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Jack Hays Plays the Role of Underdog on His Way to the RGPS Southern Indiana Main Event Title
There is one word to describe Jack Hays’ reaction after winning the RunGood Poker Series Golden Expedition Southern Indiana $800 Main Event: disbelief.
“I’ve been playing for 21 years. I’ve been working my ass off for this This ain’t real. No way this just happened,” Hays said while preparing to snap his long-awaited winner’s photo.
The Kentucky farmer admitted he was no match for heads-up opponent Craig Welko, but the cards had other ideas as Hays was on the right side of a few all-in encounters to defeat the RunGood ambassador and take down the championship ring and $57,054 top prize for prevailing over the 393-player field.
RGPS Golden Expedition Southern Indiana Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jack Hays | United States | $57,054 |
| 2 | Craig Welko | United States | $38,129 |
| 3 | Mike Scarborough | United States | $28,143 |
| 4 | Patty Till | United States | $20,990 |
| 5 | Tim Burden | United States | $15,818 |
| 6 | James Rion | United States | $12,077 |
| 7 | Stephan Mobley | United States | $9,298 |
| 8 | Carl Masters | United States | $7,263 |
| 9 | Don Coakley | United States | $5,722 |
“It means everything. I had a win in January. I’ve been playing for 20 years. That was my first win. This is my second one. This is my first one outside of my home court down there at The Barrel in Franklin, Kentucky. This is a good win. It’s a good day. I never thought I’d be here,” he said.
“I got lucky. I met a lot of good people and played with a lot of friends, had a good time, and I got really lucky to come out on top.”
Hays came into the event with more than $63,000 in live tournament winnings, according to The Hendon Mob, a sizeable amount from that New Year’s victory in a $500 event at The Barrel where he earned $26,000. Welko, meanwhile, already had three RunGood rings and was runner-up in this same event to Nick Rigby a year ago. It was a mismatch on paper, and Hays knew it.
Hays began the heads-up match with a big chip lead, but after Welko won a race to double up, the RunGood ambassador began to dominate the match and pulled ahead. It was then that Hays decided he needed to change his strategy.
“I was catching all the cards six-handed, and when we got down to heads-up, I’m still catching the cards. We went on break, and I come back from break, and I just couldn’t make a pair. My opponent, man, he never made a mistake. He folded every time he was supposed to fold. He played perfect,” he said.
“The only way I had a chance to win was to add more variance to it. So I just started jamming, and I got lucky. I gave myself a chance, and that’s what you do when you get lucky.”
Luck, Hays admitted, played a big role in his standing in the winner’s circle. “No one in the world is ever going to win this tournament with the cards I caught this weekend. Because no one’s dumb enough to put all the money in that many times with those hands that are that bad. It was unreal. I folded a lot of good hands that wouldn’t have won. I played a lot of bad hands that did win. It was the luckiest I’ve ever ran,” he said.
Lerner, Defending Champ Mays Among First Day 2 Bustouts
The final 46 players returned to the Caesars Southern Indiana poker room at 1 p.m. to play for the title. Five RunGood ambassadors were still in the mix, and Delilah Lerner was the first to bust when she got in her short stack against Welko. She finished with a straight, but Welko made kings full to send Lerner to the rail in 28th place.
Taylor Howard (25th) and Matthew Lawrence (16th) followed to the payout desk, as did Day 1b chip leader Libby Wilson (21st). Defending champion Jasper May got in his last chips with ace-queen against Tim Burden’s ace-jack, but Burden caught a jack to win the pot and end May’s hopes for a repeat in 13th place.
Hays Beats Kings Twice to Take the Chip Lead
By the time the nine-handed final table was set, start-of-day chip leader Mike Scarborough was still atop the leaderboard with 2,300,000, while Hays sat in second place with 1,600,000. Carl Masters won a flip to double off Don Coakley, and Coakley ran into Patty Till's aces a few hands later to bust in ninth place.
Hays then three-bet to 250,000 on the button and Masters moved all in for 800,000 in the small blind. The table folded back to Hays, who snap-called with two aces. Masters was crushed holding two kings, and Hays improved to top set to win the pot and bust the RunGood ambassador in eighth place.
Till picked up aces against Stephan Mobley for a knockout as she began to build a big chip lead, while James Rion fell to Welko in sixth. Till led with 4,500,000 as the final five went on a dinner break, and she climbed up to more than 5,000,000 before a pivotal hand against Hays. Three players went to a queen-high flop, where Till bet 255,000. Hays then raised to 620,000, and Till moved all in. Hays snap-called with two pair, while Till showed two kings. Hays hung on to double up to 5,000,000 and into the chip lead.
Both Burden and Scarborough flopped two pair as Burden was all in for 400,000, but Scarborough spiked a full house on the river to bust Burden in fifth. Till then ran ace-ten into Welko’s ace-king to fall in fourth place.
Hays widened his lead after spiking a set of deuces in a pot against Welko as he moved up past 7,500,000. Scarborough then shoved the turn for 1,300,000 with a straight, but Hays had the nut straight to bust Scarborough in third place.
Welko Gives Hays the Test of His Poker Life
Hays led 9,700,000 to 2,000,000 at the start of heads-up. Welko fell down to 1,215,000 when he won a flip with king-eight against Hays’ pocket sevens to double up. He called down Hays with a pair of deuces to take the chip lead and began to pull away. “You’re good, man,” Hays told him.
Hays then shoved blind for 4,925,000 and Welko called with king-six. Hays had just jack-high, but he caught a jack on the turn to win the pot and double up. A few hands later, Welko moved all in for 5,000,000 and Hays called with king-seven. Welko was ahead again with ace-jack until the flop gave Hays a pair of sevens and the title.
Welko was denied the ring for a second straight year, while Hays, playing the role of underdog, capped off his unlikely victory. He’ll look to repeat when the RGPS heads to The Barrel next week, but family will always come before poker for him.
“It’s going to help me out at home, but as far as poker, I’m still going to play when I can. I got a two-year-old and a four-year-old. They come first. So I’m going to spend some time with them. I’ll be at The Barrel next week, then I’m going to take a break until January,” he said.
That concludes PokerNews' coverage of the RGPS Southern Indiana Main Event. Check out the RunGood app for upcoming events.