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Defending Champ Arash Asadabadi Needs a Miracle on Day 1c of the RGPS Maryland Main Event
Arash Asadabadi’s title defense was one card away from ending.
Asadabadi was all in late on Day 1c of the RunGood Poker Series Golden Expedition Maryland $1,300 Main Event after flopping a set of tens, but Roie Sheskin showed him the bad news when he turned over a set of aces. Asadabadi had just one out, and he spiked the last ten on the river to make quads and earn the miraculous double up.
The defending champion, who beat out a field of 307 to win this event back in April, was one of 24 players who survived the last starting flight. He bagged up 444,000 as he pursues another championship ring tomorrow.
Day 1c Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ivan Tomic | United States | 942,000 | 118 |
| 2 | Nathan Farlow | United States | 859,000 | 107 |
| 3 | Ari Katz | United States | 744,000 | 93 |
| 4 | John Mundie | United States | 616,000 | 77 |
| 5 | Jennifer Oar | United States | 563,000 | 70 |
| 6 | Trevor Graffa | United States | 524,000 | 66 |
| 7 | Boris Kravets | United States | 501,000 | 63 |
| 8 | Joel Lanning | United States | 467,000 | 58 |
| 9 | Steven Abelman | United States | 462,000 | 58 |
| 10 | Arash Asadabadi | United States | 444,000 | 56 |
He and the rest of the field are looking up at Ivan Tomic. The Virginia native ended up atop the leaderboard with 942,000. Tomic began his ascent by knocking out an opponent with a set of sixes against two pair. Tomic, who describes himself as a semi-pro for nearly two decades, is coming off the biggest score of his career just a month ago here at MGM National Harbor when he won a $600 event at the Potomac Summer Poker Open for more than $150,000.
Nathan Farlow (859,000), Ari Katz (744,000), John Mundie (616,000), and Jennifer Oar (563,000) round out the top five. Mundie had his own miracle river during the day, spiking a king to make aces and kings and stun an opponent holding aces and nines. Joel Lanning won a classic flip with queens against Amit Kuckreja’s ace-king to burst the bubble on his way to a stack of 467,000, while Boris Kravets (501,000), Brandon Frazier (330,000), Cecil Toler (257,000), last year’s runner-up Russ Dunlevy (236,000), Nicholas Rigby (185,000), Greg Raymer (179,000), and Chadd Beatty (87,000) also made it through the day.
A packed field of 186 players came to the MGM National Harbor poker room today. Among those whose shot at the ring came to an end were Elia Ahmadian, Alexandra Loveless, Yaser Al-Keliddar, Melanie Hennigan, and Z Stein.
The total field ended up at 329 entries, with 43 players returning tomorrow for Day 2 at 12:15 p.m. local time. The remaining players are already in the money, and the official prize pool should be announced shortly after the start of play. Day 1c finished the earliest of the three flights, ending with 17 minutes remaining in Level 15 with blinds of 4,000/8,000 and an 8,000 big blind ante. The action on Day 2 will pick up at that mark, and each subsequent level will be 50 minutes. Levels will be extended to 60 minutes once the final table is reached.
The championship ring is in sight for the remaining hopefuls, and a winner will be crowned tomorrow on Day 2. PokerNews will be following the action the entire way, so stay tuned for updates.