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

Million Dollar Main Event

Day 1b Completed

07-29-2023 23:48 UTC-7

RGPS CheckPoint: Million Dollar Main Resumes Tomorrow with Day 2

Kirk Brown

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

The air was abuzz this morning as players began entering the room around 10:30 and were greeted with a black tarmac experience only found here at Thunder Valley. The staff was in full Top Gun uniform complete with bomber jackets and aviators while Jeff Platt and Hayley Hochstetler put on an incredible TV performance while Tana Karn and Ben Erwin joined in the commentary. The entire room was truly a spectacle to behold and the energy in the room was electric as “Boston” Rob Mariano announced, “Shuffle Up and Deal!”

After that, it was all business as 273 players took their seats throughout the day with 75 finding their way to a bag after ten full levels of play with a 75-minute dinner break after Level 6.

Leading the way for Day 1b after the dust settled is Ravi Udayakumar with 411,500, followed by Adam Hannula with 406,000. This puts them in third and fourth place overall when they return tomorrow for Day 2, with Paul Sampson in first (563,000) and Adam Dunkle in second (536,000), with Phatseluck Yang rounding out the top five with 388,000.

Day 1 Combined Top Ten Chip Counts

Place	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	Paul Sampson	United States	563,000	225
2	Adam Dunkle	United States	536,000	214
3	Ravi Udayakumar	United States	411,500	165
4	Adam Hannula	United States	406,000	162
5	Phatseluck Yang	United States	388,000	155
6	Daniel Turner	United States	384,000	154
7	Michael Abratique	United States	365,000	146
8	Jared Jaffee	United States	356,000	142
9	Bin Duan	United States	316,500	127
10	Aaron Overton	United States	301,000	120

Among other notables bagging up were Platt (203,000), Ethan Yau (133,000), Joey Gargiulo (100,000), and Michael Loncar (43,500).

Those who didn’t make it through the day and have missed their chance to advance include RunGood Ambassadors Lexy Gavin-Mather, Jamie Kerstetter, and Kris Burchfield.

The Return for Day 2 Tomorrow

With both opening flights in the books, Day 2 will take place Sundaty at 11 a.m. local time and will start at level 11 with blinds as 1,500/2,500 with a 2,500 big blind ante. The day will consist of another ten 60-minute levels of play before bagging up to return on Monday for Day 3.

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

Tags: Aaron Overton Adam Dunkle Adam Hannula Ben Erwin Bin Duan Daniel Turner Ethan Yau Hayley Hochstetler Jamie Kerstetter Jared Jaffee Jeff Platt Joey Gargiulo Kris Burchfield Lexy Gavin-Mather Michael Abratique Michael Loncar Paul Sampson Phatseluck Yang Ravi Udayakumar Rob Mariano Tana Karn

07-29-2023 23:35 UTC-7

Day 2 Chip Counts and Seat Draw (By Table)

Kirk Brown

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

Player	Table	Seat	Chip Count	Big Blinds
Ralph Topete	22	1	82,500	33
Alexander Rodriguez	22	2	295,000	118
Tongzu Ding	22	3	180,500	72
Jared Smith	22	4	58,000	23
Christopher Moon	22	5	124,500	50
Brett Murray	22	6	41,000	16
Richard Peterson	22	7	141,500	57
Wesley Nally	22	8	140,000	56
Cari Zieske	22	9	264,000	106

Mario Lopez	24	1	52,000	21
Jaime Haletky	24	2	75,500	30
Kevin O'Donnell	24	3	130,000	52
Adam Dunkle	24	4	536,000	214
Ravi Udayakumar	24	5	411,500	165
Thomas Riggs	24	6	106,000	42
Michael Zimmer	24	7	21,000	8
Richard Fifield	24	8	200,000	80
Girish Apte	24	9	150,000	60

James Thompson	25	1	26,500	11
Beau Winn	25	2	186,500	75
Gregory Flowers	25	3	104,500	42
John Kenner	25	4	295,500	118
Jasvinder Singh	25	5	215,500	86
Jason Stoddard	25	6	71,000	28
Tao Qin	25	7	83,000	33
Reginald Pears	25	8	132,000	53
Ariel Reid	25	9	137,500	55

Jeffrey Day	26	1	92,000	37
Rahul Lal	26	2	142,500	57
Kao Saechao	26	3	50,500	20
Quyen Hoang	26	4	42,000	17
Paul Arguelles	26	5	122,500	49
Yotam Shmuelov	26	6	244,000	98
Mehran Moeinzadeh	26	7	179,500	72
Benjamin Ludlow	26	8	97,000	39
Aaron Overton	26	9	301,000	120
				0
Pierce Mckellar	27	1	165,500	66
Ethan Yau	27	2	133,000	53
Zephyr Peling	27	3	47,000	19
Scott Mataya	27	4	283,500	113
Jagdeep Bal	27	5	101,500	41
Jeffrey Spruitenburg	27	6	148,000	59
Ekrem Bozkurt	27	7	24,500	10
Jeffrey Beachy	27	8	82,500	33
Adam Hannula	27	9	406,000	162

Wook Kim	28	1	185,500	74
Phatseluck Yang	28	2	388,000	155
Fudong Li	28	4	40,000	16
Joe Toney	28	5	44,000	18
Jason Bundy	28	6	115,000	46
Maziar Keshavarzi	28	7	89,000	36
Richard Green Jr	28	8	163,000	65
Michael Riddle	28	9	102,500	41

George Waller	29	1	132,500	53
Stephen Song	29	2	218,000	87
Ubaid Gada	29	3	68,500	27
Miralem Mujkic	29	4	194,000	78
Tyler Patterson	29	5	28,000	11
Darren Rabinowitz	29	6	127,000	51
Bin Duan	29	7	316,500	127
Daniel Harmetz	29	8	100,000	40
Joseph Quaile	29	9	198,000	79

James Schipsi	30	1	106,500	43
Jerome Dean	30	2	82,500	33
Naga Kakumanu	30	3	192,500	77
[Removed:420]	30	4	22,000	9
Paul Sampson	30	5	563,000	225
Daniel Turner	30	6	384,000	154
Damion Underwood	30	7	59,000	24
Timothy Lin	30	8	164,000	66
Benjamin Underwood	30	9	124,500	50

David Miller	31	1	210,000	84
Nicholas Quazzo	31	2	224,500	90
Abraham Hichman	31	3	70,500	28
Robert Mather	31	4	172,000	69
Allen Kessler	31	5	48,500	19
Timon Rooney	31	6	127,500	51
Marcelo Carvalho	31	7	117,000	47
Ryan Bechthold	31	8	80,500	32
				0
Arish Nat	32	1	110,000	44
Feiyue Wu	32	2	226,500	91
James Minghini	32	3	36,000	14
Daniel Martin	32	4	165,000	66
Joseph Mussat	32	5	264,500	106
Joseph Blackwell	32	6	204,000	82
Abraham Tannous	32	7	58,000	23
Roman Shainiuk	32	8	108,000	43
Mingzhe Li	32	9	102,500	41

Deven Cannon	33	1	122,500	49
Michael Abratique	33	2	365,000	146
Ronald Falcon	33	3	48,500	19
Albert Sanchez Jr	33	4	178,500	71
Jared Jaffee	33	5	356,000	142
Asmare Bekalu	33	6	46,500	19
Francis Anderson	33	7	101,000	40
Kelly Mayhugh	33	8	94,500	38
Abrahim Aboukhalil	33	9	206,500	83

Ray Villaman Jr	36	1	178,000	71
Jeffrey Platt	36	2	203,000	81
Dawson Dvorak	36	3	54,000	22
Steven Ritchie	36	4	220,500	88
Joseph Gargiulo	36	5	100,000	40
Stephen Kujubu	36	6	100,500	40
Jesse Lonis	36	7	47,500	19
Steve Numoto	36	8	240,500	96
Shijia Liu	36	9	133,500	53

Alejandro Castellano	41	1	106,000	42
Pedro Rodriguez	41	2	66,000	26
Anthony Hernandez	41	3	239,000	96
Michael Loncar	41	4	43,500	17
Man Pham	41	5	88,000	35
Peter Dirksen	41	6	294,500	118
Primo Acoba	41	7	162,000	65
Jonathan Epstein	41	8	207,000	83
Stanislav Kriventsov	41	9	120,000	48

Thu Tran	43	1	204,000	82
Sean Drake	43	2	273,500	109
Matthew Kramer	43	3	135,000	54
Exequiel Fernando	43	4	63,500	25
Curtis Kowalk	43	5	58,000	23
Jonathan Wang	43	6	78,000	31
Anubhav Jolly	43	7	106,500	43
Gregory Pincombe	43	8	187,000	75
Adam Miller	43	9	284,500	114

Player	Chips	Progress
Paul Sampson	563,000

Adam Dunkle	536,000
Ravi Udayakumar	411,500

Adam Hannula	406,000
Phatseluck Yang	388,000
Daniel Turner	384,000
Michael Abratique	365,000
Jared Jaffee	356,000

Bin Duan	316,500
Aaron Overton	301,000
John Kenner	295,500
Alexander Rodriguez	295,000
Peter Dirksen	294,500
Adam Miller	284,500
Scott Mataya	283,500
Sean Drake	273,500

Joseph Mussat	264,500
Cari Zieske	264,000
Yotam Shmuelov	244,000
Steve Numoto	240,500
Anthony Hernandez	239,000
Feiyue Wu	226,500
Nicholas Quazzo	224,500
Steven Ritchie	220,500
Stephen Song	218,000

Read full

07-29-2023 23:23 UTC-7

End of Day; Players Bagged and Tagged (full)

Kirk Brown

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

The play has ended for the day and the following 76 players have bagged up to return tomorrow to regroup with the surviving members of Day 1a and battle it out in Day 2.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ravi Udayakumar	411,500 208,000	208,000

Adam Hannula	406,000 170,500	170,500
Phatseluck Yang	388,000 185,500	185,500
Daniel Turner	384,000 232,000	232,000
Michael Abratique	365,000 62,000	62,000
Bin Duan	316,500 11,500	11,500
Aaron Overton	301,000 44,500	44,500
John Kenner	295,500 80,500	80,500
Sean Drake	273,500 109,500	109,500

Cari Zieske	264,000 127,000	127,000
Anthony Hernandez	239,000 33,500	33,500
Feiyue Wu	226,500 132,500	132,500
Nicholas Quazzo	224,500 71,500	71,500
Steven Ritchie	220,500 5,500	5,500
David Miller	210,000 48,500	48,500
Jonathan Epstein	207,000 -99,000	-99,000
Joseph Blackwell	204,000 -17,500	-17,500
Jeff Platt	203,000 128,500	128,500
Joseph Quaile	198,000 80,500	80,500
Gregory Pincombe	187,000 32,000	32,000
Beau Winn	186,500 -22,500	-22,500
Wook Kim	185,500 140,500	140,500
Tongzu Ding	180,500 55,000	55,000
Mehran Moeinzadeh	179,500 37,500	37,500
Albert Sanchez Jr	178,500 77,000	77,000

Read full

07-29-2023 22:55 UTC-7

Final 5 Hands

Kirk Brown

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

The Tournament Director has instructed the dealers to deal 5 more hands before players will bag for the night

07-29-2023 22:47 UTC-7

Prize Pool and Payouts Announced: $200,422 for the Winner!

Kirk Brown

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

With registration for this event officially closed, 477 total entries for this event created a prize pool of $1,064,187 to pay out 72 spots with a grand prize of $200,422 and a min-cash of $3,245.

Place	Payout	Place	Payout
1	$200,422	13-15	$13,440
2	$141,585	16-18	$11,205
3	$90,315	19-21	$9,460
4	$63,945	22-24	$7,855
5	$49,055	25-27	$6,695
6	$41,025	28-36	$5,565
7	$33,905	37-45	$4,840
8	$27,040	46-54	$4,245
9-10	$21,505	55-63	$3,695
11-12	$16,805	64-72	$3,245

07-29-2023 22:36 UTC-7

Only the Nuts for Abratique

Kirk Brown

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

Michael Abratique made it 15,000 to go from the small blind and was called by Joshua Prager to see a flop of 9♥5♣K♥.

Prager continued for 12,000 and Abratique quickly called to see the 3♣ appear on the turn. Prager fired again for a large sizing of 25,000 and Abratique paused for a few seconds before he tossed in the call.

The river came the J♥ and Prager decided to slow down and check to Abratique, who then moved all in to cover. Prager shook his head and promptly folded, at which point Abratique showed the table Q♥10♥ for an impressive straight flush on the river.

Player	Chips	Progress
Michael Abratique	303,000 81,500	81,500
Joshua Prager	36,000 -109,000	-109,000

Tags: Joshua Prager Michael Abratique

07-29-2023 22:20 UTC-7

RunGood Poker Series (RGPS) Announces New Theme & Dates for Upcoming Season

Kirk Brown

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

The RunGood Poker Series (RGPS) is currently at Thunder Valley in Northern California to wrap up its Checkpoint season. While there, the three-time GPI Award winner for “Best Mid-Major Poker Tour” announced a new theme, new dates, and new rings for the second half of 2023.

"We're prepping for a massively fun upcoming season as we continue to qualify players to the Dream Seat Invitational," said Tana Karn, President at RunGood. "Our team is ready to deliver a best mid-major experience to close out the year!"

The 2023 RunGood Dream Seat™ Invitational is an invite-only event at Thunder Valley Casino Resort on November 29th. 2023 RunGood Poker Series ring winners will be eligible to buy in to the $300 No Limit Hold'em event where PokerGO will be awarding an added entry to the PGT Championship $1,000,000 Freeroll to first place.

The PGT Championship $1,000,000 Freeroll will be open to the top 40 players on the PGT leaderboard, along with a select group of "Dream Seat" winners to be awarded in special events throughout the year. Last year, only the top 21 ranked players were eligible to compete.

On top of returning to many beloved stops for the remainder of 2023 in the new “Road Trip” season, the tour will expand to new stops in Baltimore, Maryland and St. Louis, Missouri.

Each tour stop will host signature RunGood events and giveaway items celebrating the season's theme. With buy-ins designed to suit all budgets, the RGPS offers an inclusive environment to experience the world of tournament poker.

Level: 10

Blinds: 1,000/2,000

Ante: 2,000

07-29-2023 22:06 UTC-7