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The second of three starting flights has wrapped up in the $800 Main Event here at the RunGood Poker Series Passport Season hosted by Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa. Of the 74 entries tallied in Day 1b, only 9 players will return for Day 2 on Sunday, all of whom have locked up a min-cash.
Jesse Jones emerged as the runaway chip leader, 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.
The next closest competitor behind Jones is Joshua Hatfield, who bagged a respectable 390,000 and rounding out the podium is Rex Robinson with 258,000.
Day 1a Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jesse Jones | United States | 987,000 |
| 2 | Joshua Hatfield | United States | 390,000 |
| 3 | Rex Robinson | United States | 258,000 |
| 4 | Bobby Randolph | United States | 186,000 |
| 5 | Joshua Finnigan | United States | 135,000 |
| 6 | Timothy Black | United States | 85,000 |
| 7 | James Haver | United States | 80,000 |
| 8 | Eric Bunch | United States | 54,000 |
| 9 | Jon Primeaux | United States | 46,000 |
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 1b. 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 but couldn't hold against Eric Bunch to get knocked out just shy of the money.
Day 1c is currently underway with 44 entries tallied thus far. There will be a break in coverage for the time being and updates will resume near the money bubble. Chip counts for Day 1c will be posted at the end of the night once play wraps up.
A recap of Day 1bc action will follow, so be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews for updates later in the evening.
