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Seventh Bullet is the Charm For Rohan Aggarwal in the RunGood Passport Season Council Bluffs Main Event
If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again. Rohan Aggarwal certainly embodied that mantra at the RunGood Passport Season Council Bluffs Main Event.
Aggarwal busted six bullets yesterday and was about to call it quits when he and a friend decided to max-late reg for his seventh bullet on Day 1c. His stubborn perseverance paid off, and Aggarwal ended up taking home the title, championship ring, and $65,104 top prize after defeating Blair Hinkle heads-up.
“It feels great. I didn’t think I was going to be playing Day 2. I was supposed to leave. I had six bullets yesterday. I told myself that this is going to be the last. But in my mind, I told myself that the seventh one was going to be the lucky one, so we went again. Late-regged with my buddy, and here we are. So it feels pretty good,” the Kansas City native said after conquering the 466-entry field.
RGPS Council Bluffs Main Event Final Table results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rohan Aggarwal | United States | $65,104 |
| 2 | Blair Hinkle | United States | $43,403 |
| 3 | Kevin Berthelsen | United States | $32,076 |
| 4 | Jack Do | United States | $23,951 |
| 5 | Jacob Long | United States | $18,070 |
| 6 | Dustin Helmuth | United States | $13,774 |
| 7 | Ryan Remmes | United States | $10,612 |
| 8 | Taylor Howard | United States | $8,269 |
| 9 | Terry Williams | United States | $6,510 |
“We came here to play the tournaments. You've got to keep trying, you know. If you believe in yourself, you think you’re going to win it. You give it another shot until things work out, or you wait for the next one.”
Aggarwal had been close to winning a RunGood championship ring before. Two years ago, he had a big chip lead heads-up in the RGPS Kansas City Main Event but eventually had to settle for second place. “Had a five-one chip lead and choked. This feels nicer,” he said. The experience of coming so close but falling short made winning all the more special.
“I have, like, some heads-up PTSD from last time, for sure. I had a nice chip lead. I didn’t end up winning it, and that was in my hometown. So this is nice, on the road, but we won, so I’m happy with that.”
To stand atop the field and seize the ring, Aggarwal had to conquer a player who was having a magical week here at Horseshoe Council Bluffs. Hinkle made three final tables in side events, including winning the PokerNews PowerStack event, and the WSOP bracelet winner was well on his way to taking home this title, as well. There are dominant final table performances, and then there is what Hinkle did to his competition today.
Hinkle went on a flurry of knockouts, taking out player after player until he built up an incredible chip lead with more than 10,000,000 four-handed. Aggarwal was all the way behind in second place with 1,600,000. It seemed like insurmountable odds for anyone to challenge Hinkle today, but Aggarwal always knew he was just one hand away from getting back into contention.
“It was just, once you get a couple of flips, you’re right back in the game. All it takes is a little bit of edge. So we made some good plays, got lucky a few times,” he said.
Aggarwal describes himself mainly as a recreational player. The finance professional only plays for the competition, but he’s become a regular at RunGood events across the Midwest. “Very much a recreational player, but I like to play competitively. I play as much as I can. Played the one two weeks ago in Joplin. That was a pretty good one. Made the final table in one of the tournaments, but didn’t end up winning. We were able to redeem ourselves today,” he said.
Day 2 Action
Day 2 began with 57 players returning to the Horseshoe Council Bluffs at noon local time to play down to a champion and claim a share of the $326,299 prize pool. The early knockouts included Ben McCoy (54th), Nate Steuer (40th), Jon Maras (32nd), Mark Fink (31st), and Day 1c chip leader Shelby Burton (29th).
Hinkle, who began the day second in chips, continued his hot run when he spiked a one-outer on the river to bust Robert Renaud (22nd) and Jerin Gray (21st). Seth Frederici ran kings into Cyrus Khorram’s aces to fall in 18th place, while RunGood ambassador Taylor Howard flopped a flush to bust Prathik Kandimalla in 17th and climb over 2,000,000.
Hinkle’s path to the title, though, took a big hit when he snap-called Terry Williams’ shove on the turn with a flush, but Williams showed the nut flush to double up and leave Hinkle with just 100,000. Hinkle managed to double up once to 350,000, then won a race against Howard with ace-ten against nines to stay alive yet again.
Aggarwal, meanwhile, picked up aces to bust Todd Hyder in 16th. Hinkle and Howard then played another flip, as Hinkle was all in for 885,000 with two tens against Howard’s queen-jack. Hinkle stayed in front through the river and doubled up close to 2,000,000.
Day 1a chip leader Lucas Drummonds was eliminated in 14th place, while Aggarwal was all in for 660,000 and racing with ace-king against Jack Do’s nines. He hit trips on the flop, and Do couldn’t catch up as Aggarwal stayed alive.
Hinkle and Tom Fehr then went to the river, where Hinkle moved all in. Fehr snap-called for 500,000 with a flush, but Hinkle turned over a full house to bust Fehr in 11th and move up to 3,000,000. Matthew Riffel was left on fumes after losing a race against Jacob Long, and Hinkle finished him off shortly after to set the nine-handed final table.
Hinkle led with 3,150,000 at the start of the final table, while start-of-day chip leader Dustin Helmuth was in second with 2,300,000. Aggarwal sat in the middle of the pack with 1,600,000.
Hinkle wasted little time expanding his chip lead. In a limped pot with Williams, Hinkle bet 60,000 on the turn and Williams raised to 145,000. Hinkle then reraised to 410,000, Williams moved all in for 1,500,000, and Hinkle snap-called. Williams showed trip tens, but Hinkle had tens full of jacks to win the massive pot and bust Williams in ninth place. “They should rename the Council Bluffs casino after you,” Howard told him.
Howard picked up two nines to double off Helmuth, but he too soon fell victim to Hinkle. Howard moved all in for 1,000,000 with two aces and Hinkle called with pocket jacks. The flop brought a jack to give Hinkle the lead, and Howard was eliminated in eighth place.
A hand later, Ryan Remmes was all in for 395,000 with ace-jack and had Aggarwal’s ace-three dominated, but Aggarwal hit a three on the flop to win the pot and Remmes headed to the rail in seventh. Four players then saw a jack-high flop when Helmuth led out for 210,000. Hinkle raised to 525,000, and only Helmuth called. Hinkle moved all in on the turn, and Helmuth took a minute before calling for 1,000,000. He showed a pair and flush draw, but Hinkle had flopped trips and held on to win yet another big pot and bust Helmuth in sixth.
Hinkle called Long’s shove for 1,160,000 with ace-ten, and he finished with two pair to beat Long’s king-queen and score another knockout. He led with 10,000,000 at the start of four-handed play, with Aggarwal (1,600,000) and Kevin Berthelsen (1,500,000) following far behind and Do sitting on the short stack with 800,000.
Do called off his last 350,000 in the big blind against Aggarwal, but he ran his ace-eight right into Aggarwal’s kings. Aggarwal hit top set on the flop, and Do was eliminated in fourth place. Hinkle was a mere spectator as Aggarwal and Berthelsen then tangled in a pot, where Aggarwal was all in for 1,215,000. He hit trip kings on the flop to take the lead and double up, leaving Berthelsen on a short stack.
Berthelsen doubled up twice off Hinkle to climb back up to 2,500,000, but his luck proved short-lived after he called for his last 2,000,000 with top pair on a ten-high flop. Hinkle had a straight draw, and while he didn’t make his straight, he did spike a jack on the river to make a higher pair and bust Berthelsen in third place.
Hinkle led 10,600,000 to 3,300,000 at the start of heads-up. Aggarwal then got in his last 2,250,000 with ace-six against Hinkle’s ace-deuce, and both players hit top pair. Aggarwal’s six-kicker continued to play after the river, and he doubled up back into contention.
Aggarwal five-bet shoved to narrow the gap some more before seizing the chip lead, betting 1,615,000 on the river as Hinkle called, only for Aggarwal to show the nut flush.
Aggarwal opened a 9,400,000 to 4,500,000 chip lead, then won three pots to drop Hinkle down to 3,700,000. Aggarwal then limped the button, Hinkle raised to 475,000, and Aggarwal called. On a jack-high flop, Hinkle continued for 250,000 and Aggarwal raised to 950,000. Hinkle tanked for several minutes before moving all in for 3,000,000, and Aggarwal snap-called. He showed a pair of threes and flush draw, while Hinkle had just ace-high. Aggarwal improved to two pair on the turn, and Hinkle missed the river as his magical run came to an end in second place.
Hinkle had a run the likes of which most players can only dream of, but it quickly shattered against Aggarwal. After coming so close before, Aggarwal made sure to close the deal this time around and claim the title of RunGood Main Event champion.
That concludes PokerNews' coverage of the RGPS Council Bluffs Main Event. The tour next heads to Southern Indiana, with coverage of the Main Event beginning on April 30.