Million Dollar Main Event | 2023 RGPS Checkpoint Thunder Valley

07-31-2023 20:38 UTC-7

Paul Sampson Eliminated in 2nd Place ($141,585)

Kirk Brown

Level 29 : Blinds 75,000/150,000, 150,000 ante

Paul Sampson moved all in preflop for his last 2,500,000 and Tyler Patterson made the call to put him at risk.

Paul Sampson: J♦3♦
Tyler Patterson: A♦8♦

The flop came out A♠5♠9♣ to give Patterson a big lead with his pair of aces, and the 9♥ on the turn locked it up for him as Sampson was left drawing dead. The 3♥ on the river was just a formality and Patterson was shipped the pot to eliminate Sampson as the runner-up.

Player	Chips	Progress
Tyler Patterson	19,080,000 6,580,000	6,580,000

Paul Sampson	Busted

Tags: Paul Sampson Tyler Patterson

07-31-2023 17:48 UTC-7

Darren Rabinowitz Eliminated in 3rd Place ($90,315)

Kirk Brown

Level 26 : Blinds 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante

After some pre-flop betting, Darren Rabinowitz moved all in for around 2,400,000 and Paul Sampson made the call to put him at risk.

Darren Rabinowitz: A♥K♦
Paul Sampson: Q♣Q♥

Rabinowitz needed some help going into this flippiest of flips, and the flop did provide him an ace, but it was followed by a queen on the board A♦2♣Q♦. The turn 2♥ improved Sampson even further to a full house and the river 9♥ completed the board to give Sampson the win while Rabinowitz was eliminated in third place.

Player	Chips	Progress
Paul Sampson	9,100,000 1,400,000	1,400,000

Darren Rabinowitz	Busted

Tags: Darren Rabinowitz Paul Sampson

07-31-2023 17:02 UTC-7

Shijia Liu Eliminated in 4th Place ($63,945)

Kirk Brown

Level 25 : Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante

Short-stacked Shijia Liu moved all in preflop for his last 400,000 and Tyler Patterson made the call to put him at risk of elimination.

Shijia Liu: J♣4♦
Tyler Patterson: J♠6♠

Liu would need a lot of help to win this one, but the flop of 6♥8♣2♦ was not his friend as it gave Patterson a pair of sixes. Liu would now need running fours or runner-runner straight to win, but the 10♦ on the turn quickly squashed those hopes to leave him drawing stone dead. The board completed with the 7♠ to awards Patterson the pot while Liu exited the tournament in fourth place.

Player	Chips	Progress
Tyler Patterson	5,150,000 3,605,000	3,605,000

Shijia Liu	Busted

Tags: Shijia Liu Tyler Patterson

07-31-2023 16:52 UTC-7

Kevin O'Donnell Eliminated in 5th Place ($49,055)

Kirk Brown

Level 25 : Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante

Kevin O'Donnell moved all in preflop and was called by chip leader Paul Sampson to put him at risk.

Kevin O'Donnell: A♦5♦
Paul Sampson: Q♣Q♠

"Oh good!" O'Donnell laughed when he saw what he was up against.

The dealer spread the flop of Q♥7♠9♦ to immediately give Sampson top set of queens to put him lightyears ahead, and the turn7♦ gave him a full house to leave O'Donnell dead in the water.

The board completed with the meaningless 5♠ and Sampson was awarded the pot while O'Donnell was eliminated in fifth place for a nice payout of $49,055.

Player	Chips	Progress
Paul Sampson	10,500,000 1,500,000	1,500,000

Kevin O'Donnell	Busted

Tags: Kevin O'Donnell Paul Sampson

07-31-2023 16:44 UTC-7

Adam Hannula Eliminated in 6th Place ($41,025)

Kirk Brown

Level 25 : Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante

Paul Sampson had made it 225,000 to go and then Adam Hannula moved all in for 880,000 total. When the action got back to him, Sampson made the call to put him at risk.

Adam Hannula: A♣Q♥
Paul Sampson: K♠J♣

Hannula was in a good spot to double up here with his superior holding, but the flop of J♦4♣J♠ heavily favored Sampson as he made trip jacks to take the lead. The turn 8♥ left Hannula drawing dead and the 5♠ completed the board to send him to the rail in sixth place.

Player	Chips	Progress
Paul Sampson	9,000,000 1,350,000	1,350,000

Adam Hannula	Busted

Tags: Adam Hannula Paul Sampson

07-31-2023 16:35 UTC-7

Phatseluck Yang Eliminated in 7th Place ($33,905

Kirk Brown

Level 25 : Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante

Phatseluck Yang moved all in preflop and after some consideration, Darren Rabinowitz made the call to put him at risk.

Phatseluck Yang: 6♠6♥
Darren Rabinowitz: A♥Q♠

Yang was ahead going into this flip, but the runout of 10♠Q♥5♦3♣2♥ gave Rabinowitz the win with his pair of queens and Yang was eliminated in seventh place.

Player	Chips	Progress
Darren Rabinowitz	4,900,000 2,140,000	2,140,000
Phatseluck Yang	Busted

Tags: Darren Rabinowitz Phatseluck Yang

07-31-2023 15:14 UTC-7

Michael Zimmer Eliminated in 8th Place ($27,040)

Kirk Brown

Level 24 : 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante

Short-stacked Michael Zimmer got the last of his chips into the middle preflop and was called by chip leader Paul Sampson to put him at risk.

Michael Zimmer: A♥6♥
Paul Sampson: A♠J♥

The board ran out 10♠10♥7♠8♣Q♥ for Sampson's ace-jack to hold and Zimmer was eliminated in eighth place.

Player	Chips	Progress
Paul Sampson	7,650,000 1,625,000	1,625,000

Michael Zimmer	Busted

Tags: Michael Zimmer Paul Sampson

07-31-2023 15:04 UTC-7

Alexander Rodriguez Eliminated in 9th Place ($21,505)

Kirk Brown

Level 24 : Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante

After losing two big pots to Paul Sampson, Alexander Rodriguez was left on fumes when he moved all in for 175,000 after a preflop open by Kevin O'Donnell.

Tyler Patterson made the call behind and O'Donnell tossed in the extra 75,000 as well.

The flop came out 7♥2♠Q♦ and action checked through to the 10♠ turn which saw another check from Patterson. O'Donnell then set out a bet of 225,000 and Patterson got out of the way.

"Two-pair," O'Donnell announced as he flipped over 7♦10♦.

"Yeah, I'm dead," Rodriguez sighed as he rolled over A♣4♣.

The river completed with the A♠ for max pain and O'Donnell was awarded the pot while Rodriquez made his way to the payout desk in 9th place as the final table's first casualty.

Player	Chips	Progress
Kevin O'Donnell	1,750,000 -105,000	-105,000
Alexander Rodriguez	Busted

Tags: Alexander Rodriguez Kevin O'Donnell Paul Sampson Tyler Patterson

07-31-2023 14:24 UTC-7

Tongzu Ding Eliminated in 10th Place ($21,505)

Kirk Brown

Level 23 : Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante

Short-stacked Tongzu Ding moved all in preflop and was called by Kevin O'Donnell to put him at risk.

Tongzu Ding: A♦Q♠
Kevin O'Donnell: 7♣7♦

Ding needed some help to catch up to O'Donnell's pocket pair, and the flop of K♠4♠8♠ gave him a sweat with a flush draw, but the runout of 2♦8♥ bricked out for him and he was eliminated in 10th place.

Player	Chips	Progress
Kevin O'Donnell	1,800,000 420,000	420,000
Tongzu Ding	Busted

Tags: Kevin O'Donnell Tongzu Ding

07-31-2023 14:02 UTC-7

Adam Dunkle Eliminated in 11th Place ($16,805)

Kirk Brown

Level 23 : Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante

Tyler Patterson opened to 80,000 from the button and was called by Adam Dunkle and Kevin O'Donnell in the blinds.

The fop came out K♣4♠2♠ and action checked around to see the Q♣ on the turn. Adam Dunkle then led out for 125,000 which resulted in a fold from O'Donnell and a call from Patterson.

On the river 4♦, Dunkle checked to Patterson who moved all in, covering him, and sent him into the tank.

After around 30 seconds, Dunkle made the call to put himself at risk but was then shown K♦K♠ for the top full house by Patterson. Dunkle groaned as he tabled the inferior Q♥10♥ and he was eliminated in 11th place.

Player	Chips	Progress
Tyler Patterson	1,750,000 950,000	950,000

Adam Dunkle	Busted

Tags: Adam Dunkle Kevin O'Donnell Tyler Patterson