Jesse Jones and Coulter Conner Headline Day 1bc
All three starting flights are now in the books as Day 1bc action has come to a close in the $800 Main Event here at the RunGood Poker Series Passport Season hosted by Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa. Day 1bc saw a solid turnout, with a combined total of 135 entries being tallied, 15 of which have locked up a min-cash and will return on Day 2.
Jesse Jones emerged as the runaway chip leader on Day 1b, bagging an astounding 987,000, good for first in the overall counts through the first two flights. After bagging last night as the short stack in Day 1a with 47,000, Jones elected to fire another bullet, which proved to be a great decision. In doing so, his smaller stack will be removed from play at the start of Day 2 and will be credited with a min-cash.
Jones began his ascent atop the counts during the last few levels of play, first by getting paid on the river with a flush to send his opponent packing. After that, he was on the right side of a blind versus blind duel against Daniel Hughes to double up. From there, Jones leveraged his stack and applied timely aggression on the bubble to continue to chip up. He ultimately found himself in the dream spot during the last hand of the night when he made a full house to eliminate Kevin Elwood on the stone bubble.
Coulter Conner finished as the player on top in Day 1c, bagging a respectable 619,000 and will enter Day 2 third in the overall counts. After a lengthy bubble, Conner helped burst it when he woke up with pocket jacks to best his opponent's ace-ten.
Day 1bc Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jesse Jones | United States | 987,000 |
| 2 | Coulter Conner | United States | 619,000 |
| 3 | Richard Gebhart | United States | 482,000 |
| 4 | Joshua Hatfield | United States | 390,000 |
| 5 | Braden Garrison | United States | 291,000 |
| 6 | Rex Robinson | United States | 258,000 |
| 7 | Daniel Hughes | United States | 220,000 |
| 8 | Bobby Randolph | United States | 186,000 |
| 9 | Joshua Finnigan | United States | 135,000 |
| 10 | Timothy Black | United States | 85,000 |
Notable Eliminations
RunGood Poker Series Ambassador Grant Hinkle was in the mix again today after exiting on the soft bubble last night in Day 1a, but couldn't find any momentum here in Day 1bc. RGPS Tournament Director Mike "Murph" Murphy started to build a stack early on but couldn't find a bag for Day 2. Papa Karn brushed off his exit on the stone bubble during the opening flight by firing another bullet, but found no such luck on his second attempt. Michael Miller got it in good with two tables left on Day 1b but couldn't hold against Eric Bunch to get knocked out just shy of the money.
The remaining 23 players who qualified will return for Day 2 on Sunday, January 25 at 12:00 p.m. local time, where the tournament will play down to a winner. Action will resume in Level 13 with blinds at 3,000/5,000 with a 5,000 big blind ante and levels will be 40-minutes in length. A 15-minute break will occur at the end of every three levels.
Be sure to follow PokerNews throughout the entirety of the $800 Main Event here at the 2026 RGPS Passport Season Tulsa.