Million Dollar Main Event Day 1a | 2023 RGPS Checkpoint Thunder Valley

07-28-2023 23:56 UTC-7

Sampson Leads Day 1a into Day 2 of RGPS Million Dollar Main!

Kirk Brown

Level 10 : Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

The first of two opening flights in the biggest RunGood Poker event of the year is in the books with Paul Sampson bagging the lead with 536,000. Sampson took the chip lead early on and remained there for almost the entire day. Close on his heels is Adam Dunkle who ended the day with 536,000 and behind him is Jared Jaffee with 356,000. Rounding out the top five is Alexander Rodriguez and Peter Dirksen with 295,000 and 294,500, respectively.

Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts

Place	Player	Chip Count	Country	Big Blinds
1	Paul Sampson	563,000	United States	225
2	Adam Dunkle	536,000	United States	214
3	Jared Jaffee	356,000	United States	142
4	Alexander Rodriguez	295,000	United States	118
5	Peter Dirksen	294,500	United States	118
6	Adam Miller	284,500	United States	114
7	Scott Mataya	283,500	United States	113
8	Joseph Mussat	264,500	United States	106
9	Yotam Shmuelov	244,000	United States	98
10	Steve Numoto	240,500	United States	96

205 players took their seats throughout the day with 49 finding their way to a bag after ten levels of play with a 75-minute dinner break after Level 6.

Among other notables bagging up were Stephen Song (218,000), Darren Rabinowitz (127,000), Ben Ludlow (97,000), and last year’s winner Brett Murray and runner-up Tyler Patterson will return with 41,000 and 28,000.

Those who didn’t make it through the day but can come back again tomorrow include RunGood Ambassadors [B[PLAYER="rob-mariano"]]"Boston" Rob Mariano[/PLAYER][/B] who busted just before bagging, Lexy Gavin-Mather, Jamie Kerstetter, and Kris Burchfield.

Another Opening Flight Saturday

With one successful opening flight in the books, the second will take place Saturday at 11 a.m. local time with an even bigger field expected that will send the prize pool past its $1,000,000 guarantee.

Players will again have two entries available to them throughout the day with late registration closing at the start of Level 9.

Stay tuned to PokerNews for continued coverage from the beautiful Thunder Valley Casino Resort until a CheckPoint Champion is crowned on Monday.

Tags: Adam Dunkle Adam Miller Alexander Rodriguez Ben Ludlow Brett Murray Darren Rabinowitz Jamie Kerstetter Jared Jaffee Joseph Mussat Kris Burchfield Lexy Gavin-Mather Paul Sampson Peter Dirksen Rob Mariano Scott Mataya Stephen Song Steve Numoto Tyler Patterson Yotam Shmuelov

07-28-2023 20:42 UTC-7

Song's Saving Ace

Kirk Brown

Level 8 : Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante

On a multi-way flop of 10♣10♦6♦, after a bet was made of 6,000, Stephen Song check-raised all in for 24,900 and was called by Aaron Overton to put him at risk.

Stephen Song: A♦5♦
Aaron Overton: Q♣Q♠

Overton was ahead with his queens, but the runout of 6♥A♠ gave Song the ace on the river to win the pot for a double-up to 69,500 while Overton was now left with only 15,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Stephen Song	69,500 4,500	4,500

Aaron Overton	15,000 -68,700	-68,700

Tags: Aaron Overton Stephen Song

07-28-2023 20:05 UTC-7

Mariano Survives the Runout

Kirk Brown

Level 8 : Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante

After raising it up to 2,400, "Boston" Rob Mariano went to a flop of A♥3♦8♥ along with 3 other players. The action then checked to him and he continued for another 2,400 which resulted in two folds but then the big blind check-raised all in for 13,000.

Mariano quickly made the call to put his opponent at risk and the cards were tabled.

Big Blind: K♥7♥
Rob Mariano: A♣Q♥

Mariano had the upper hand with his top pair of aces but still needed to fade any heart for a flush. Luckily for him, the board ran out 7♣2♦ for his pair to hold and he was awarded the pot while his opponent tapped the table and headed to the exit.

Player	Chips	Progress
Rob Mariano	110,000 52,000	52,000

Tags: Rob Mariano

07-28-2023 14:27 UTC-7

Nguyen Busts Who??

Kirk Brown

Level 4 : 300/500, 500 ante

On a heads-up turn of 7♦2♦7♠J♥, Joe Nguyen led out for 2,000 into the pot of 11,000 and the player in the lojack made the call. The player on the button then bumped it up to 6,000 and Nguyen made the call, but then the lojack moved all in for 66,000.

The button got out of the way and Nguyen only hesitated for a few seconds before making the call to put his opponent at risk.

Opponent: 2♥2♣
Joe Nguyen: 7♥8♦

Nguyen had a strong hand with trip sevens, but his opponent already had him beat with his flopped full house of deuces full. Miraculously, the 7♣ smacked on the river to give Nguyen quads and sent his opponent to the rail as he rocketed up to 150,000.

"Wow, yeah, I really thought he just had ace-jack of diamonds," Nguyen admitted as he stacked his new chips.

In a wild twist, the "opponent" turned out to be WSOP sideline reporter and PokerGO legendary commentator and all-around good guy, Jeff Platt. Let the record also show that Platt was a good sport and gave Nguyen a fist bump before making his way to the exit.

Player	Chips	Progress
Joe Nguyen	150,000 106,500	106,500
Jeff Platt	Busted

Tags: Jeff Platt Joe Nguyen

07-28-2023 10:30 UTC-7

Checkpoint: The Last Kilometer $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em $1,000,000 Season Finale Kicks Off Today

Kirk Brown

It's a great weekend here at beautiful Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Lincoln California, just north of Sacramento, as the RunGood Poker Series wraps up its 2023 season with the Checkpoint: The Last Kilometer $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em $1,000,000 Season Finale. This is the second time the tour has run a seven-figure guaranteed tournament, due to the huge success last year at this same location.

The $2,500 buy-in tournament begins at 11:00 a.m. today, and the excitement around the casino has been palpable all week as huge fields in side events and satellites have turned the Thunder Valley poker room into the epicenter of poker in California.

As it is their biggest event of the season, the RunGood team has spared no expense and pulled out all the stops to make this event truly feel as big as it is, including a pregame show that will take place before cards go into the air on Saturday for Day 1b.

When play begins, entrants will start the day with 40,000 chips at blind levels of 100/200 with a 200 big blind ante. Eight 60-minute levels will be played on the two opening days, Friday and Sunday, with 15-minute breaks every two levels.

Ten more 60-minute levels are scheduled for Day 2 on Sunday, with Monday’s Day 3 seeing play continue until a player is awarded a huge payout and crowned the Checkpoint Champion. The winner will also be awarded a RunGood Poker Series Dream Seat Entry for a chance at the $1 million freeroll at PokerGo Studio later this year. Last year's winner, Brett Murray, took home an impressive $172,835 along with the prestigious RunGood ring after defeating Tyler Patterson heads-up.

Players will be allowed one re-entry on each of the opening flights, with registration closing at the start of Level 9, so a maximum of four bullets ($10,000)can be fired into the event.

Stay tuned to PokerNews, as our live reporting team is on-site to provide updates on all the action until a champion is crowned on Monday.

Tags: Brett Murray Tyler Patterson