William Kemp was all in from the small blind, at risk against William Willman in the big blind.
William Kemp: 9♦8♦ 
William Willman: A♥K♦
Kemp was looking for help, but found none on the Q♣2♣2♥5♣Q♥ board. Willman collected the pot, as Kemp was sent to the rail.
The final flight of the week is off to a fast start, as more than 60 entries have already been recorded in the first two levels.
This is the last chance to earn a spot in Day 2, and late registration goes until the start of Level 9.
Michael Esquivel opened to 4,000 in early position before Saeed Nia slid out a three-bet to 11,500 as next to act. Action folded back around to Esquivel, who moved all in.
Nia made the call for his stack of 57,500, and the cards were turned up.
Saeed Nia: K♣K♦
Michael Esquivel: A♠K♠
Nia faced no danger on the 8♠8♣5♣4♥4♦ runout, as his pocket kings held to double through Esquivel.
The largest flight of the week saw 120 entries, bringing the overall total to 472 through five flights. That has seen the prize pool climb above $330,000, with the final flight just getting underway.
Action will continue on Day 1e until just 15 players remain, earning a spot in Monday's finale.
Level: 10
Blinds: 1,000/2,000
Ante: 2,000
Sean Whelan opened to 3,000 in the hijack, and Richard Moscardelli made the call as next to act. Jon Swift took a moment in the big blind before three-betting to 13,500.
Whelan let his hand go, while Moscardelli made the call and was at risk.
Richard Moscardelli: 10♣10♦
Jon Swift: A♣A♦
Moscardelli stood up after seeing the bad news, and the 4♦8♥2♠5♠K♠ board was no help as Swift collected the chips.
Vernon Langston led out for 3,000 on the 6♦3♦6♣ flop from under the gun, and Ray Parker called in the hijack. Devon Sturges raised to 12,000 on the button, and Langston let his hand go.
Parker called to the 2♥ turn, and checked to Sturges. After taking a moment, Sturges fired 18,000 into the middle. Parker slid out 30,000 chips, which was deemed a raise to 36,000.
Sturges sent his cards into the muck, and Parker collected the pot.
Saeed Nia moved all in for 23,500 in middle position, and Brandon Metcalf shoved for more on the button. The rest of the table got out of the way, leaving Nia at risk heads up.
Saeed Nia: 8♠8♣
Brandon Metcalf: 7♣7♦
Both players revealed pocket pairs, and Nia held on the 5♥K♣10♣Q♠J♦ runout to earn the double-up.
It has been a day of celebration at The Barrel Social Club, as the $250,000 guarantee was easily exceeded before play began in Day 1e this morning. From there, the next number on everyone's mind was the record for a poker prize pool in the state of Kentucky.
Chief Executive Officer Matt Vaughan spoke to PokerNews shortly after that mark was met, sharing some history of the previous record.
"The Barrel has been kind of the leader in the tournament space in Kentucky for a while," Vaughan explained. "We were the first to really put up significant guarantees and prioritize tournament players. We put up our first $100K guarantee in 2024, and we kind of stayed at that level for a while. But then recently back in May, we had a $150K guarantee Memorial Day multi-flight, and it was a stand-alone event, didn't have a series around it. We absolutely obliterated that prize pool with $283K. So to come in and put up a $250K guarantee was a really big deal for us, super ambitious."
The $800 RunGood Main Event this week quickly climbed past the $300,000 mark, setting a new benchmark for the state with the final flight still to be played.
"I think it's easy to think about the record as just a number, but what it means for us here as, you know, a newer room in Kentucky to have our regulars coming out and supporting RunGood events like this, as well as RunGood regulars who are on the road and coming out and supporting a room like ours that has never had a mid-major tour with it. It means a lot to me personally to have that trust of the community."
"As clubs in Kentucky have gotten more normalized, we've started to see a lot of growth, both on the cash game side but especially on the tournament side. We've kind of been leading with these bigger initiatives, these bigger guarantees, and of course partnerships like with RunGood. So it's been really incredible, especially over the last year and a half or so, to see just how many more people are willing to come out to an event like this one."
Vaughan's experience with the RunGood Poker Series extends back to his time on the felt, and he is already looking ahead to continuing the partnership in the future.
"I had watched them personally as a player from afar. They didn't really come into the parts of the country that I was living in up until relatively recently. I attended my first RunGood event maybe like eight months ago, I had an absolute blast and it was everything that was advertised. It's about fun in poker, not just the money, and the people as well, which is kind of what we're all about here at The Barrel. So I think it's a perfect partnership and I'm super excited already to start planning the next one."
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