$800 Main Event
Day 1ab Completed
2023 RGPS Graton Casino
$800 Main Event
Day: 1ab
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1ab
2023 RGPS Graton Casino
Buy-in
$800
Prize Pool
$730,100
Entries
1,043
Level
30
Blinds
150,000 / 300,000
Ante
300,000
Entries
393
Players Left
50
Rodriguez Leads The First Two Flights; Lowery, Stanford, and Johnson Bag Big
Level 16
: Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
A total of 236 players came out for the first flight of The RunGood Poker Series Graton Casino $800 Main Event in Rohnert Park, California, ensuring that 30 players from that flight would find their way to a bag and come back on Sunday March 5th. The following flight saw 157 entrants come out, making way for 20 players to bag and already the prize pool has amassed $275,100. Given the guarantee was set at $250,000, the prizepool is expected to be massive as the following two flights kick off tomorrow at 11 AM and 5 PM.
Leading the field with the only bag over 600,000 is Day 1a’s chip leader Noel Rodriguez who ended his flight with 799,000. Rodriguez is no stranger to the RunGood Poker Series, as he holds a RGPS ring of his own, as well as tournament lifetime earnings that are well over $200,000. A main event run deep run seemed in the cards for Rodriguez as his ace-three cracked his opponent’s ace-jack, which was followed by a massive spin up of chips that had him tripling his stack within minutes. With his bag, he could be setting himself for his first RGPS Main Event title in this massive field.
Jonathan Warta (577,000),Daniel Lowery (576,000) and recent RGPS PLO champion Cody Stanford (507,000) also bagged over 500,000. Lowery and Stanford possess numerous RGPS accolades, with Lowery holding more tour titles than anyone else. Their massive chip stacks going into the final day bode well for their chances of more RGPS big titles.
Day 1ab Top Ten Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Noel Rodriguez | 799,000 |
| 2 | Jonathan Warta | 577,000 |
| 3 | Daniel Lowery | 576,000 |
| 4 | Cody Stanford | 507,000 |
| 5 | Tomas Padilla | 500,000 |
| 6 | Marco Johnson | 418,000 |
| 7 | Danny Jon | 417,000 |
| 8 | Ekasit Aroonrungrudsamee | 416,000 |
| 9 | Peter Pap | 412,000 |
| 10 | Rickey Evans | 357,000 |
Tomas Padilla (500,000) ended up bagging the chip lead of Day 1b after a late night clash with Kyle Kitagawa saw his pocket fives hold against Kittigawa’s ace queen. After that, the eliminations went quickly and Alex Loncar (322,000) sent home the final player of the night when her queens held up to make the flight bag up prior to hand for hand play. WSOP bracelet winner Marco Johnson (417,000) played many pots late at night to give him a massive stack, making him the only player bagging up with a WSOP bracelet. Others that found bags in these first two flights included Rickey Evans (357,000), Julian Ruvalcaba (317,000), Taylor Pollard (312,000), Bill Murray (193,000) and Bilguun Odgerel (79,000).
The days were not kind to everyone as many players fell by the wayside. Players like Michael Loncar, Josh Prager, Ian Steinman, Shirin Oksooi, and Lon McEachern all will have to look to tomorrow’s flights in the hopes to bag up for the massive prize pool. Play ended with 15:16 left in Level 15 with blinds at 4,000/8,000 and an 8,000 big blind ante.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for all updates regarding The RunGood Poker Series at Graton Casino in Rohnert Park, California. Also be sure to check out the concurrently running RunGood Poker Series at Horseshoe Casino in Tunica, Mississippi.
Day 1ab Chip Counts (full)
Level 16
: Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
799,000 | |
|
577,000 | |
|
576,000 | |
|
507,000 | 507,000 |
|
500,000 | 7,000 |
|
418,000 | -175,000 |
|
417,000 | 417,000 |
|
|
416,000 | |
|
412,000 | |
|
357,000 | 274,000 |
|
|
355,000 | 355,000 |
|
|
355,000 | |
|
330,000 | |
|
322,000 | -23,000 |
|
313,000 | |
|
312,000 | 214,000 |
|
259,000 | 259,000 |
|
|
255,000 | |
|
|
245,000 | 245,000 |
|
222,000 | |
|
|
221,000 | 221,000 |
|
|
221,000 | |
|
|
196,000 | 196,000 |
|
194,000 | |
|
193,000 | 193,000 |
Padilla Knocks Out Kittigawa; Play Ended For The Night
Level 16
: Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
Blinds: 4,000/8,000, Ante 8,000
Action was picked up with cards on their back with a pot containing over 300,000.
Tomas Padilla: 
Kyle Kittigawa: 
The board ran out 
and the board gave Padilla a set of fives.
A flurry of bustouts followed immediately after and the players were brought down to a field of 20 within less than three minutes.
Stay tuned for full chip counts and a recap soon to follow.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
493,000 | |
|
|
Busted |
Johnson Flops A Set
Level 16
: Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
Blinds 3,000/6,000 Ante 6,000
Action was picked up in a sizable pot on the turn between Marco Johnson on the button, and Rahul Laal in first position.
With a board reading 
, Laal checked to Johnson who bet 31,000 and Laal called.
The river brought the 
and Laal checked to Johnson who bet 64,000 and Laal went into the tank. After some thought he put in the call and Johnson turned over 
for a set of queens.
Laal mucked his hand and the two-time WSOP bracelet winner raked in a pot as he became one of the late night chip leaders.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
593,000 | 593,000 |
|
|
35,000 | -159,000 |
Loncar Ascending The Counts
Level 16
: Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
Blinds: 3,000/5,000 Ante: 5,000
Alex Loncar raised to 10,000 in middle position while a player in late position called. Action folded over to the cutoff where a player moved all in for 73,000 which saw Loncar move all in to isolate and her opponent folded.
Opponent: 
Alex Loncar: 
The flop of 
provided some sweats for the pocket jacks in the form of a flush draw, but the turn and river 
ensured the jacks a win and Loncar found herself rising up the chip counts late in the night.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
345,000 | 277,000 |
Ling Cracks Kings For The Biggest Pot Of The Flight
Level 16
: Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
Blinds: 3,000/5,000 Ante 5,000
A player opened to 10,000 from the hijack, which saw action fold around to the Andrew Ling in the small blind who three-bet to 25,000. Action went back to the hijack who four-bet to 55,000 and Ling called.
The flop came out 
and Ling check-called a bet of 25,000 from his opponent.
Ling checked again on the turn and his opponent moved all in for 110,000 and Ling snap-called.
Opponent: 
Andrew Ling: 
The river gave Ling quads, sending the biggest pot of the night into his possession as the flight grew closer to its close.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
435,000 | 142,000 |
Break
Level 16
: Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
Players on a 15-minute break.
Laal Wins With Big Slack
Level 16
: Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
Blinds: 2,000/4,000 Ante 4,000
A player in the hijack moved all in for 39,000 which was called by the button and in the big blind Rahul Laal moved all in, which saw the button fold.
Opponent: 
Rahul Laal: 
The board ran out 
and Laal further improved to a flush to see his chip stack rise as the night went on.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
194,000 | 194,000 |
Assorted Chip Counts
Level 16
: Blinds 5,000/10,000, 10,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
293,000 | 293,000 |
|
|
98,000 | 71,000 |
|
|
93,000 | |
|
|
83,000 | -52,000 |
|
|
68,000 | -27,000 |
|
24,000 | -41,000 |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted |