button in SafariAmbassador Carl Masters Runs Away With the Chip Lead on Day 1a of the RGPS Southern Indiana Main Event
Carl Masters is affectionately known around here as “Uncle Johnny.” He got another title today: the overwhelming chip leader on Day 1a of the RunGood Golden Expedition Southern Indiana $800 Main Event.
The RunGood ambassador bagged a massive stack of 565,000 as five players out of 46 entries survived the event’s opening flight. Masters is more than 250,000 ahead of the rest of the field.
Day 1a Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carl Masters | United States | 565,000 | 71 |
| 2 | Dylan Stanfield | United States | 307,000 | 38 |
| 3 | Ken Ware | United States | 230,000 | 29 |
| 4 | Patty Till | United States | 152,000 | 19 |
| 5 | Delilah Lerner | United States | 132,000 | 17 |
Masters doubled up earlier in the day with a pair of sixes against John Fenwick’s ace-king. He then flopped a flush against Chris Safaya’s top two pair to earn a massive pot. Masters finished in fourth place in this event last August, and later won the Main Event at the RunGood stop in Tunica in November. He also already took down the Opener event here at Caesars Southern Indiana this week, beating a field of 106 to earn $6,959.
Dylan Stanfield is his closest challenger, bagging up 307,000 after winning a classic flip to bust Daniel Termini on the money bubble. Ken Ware (230,000) and Patty Till (152,000) also made it through the day.
Masters will be joined on Day 2 by fellow ambassador Delilah Lerner. Lerner won a flip with her ace-king against Kenneth Baime’s queens to double up near the bubble as she ended up with 132,000. Players who will have to try again on another flight include last year’s runner-up Shon Smith, Baime, Brevin Andreadis, Kao Flexx Saechao, Jessica Welman, and WSOP bracelet winner Alan Percal.
The second starting flight takes place tomorrow at 6 p.m. local time. There are also two flights on August 22, Day 1c at 11 a.m. and Day 1d at 6 p.m. All survivors from the four starting flights then combine for Day 2 on August 23 at 1 p.m. The action will pick up at the earliest finishing time from one of the flights. Day 1a ended with 23 minutes remaining in Level 15 with blinds of 4,000/8,000 and an 8,000 big blind ante.
PokerNews will be back tomorrow following all the action from Day 1b, so tune back in for all the updates.