button in SafariPeter Walsh Hits a Royal, But Blair Hinkle Sits Atop the Throne on Day 1c of the RGPS St. Louis Main Event
Blair Hinkle assumed his usual spot atop the leaderboard on Day 1c of the RunGood Poker Series Golden Expedition St. Louis $800 Main Event.
Hinkle, already with four RunGood Main Event championship rings on his career resume, bagged up 636,000 as 16 players survived the third starting flight. The RunGood ambassador scored two knockouts with ace-king, first hitting a straight against Aaron Drummond, and then busting Tristan Jappa near the bubble. Hinkle’s most recent Main Event title came in 2024, and he was also runner-up in the RGPS Council Bluffs Main Event earlier this year. He’s already come close to claiming another ring this week, finishing second in the PokerNews PokerStack event.
Day 1c Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blair Hinkle | United States | 636,000 | 106 |
| 2 | Peter Walsh | United States | 594,000 | 99 |
| 3 | Cody Carlin | United States | 550,000 | 92 |
| 4 | Nick Willie | United States | 547,000 | 91 |
| 5 | Justin Coliny | United States | 536,000 | 89 |
| 6 | SC | 505,000 | 84 | |
| 7 | Zhenglun Wu | United States | 336,000 | 56 |
| 8 | Ken Westhoff | United States | 311,000 | 52 |
| 9 | Dror Ucko | United States | 296,000 | 49 |
| 10 | Jon Stanfield | United States | 283,000 | 47 |
Peter Walsh ended up in second place after a hand he won’t soon forget. Walsh moved all in for 242,000 on the river against Jappa and turned over a flopped royal flush to win the biggest pot of the night on his way to 594,000. Cody Carlin (550,000), Nick Willie (547,000), and Justin Coliny (536,000) rounded out the top five.
A total of 132 players came to the Hollywood Casino to spend their Saturday afternoon chasing the ring and a share of the $200,000 guaranteed prize pool. Among those to fall short of their goal were Tyler Breeding, Ben Miller, Javier Terrazas, Paul Fehlig, Michael Estes, and RunGood ambassador Angela Jordison.
The field currently stands at 297 entries through three starting flights. The fourth and final flight is ongoing with 103 entries and late registration open for around another hour.
The 36 qualifiers from the first three flights will be joined by survivors from Day 1d when Day 2 begins tomorrow at noon local time. The action picks up at the earliest finishing time from one of the flights. Day 1c went just a few minutes longer than Day 1b did yesterday, which finished with 10 minutes remaining in Level 14 with blinds of 3,000/6,000 and a 6,000 big blind ante.
A champion will be crowned tomorrow, and PokerNews will be back following all the action and providing live updates from the event's final day.