RunGood Regular, Prelim Ring Winner Welko Among Day 1b Survivors
Day 1b's dust has settled at RunGood Grand Prix Caesars Southern Indiana $800 Main Event, and eight more players have punched tickets to Day 2 to join the six Day 1a survivors. Familiar RunGood face Craig Welko was among them, finishing second with 428,000.
The St. Louis native just scooped his first RunGood ring with a win in a Thursday preliminary event, pocketing $9,082. Welko has two other RunGood final tables to his credit. He was the beneficiary of a large late cooler when he was dealt pocket aces against kings to burst the bubble and send everyone home for the night.
The only player who finished ahead of Welko was Bryan Russell. His 577,000 is good for the overall lead, just ahead of Travis Rodgers, who had 558,500 on Day 1a.
The 64 entries on Day 1b push the two-flight total to 114.
Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bryan Russell | United States | 577,000 | 96 |
| 2 | Travis Rodgers | United States | 558,500 | 93 |
| 3 | Brad Butcher | United States | 310,000 | 52 |
| 4 | JJ Kuchenmeister | United States | 230,000 | 38 |
| 5 | Alan Percal | United States | 202,000 | 34 |
| 6 | Craig Welko | United States | 196,000 | 33 |
| 7 | Jim Decker | United States | 180,000 | 30 |
| 8 | Chad Hunt | United States | 148,000 | 25 |
| 9 | Jon Howard | United States | 144,000 | 24 |
| 10 | George Durham | United States | 140,000 | 23 |
Two more starting flights remain, each scheduled for Saturday. Day 1c will begin at 11 a.m., while the 1d flight is at 6 p.m. PokerNews will be on hand again for more live updates as RunGood Poker Series continues to establish a new stop at Caesars Southern Indiana.