With just over 14 minutes left on the clock in Day 1c of The RunGood Poker Series Checkpoint $600 Main Event at Jamul Casino in San Diego, California, the hand for hand play ended after just one hand, leaving a total of 18 players to bag up from the 140 that started the day. The total number of entrants in the tournament tallied up to 533, which created a prize pool of $277,160 and made a first place prize of $52,820.
The final flight finished up with Rip Fritzer taking the chip lead with 477,000. Fritzer won many of his chips in a big preflop clash where he held ace-queen against pocket queens and pocket kings. An ace-high flop put him in the position to triple through his opponents and he kept soaring after that clash. With $232,655 in lifetime earnings, a chip lead through his flight puts him in prime position for a deep run into the Main Event, for potentially his first RGPS ring.
Day 1c Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Hometown | Chip Count |
|---|
| 1 | Rip Fritzer | El Alpine, CA | 443,000 |
| 2 | Afzal Atta | San Marcos, CA | 439,000 |
| 3 | Noah Howard | San Diego, CA | 394,000 |
| 4 | Anastasia Knapp | San Diego, CA | 366,000 |
| 5 | Dan Duong | San Diego, CA | 321,000 |
| 6 | Sandor Molnar | San Diego, CA | 304,000 |
| 7 | Charlie Tang | San Diego, CA | 286,000 |
| 8 | Sinan Shathaya | San Diego, CA | 277,000 |
| 9 | Lillian Allen | San Diego, CA | 277,000 |
| 10 | Oscar King | San Diego, CA | 272,000 |
Others who found their way into this last flight included Anastasia Knapp (366,000), Sandor Molnar (304,000) and Vidhi Seem (187,000), all of whom are looking for their first RGPS title. Fortunes were not as favorable to players like Garry Gates, Ken Douglas, Alexei Racilla, John Stanley, Daniel Hughes, and Daniel Davies. Their hopes for a RGPS main event title will have to come at another stop.
Play ended with 14 minutes left in Level 15 with blinds at 4,000/8,000 and an 8,000 big blind ante. The blinds will shift from thirty minute levels to forty minute levels with 15-minute breaks after every three levels. Play will continue down until a winner is crowned at the end of the day.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for all updates regarding The RGPS Checkpoint Jamul Casino $600 Main Event.
Tags:
Afzal AttaAlexei RacillaAnastasia KnappCharlie TangDan DuongDaniel DaviesDaniel HughesEl AlpineGarry GatesJohn StanleyKen DouglasLillian AllenNoah HowardOscar KingRip FritzerSan DiegoSan MarcosSandor MolnarSinan ShathayaVidhi Seem
gave Tang a flush draw, while the 
turn gave Magers a flush draw as well. Both players had near identical stacks so half of the deck would ensure that the other one was eliminated or very nearly. 
gave Tang the flush and Magers slammed his hat on the ground as he exited the tournament area, while the other 18 players all bagged up for the night. 
