button in SafariVernon Yoder In Control After Opening Flight of $800 Main Event
The headlining event of the RunGood Poker Series Passport Pennsylvania series attracted a total of 30 entries for the opening of four flights at Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course. After just over 12 levels of action, the final three players standing earned the first spots in the money on Day 2 of the $800 Main Event.
The event features a guaranteed prize pool of $60,000, with the final two flights set to be contested on Saturday, April 25 before a champion is crowned the following night.
Leading the way with more than a third of the Day 1a chips in play is Vernon Yoder, who bagged up 605,000 after leading most of way through the latter levels of the day.
Yoder brought the opening flight to an abrupt end by scoring a double knockout on the final hand, sending Ryan Staats and Shane Stoe to the rail in a massive cooler.
The other player involved in that final hand was Dan Gerard, who folded on the flop to bag up 239,000 chips. Josh Swails watched the fireworks unfold from seat three, and made the money with a short stack of 56,000.
Day 1a Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vernon Yoder | United States | 605,000 |
| 2 | Dan Gerard | United States | 239,000 |
| 3 | Josh Swails | United States | 56,000 |
Notable Entrants
Among the notable names to enter on the opening day was 2004 WSOP Main Event champion and RunGood Ambassador Greg Raymer, who steadily built up a stack to reach the final nine.
Raymer picked his spots at the final table, eventually getting his stack in with pocket aces but was unable to hold against Gerard.
Another member of the final table was defending RGPS Pennsylvania champion Chadd Beatty, who exited quicky early on before building his stack on the second bullet. Beatty was short with eight players left and fell victim to the chip leader.
Beatty won a pair of RGPS rings during the last RunGood visit to Pennsylvania, and was already on his third entry in Day 1b.
The clock was stopped with 30:45 remaining in Level 13, with the final starting point of Day 2 to be determined by the finish of the other three flights.
$800 Main Event Remaining Schedule
| Date | Day | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Apr. 25 | 1c | 11:00 a.m. |
| Apr. 25 | 1d | 5:00 p.m. |
| Apr. 26 | 2 | 12:00 p.m. |
Two more chances remain to earn a spot in Day 2, as the third flight will begin on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. local time. Players will once again sit down with 30,000 chips, looking to finish inside the top 12.5 percent of the field to make the money.
The first eight levels of the day are scheduled to last 30 minutes, while the levels will be lengthened to 40 minutes from Level 9 onwards. Late registration will close at that point, with unlimited reentries available in every flight.
Players that make it through the final two flights will join Day 1a and 1b survivors to battle for the title on Sunday, April 26.
The PokerNews team will continue to bring you all of the exciting action at Hollywood Casino, so be sure to tune in all weekend long as the newest RGPS Main Event champion will be determined.