that in the chat for whatever reason – Bald Spraggy.”

Enter Jesse Fullen, an employee of Run It Up who asked Spraggy what it’d take for him to come to Run It Up Reno VIII as “Bald Spraggy.”

“I’ll do it if you make me laugh [on stream],” Spraggy said. Fullen, who organizes many of RIU’s social events, was up for the challenge.

“What he said was I’ve got the perfect thing and you’re drawing snap-dead because you’ll never make me laugh on stream. I’ve gone months without laughing on stream,” Fullen said. “I decided to try to level him by finding a really horrible joke and it worked.”

So what was the joke that got the unflinching Spraggy to crack a smile and let slip a laugh?

“A man walks into a zoo. There’s only one animal in the zoo. It’s a dog. It’s a Shitzu.”

“It’s obviously not a funny joke, but the idea of him thinking it would make me laugh, almost as soon as I started reading the first line [in the chat] I started laughing,” Spraggy said.

Real Spraggy and the emote the PokerStars avatar that inspired it all.

Fullen wasn’t going to make Spraggy shave his head for accepting a bad bet and laughing at an even worse joke. However, he still wanted to punish him. The two came to terms that a Reno-based makeup artist would fit Spraggy with a bald cap he’ll have to wear all day.

“This is going to live on. When people talk about RIU Reno this is one of the things they’ll remember,” Fullen said as he watched the makeup artist do her work.

A solemn-looking Spraggy wasn’t so cheerful.

“Burn all evidence of this day and hope it gets wiped from memory,” he said. “But a bet is a bet, I lost the bet, I’m an idiot for making the bet, and here I am because of it.”

Chances are you'll be seeing more of "Bald Spraggy" today as he's expected to make the feature table live stream on RunItUp.TV, or even if he doesn't and busts, don't be surprised to see him tackle commentary duties.

Tags: Benjamin Spragg

04-14-2019 13:00 UTC-7

Sleeth Sends Holmes to the Rail

Chad Holloway

Level 14 : 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante

Michael Holmes moved all in for 30,500 from the cutoff and WSOP Circuit ring winner Ashley Sleeth called from the button. Both blinds got out of the way and the hands were turned up.

Sleeth:
Holmes:

Holmes was drawing to two live cards and while he paired one on the flop, Sleeth also paired her king. Neither the turn nor river helped Holmes and he wished the table good luck before heading for the exit.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ashley Sleeth	185,000 37,000	37,000
Michael Holmes	Busted

Tags: Michael Holmes Ashley Sleeth

04-14-2019 13:07 UTC-7

Bald Spraggy Penultimate Bubble Boy

Chad Holloway

Level 14 : 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante

Benjamin "Spraggy" Spragg got his stack of 62,500 all in two off the money and was at risk against Joel Danforth.

Spraggy:
Danforth:

Danforth called for an ace, and while he didn't get one, the flop was just as good as he made trips.

Spraggy was looking for a jack but was left wanting as the bricked the turn followed by the on the river.

Player	Chips	Progress
Joel Danforth	300,000
Benjamin Spragg	Busted

Tags: Benjamin Spragg Joel Danforth

04-14-2019 13:57 UTC-7

Steven Dorval Bubbles RIU Reno VIII Mini Main Event

Chad Holloway

Level 14 : 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante

Steven Dorval was nursing the short stack during hand-for-hand play and opted to commit his last 8,500 after action folded to him in the small blind. Jacqui Newman was in the big and quickly called.

Dorval:
Newman:

Dorval was dominated and he failed to get lucky as the board ran out a dry .

Dorval left empty-handed in 47th place while the remaining players are guaranteed a minimum payout of $720.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jacqui Newman	54,000 15,500	15,500
Steven Dorval	Busted

Tags: Jacqui Newman Steven Dorval

04-14-2019 14:41 UTC-7

Wang Sends Martin to the Rail

Chad Holloway

Level 15 : 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

We missed the elimination of Twitch star and Big Brother Canada winner Kevin Martin but we did learn some details after the fact.

As it was related to us from some players at his former table, Martin moved all in under the gun for 50,000 holding and Stanley Wang called with suited.

A flop gave Wang the lead and he maintained it when a appeared on the turn followed by a on the river.

Player	Chips	Progress
Stanley Wang	250,000 95,000	95,000
Kevin Martin	Busted

Tags: Kevin Martin Stanley Wang

04-14-2019 16:07 UTC-7

Three-Time RIU Reno Champ Daniele Done and Dusted

Chad Holloway

Level 17 : 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

Three-time RIU Reno trophy winner Jason Daniele moved all in for 111,000 from the hijack and Ivan Zarate called from the button. Both blinds folded and it was off to the races.

Daniele:
Zarate:

Daniele was ahead and maintained his lead on the flop, though Zarate picked up a gutshot. He hit it too when the dealer burned and turned the to leave Daniele drawing dead. The meaningless was run out on the river and Daniele headed to the rail in 27th place.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ivan Zarate	480,000 320,000	320,000
Jason Daniele	Busted

Tags: Ivan Zarate Jason Daniele

04-14-2019 16:17 UTC-7

Roselius Doubles Through Nelson

Chad Holloway

Level 17 : 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

Action folded around to Steve Roselius in the small blind and he moved all in for 67,000, which Eric Nelson called from the big.

Roselius:
Nelson:

The board ran out and Roselius made a straight to stay alive.

Player	Chips	Progress
Eric Nelson	145,000 -70,000	-70,000
Steve Roselius	140,000 75,000	75,000

Tags: Steve Roselius Eric Nelson

04-14-2019 17:04 UTC-7

McCormick Done In By Tardif

Chad Holloway

Level 18 : 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante

Joel Danforth raised to 32,000 only to have Don McCormick three-bet all in for around 190,000 from the cutoff. Patrick Tardiff was in the big and jammed all in over the top, which prompted Danforth to get out of the way.

McCormick:
Tardif:

The flop gave Tardif top set but also delivered a gutshot to McCormick. He was looking for some lady love but was left wanting as neither the turn nor river was the queen he needed.

Player	Chips	Progress
Patrick Tardif	700,000 200,000	200,000

Don McCormick	Busted

Tags: Don McCormick Patrick Tardif