While our live updates this weekend are focused on the $600 Main Event, this tournament is actually the culmination of a week's worth of tournaments.
Earlier this week, Event #2: $130 Opening Night Ring Event more than doubled its $10,000 guarantee as 211 runners generated a $20,678 prize pool. The top 27 finishers got paid including Nick Visconti (10th - $434), Wade Hinds (14th - $372), Barry Chazen (16th - $310), Jason Casten (19th - $248), Maxton Goncalves (23rd - $191), and Mark Brannick (26th - $154).
The title came down to Lucas Tae and Kimani McKoy, and the two battled in a lengthy heads-up affair. Ultimately it was Tae, a WSOP Circuit ring winner, who prevailed to claim a $5,028 first-place prize. The win came a month after he finished runner-up in the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Event #7: $200 NLH Big Stack for a career-high $37,055.
Scott Baumstein was all in for 18,400 preflop after three-bet shoving over a raise to 1,500 and a few callers, and only a player in middle position stuck around, committing their last 15,000.
Opponent:
Scott Baumstein:
Baumstein's eights held on a board, and he eliminated his opponent.
The newly revamped RunGood Poker Series (RGPS)“All-Stars Comeback Tour Powered by PokerGO” season will be heading back out West in September for a return trip to Jamul Casino in San Diego, California. PokerNews will be on-site to offer live updates from the $575 buy-in Main Event.
The Jamul Casino stop in early June saw record-breaking numbers including a 558-entry Main Event field. 65-year-old retired Navy veteran Armando Mesina, who a month earlier won the MSPT Sycuan $360 Regional Event for $33,329, won the tournament for $25,175 after a rare nine-way final table deal.
The latest series will feature more tournament tables that will run from September 7-12. The San Diego Card Sharks logo will be filling the room up once again as the tour plans on bringing more giveaway items to promote the All-Stars ProAm event at the PokerGO Studio in December.
Fan-favorite events like the $135 Guest Bounty and $185 DeepStack ring events will return alongside the Seniors Ring Event moved from Sunday to Tuesday. The property will be catering a casual “Welcome Back Party” at Loft 94 which will begin at 5:30 p.m. PT on September 7th.
The recently vacated seat of Athanasios Polychronopoulos was filled by another tough player in Matt Waxman, and the list of accomplishments Waxman has under his belt is staggering to look at.
Waxman earned a WSOP Gold Bracelet in 2013 after taking down Event #7: $1,000 No Limit Hold'em for $305,952. He also owns a WSOP Circuit Ring, but perhaps more impressive are his pair of WPT titles, including a victory in one of the toughest fields in poker, the Season XVI WPT Tournament of Champions in 2018 for $463,375.
Waxman will be looking for more titles to add to his trophy case, and the Florida native has plenty of time to build a stack before the day concludes at around 6 p.m. EST.
Allison Anjos had his last 39,600 committed on a flop from the button, and was at risk against [Removed:286] in the big blind.
Allison Anjos:
[Removed:286]:
Anjos' top two pair held on for the double after the turn and river bricked off for [Removed:294], and Anjos slammed the table with his fist in celebration before scooping in the double.
A quick scan of the room found Stephen Smith, who finished in fourth-place in Event #1: $250 Super Stack NLH (Re-Entry), holding a massive stack of 165,000 just before registration closes for Day 1a.
That same scan also brought three new names to the felt; Jamie Kerstetter, Justin Gardenhire, and Ray Henson, who were all part of the RunGood All-Star Cash Game that went deep into the night, all grabbed seats just before break.
Day 1a of the RunGood Poker Series All Stars Comeback Tour Seminole Coconut Creek $600 Main Event doubled the $50,000 guarantee already, with 205 runners in the field. With another flight set for tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. EST, the prize pool will only continue to balloon up.
The RunGood Poker Series (RGPS) was born out of RunGoodGear, a premier poker clothing company founded in 2012. From its humble beginnings, which included president Tana Karnchanakphan (AKA Tana Karn), distributing RunGood shirts out of a backpack at the World Series of Poker (WSOP), the RGPS tour launched in 2014 and had established itself as a major force in the mid-major market. In fact, it won “Mid-Major Tour/Circuit” in back-to-back years at the Global Poker Awards (2018 & 2019).
What is the RunGood Poker Series (RGPS)?
The RGPS is a two-time Global Poker Award-winning tour for “Mid-Major Tour/Circuit”. The tour usually hosts weeklong festivals comprised of affordable side events culminating in traditionally $575-$675 Main Events, which run Friday-Sunday.
Each season of the RGPS, which currently awards championship rings but has previously awarded medallions, championship belts, and even cowboy boots, comes with a fun theme. Some of the themes from past seasons include “Showbound”, “Game Seven”, “RunGood Cup”, “Old West”, a charity-themed season with Operation Gratitude, and their post-pandemic “Comeback Tour”.
They have also formed a partnership with PokerGO to send players to an end-of-year, 64-player tournament to be filmed at PokerGO Studios in Las Vegas.
When is the RunGood Poker Series (RGPS)?
The RGPS holds stops throughout the year across the country. In the past, they’ve hosted two themed seasons each year – the first taking place in the first half of the year before the WSOP, and the other in the second half of the year after the WSOP.
The RGPS tour launched in 2014 with three stops starting with its inaugural stop at Downstream Casino & Resort in Quapaw, Oklahoma. Bernard Lee topped a 344-entry field, including Ross Bybee in heads-up play, to win the $675 Main Event for $47,555.
Bybee redeemed himself at the next stop at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa when he bested a 317-entry field to win the $675 Main Event for $26,440 after a four-way deal. A month later, the RGPS returned to Downstream and hosted another $675 Main Event, which attracted 262 runners and saw Mark Martin come out on top to claim a $36,218 first-place prize.
In 2015, the tour expanded to seven stops after adding Horseshoe Council Bluffs and an RGPS Cup Championship in New Orleans. The following year, six stops were held including a pair in North Kansas City, while a total of seven stops took place in 2017.
In 2018, Horseshoe Bossier City joined the tour, as did the first-ever RGPS Global Championship Cruise, which was won by Shawn Sparks for $21,417. That year saw 13 stops, but in 2019 that jumped to 17 thanks to Horseshoe Tunica joining the fray.
In 2020, a new stop Jamul Casino in San Diego was held before the global pandemic put the tour on hiatus. It took a year, but the RGPS stormed back in 2021 with a “Comeback Tour” and resumed making its mark in the mid-major market, including at new stops at Florida’s Seminole Hard Rock Coconut Creek and California’s Thunder Valley.
Top RGPS Players
RGPS superstar Daniel Lowery
As of August 2021, Daniel Lowery sits atop both the RGPS all-time money list ($188,794) and most titles (7). Lowery also tops the list for most RGPS cashes with 40, as well as most top 10 finishers with 22.
Justin Gardenhire sits behind him with $186,669 in earnings, 5 titles, 20 top 10 finishes, and 33 cashes. Meanwhile, Blair Hinkle has established himself as a force on the tour with $141,296 in earnings from three titles.
Other players with three titles to their credit are Preston McEwen, James Devaney, Derrick Contreras, Eric Bunch, Julie Anna Cornelius, Rodney Spriggs, Michael Albert, John Heckenkamp, and Ross Bybee.
While our live updates this weekend are focused on the $600 Main Event, this tournament is actually the culmination of a week's worth of tournaments.
Earlier this week, Event #3: $130 Deep Stack No-Limit Hold'em more than doubled its $10,000 guarantee as 232 runners generated a $22,736 prize pool. The top 29 finishers got paid including Nancy Birnbaum (10th - $468), Michael Bailine (14th - $401), Steve Fredlund (17th - $335), Lisa Teebagy (18th - $335), and Nick Visconti (21st - $268).
The title came down to Alan Katsnelson and Justin Datloff and the former, a WSOP Circuit Seminole Coconut Creek ring winner, ultimately prevailed to claim a $5,359 first-place prize.
board, and he eliminated his opponent.
turn and 
river bricked off for [Removed:294], and Anjos slammed the table with his fist in celebration before scooping in the double.
board from the big blind, and Jose Reyes committed his last 21,500 from middle position.
river, and he eliminated Reyes.
