button in SafariEdward Medoff Bags the Chip Lead After a Marathon Bubble on Day 1a of the RGPS Passport Pompano Beach Main Event
The clock had moved past 2 a.m. local time at Harrah’s Pompano Beach by the time a marathon Day 1a of the RunGood Passport Season $1,110 Pompano Beach Main Event came to an end.
After nearly 90 minutes of bubble play, Niall Costigan finally ended up making a full house to knock out John Freidkes and guarantee the remaining six players a part of the $250,000 guaranteed prize pool and a spot on Day 2 on Sunday, May 17.
Costigan took full advantage of the lengthy bubble, relentlessly raising and taking down most pots uncontested to open a massive chip lead. But he then called Edward Medoff’s flop shove for 206,000 with a straight draw against Medoff’s pocket tens, and while the turn also gave Costigan a flush draw, Medoff held on through the river to earn the massive double up.
Medoff ended up with 613,000 and atop the leaderboard at the end of the first starting flight. Costigan fell back to second place with 476,000, while Charlemagne Benjamin rounds out the podium with 290,000. Benjamin had to fight to survive the day, doubling up four times on the money bubble in order to secure a bag.
Day 1a Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Edward Medoff | United States | 613,000 |
| 2 | Niall Costigan | United States | 476,000 |
| 3 | Charlemagne Benjamin | United States | 290,000 |
| 4 | Tom Macey | United States | 250,000 |
| 5 | Marc Goldman (FL) | United States | 159,000 |
| 6 | Kevin Hammer | United States | 154,000 |
Tom Macey (250,000), Marc Goldman (159,000), who admits he was down to just 4,000 at one point today, and Kevin Hammer (154,000) complete the lineup that will return for Day 2. A total of 48 players came out for the opening flight, and among those to fall short of making the money were Eric “Barstool Nate” Nathan and Eugene Katchalov. Nick Rigby and Craig Welko took their battle for the RunGood Player of the Year into Day 1a, but neither made it through the day and will have to try again tomorrow.
A fresh crop of hopefuls gets their shot when Day 1b begins tomorrow at 11 a.m. There is also Day 1c starting at 4 p.m. All surviving players return for Day 2 on May 17 at noon local time. Action will pick up on the earliest finishing time from one of the three starting flights. Day 1a had to go all the way to Level 19 with blinds of 10,000/20,000 and a 20,000 big blind ante in order to get down to the final 12.5 percent of the field.
PokerNews will be back at 11 a.m. following all the action from Day 1b and providing live updates throughout the day.