Shawn Stevenson Leads as 30 Advance From Day 1a of RGPS Horseshoe Council Bluffs Golden Ticket Main Event
Day 1a has come to a close at Horseshoe Council Bluffs, and a strong starting field of 211 entrants hit the felt for the RunGood Poker Series (RGPS) $420 Golden Ticket Main Event, nearly doubling the advertised $40,000 Guarantee with another flight still to come. After thirteen-and-a-half levels of play, just 30 players remained as the tournament reached the hard stop for the day. Leading the pack with the only stack above 400,000 is Shawn Stevenson, who put 412,500 chips in the bag to make it to Day 2 with over 100 big blinds to start the day.
"Fantastic!" Stevenson said when he discovered he was the chip leader. Stevenson shared that, midway through the day, a player had been moved to his table that "was running over the table". It took some time, but "I got on a roll and like, five hands later, I busted him." Stevenson was all smiles as he took his leave for the night, remarking, "That helps my demeanor a little," with a chuckle.
The only other players to break the 300,000 chip marker were Alex Wheeler (359,500) and Andrew Dockins (309,500), while Adam Craig (259,000) and Kerry Hildebrand (222,000) round out the top five. A few former RGPS Horseshoe Council Bluffs Champs lurk in contention, as both Freeman Kauffman (157,500) and Mike Fouts (115,000) survived the day. RecPoker Founder Steve Fredlund spent much of the day near the top of the counts, but cooled off late and bagged up 119,500.
There were plenty of players that were unable to survive the day, including five-time WSOPC Ring Winner Mark Fink, Kenneth Baime, who won the opening $250 Black Chip Bounty Golden Ticket event, and Kevin Berthelsen.
Day 1b will kick off tomorrow here at the Horseshoe Council Bluffs Poker Room at 10 a.m., and space is limited, so be sure to arrive early Saturday morning to grab a seat. PokerNews will return tomorrow to provide all the action straight from the tournament floor, so be sure to tune in to see who else survives and still has a shot at a Golden Ticket to the RGPS All-Stars ProAm!
was telling as the entire table groaned in unison. The 
turn and 
river failed to bring a third queen for Bane, and she parted with the majority of her stack.
flop, and the under-the-gun player looked poised to net a double knockout on the 
turn. The 
river had other ideas, however, and Johnson tripled up, while Barker was eliminated, though he did say he would be returning for Day 1b action in the morning.
turn or 
river to ensure Gingerich the pot and the KO.
flop, while the small blind reacted visibly to the flop. The 
turn and 
flop blanked off, and Lilly eliminated the short stack.
fell on the river, and Hildebrand doubled up.
turn and 
board, and the big blind checked to Kinder, who bet 12,000. Only the hijack called.
river, and Kinder showed 
on a ten-high board to bust.
fell on the turn. Hiner checked, and Fouts bet 11,000. Hiner called.
flop, and both players checked the 