button in SafariPhuong Ta Leads the Race to the Ring on Day 2 of the RGPS Jacksonville Main Event
The championship ring awaits when Day 2 of the RunGood Poker Series Golden Expedition Jacksonville $1,200 Main Event begins at noon local time.
Phuong Ta leads the 50 players who return for the event’s final day. He starts with a massive stack of 690,000, while local bestbet dealer Sean Etheridge follows behind him with 649,000. Mary Darnell (571,000), WPT champion Josh Adkins (551,000), and Grant Palmer (550,000) round out the top five.
Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Phuong Ta | United States | 690,000 | 173 |
| 2 | Sean Etheridge | United States | 649,000 | 162 |
| 3 | Mary Darnell | United States | 571,000 | 143 |
| 4 | Josh Adkins | United States | 551,000 | 138 |
| 5 | Grant Palmer | United States | 550,000 | 138 |
| 6 | Sandro Sa | Brazil | 462,000 | 116 |
| 7 | Johnny Landreth | United States | 415,000 | 104 |
| 8 | Corey Major | United States | 384,000 | 96 |
| 9 | Sokol Curri | United States | 362,000 | 91 |
| 10 | David Greufe | United States | 337,000 | 84 |
Other players returning on Day 2 include Corey Major (384,000), Caleb Powell (297,000), Andrew Difeo (285,000), 2024 runner-up Ricky Patel (262,000), and Blake Ellinghaus (184,000), who won the WPT bestbet Scramble here in September. Edward Mroczkowski (144,000), 2023 champion Antwan Prince (127,000), and Kelley Slay (115,000) are further down the leaderboard.
They are also two husband-wife teams still in contention, including Katerina Lukina (281,000) and Chris Conrad (59,000), as well as Mike Scalice (206,000) and his wife, Shannon (85,000).
A total of 394 players came to bestbet Jacksonville over three starting flights, building a prize pool of $409,760. The remaining 50 players are already in the money and guaranteed at least a min-cash of $2,067, while the eventual champion will take home $82,624 and the RunGood championship ring.
Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $82,624 | 11-12 | $6,627 |
| 2 | $55,081 | 13-14 | $5,387 |
| 3 | $40,486 | 15-16 | $4,437 |
| 4 | $30,118 | 17-20 | $3,704 |
| 5 | $22,680 | 21-24 | $3,135 |
| 6 | $17,290 | 25-32 | $2,690 |
| 7 | $13,347 | 33-40 | $2,341 |
| 8 | $10,434 | 41-50 | $2,067 |
| 9-10 | $8,262 |
Action picks up on Day 2 with 13 minutes remaining in Level 14, with blinds of 2,000/4,000 and a 4,000 big blind ante. Each subsequent level will be 40 minutes long, before being reduced to 30 minutes once heads-up play is reached. The final table will be streamed on bestbet’s official YouTube channel.
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Stay tuned as PokerNews follows all the action and provides live updates what what promises to be a thrilling conclusion here in sunny Florida.