Joe Nguyen has built one of the biggest stacks in the tournament so far.
He told PokerNews that he had around 115,000 chips off of a 20,000 starting stack.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
115,000
55,000
|
55,000 |
|
||
The first event of the RunGood Poker Series (RGPS) Thunder Valley was Event #1: $125 Opener, a tournament that attracted 175 runners and offered up a $17,500 prize pool.
That was paid out to the top 22 finishers including Adan Barajas (10th - $460), Keith Hudson (11th - $390), Franklin Chavez (16th - $275), Daniel Bracey (20th - $225), and John Crosby (22nd - $170).
In the end, it was Huy Vu besting Wilson Tolon in heads-up play to claim the ring, $4,530 in prize money, and entry into December's RunGood All-Star Pro-Am at PokerGO Studios in Las Vegas.
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huy Vu | $4,530 |
| 2 | Wilson Tolon | $3,045 |
| 3 | Nestor Garcia | $1,795 |
| 4 | David Warady | $1,090 |
| 5 | Mike Peters | $845 |
| 6 | Thomas Marshall | $700 |
| 7 | Robert Hernandez | $605 |
| 8 | Mario Lopez | $530 |
| 9 | William Grappi | $460 |
Ed Miller busted a short-stacked early position opponent while in the cutoff when the chips got in pre-flop.
Opponent: 
Ed Miller: 
Miller joked that he had aces before showing his hand. The board came out 
and Miller took down the pot and sent his opponent to the rail. He estimated he had 58,000 chips after the hand.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
58,000 |
Dawson Dvorak doubled up in a massive pot where he flopped a set of queens and his opponent flopped a set of fives.
His opponent couldn't believe it and Dvorak was all smiles as he raked in the chips and got his stack to six digits.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
170,000
170,000
|
170,000 |
In a three-way pot on a flop of 
, the first player to act jammed and Joe Nguyen put in a call. The other player in the hand folded.
Opponent: 
Joe Nguyen: 
Both players had monsters as Nguyen had trips and his opponent had a royal flush draw. But the runout gave Nguyen a full house and sent his opponent packing.
Nguyen has had a fantastic day and appears to be the chipleader. His stack looks to be around 350,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
350,000
235,000
|
235,000 |
|
|
||
Joe Nguyen eliminated Yani Fangayen when Nguyen check-jammed from the big blind on the river on a board of 
with Fangayen covered.
Fangayen eventually called and Nguyen announced he had a straight and showed 
. Fangayen did not show but said he had an overpair.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
460,000
110,000
|
110,000 |
|
|
||
|
Busted | |
Hector Martin flat-called a three-bet from Dawson Dvorak pre-flop.
Hector Martin then got all his chips in on the flop of 
with Dvorak having him covered.
Hector Martin: 
Dawson Dvorak:
Martin had a massive lead with a set. However, the board ran out 
and Dvorak made the bigger set, sending Martin out on the money bubble
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted |
Joe Nguyen of Sunnyvale, California ended Day 1a of the RGPS Thunder Valley Golden Ticket $575 Main Event, $200K GTD with a massive stack of 563,000 after running hot throughout the day and eliminating multiple opponents in the process. He is joined by 17 other players who finished the day in the money and will move on to compete on Day 2 with the other Day 1 flights.
Dawson Dvorak ended the day second in chips with 366,000 and was followed by Ed Miller with 352,000. Other players who made it to the end of nearly eight hours of play include Bong Nguyen, Anubhav Jolly and Leonard Boltasiu.
Nguyen, who has $1.1 million in live tournament earnings, per HendonMob, built a chip lead early in the day and kept the momentum going up until the end of play. He took down one of the biggest pots of the day when he got it in with trip queens against a royal flush draw and filled up on the river. Not long after, he busted Yani Fangayen with a straight.
Hector Martin was sent home on the money bubble in a cooler where he flopped a set of jacks against the aces of Dawson Dvorak, and Dvorak spiked an ace on the river.
The Day 1a survivors will be joined by whoever is alive at the end of the Day 1b and Day 1c flights, which will respectively take place on Sept. 24 at 10 a.m. and Sept. 25 at the same time.
That wraps up the PokerNews live reporting team's coverage of Day 1a, but stay tuned as action picks up again tomorrow.
