Event #4: $400 NLH
Day 2 Completed
2022 The Lodge Championship Series
Event #4: $400 NLH
Day: 2
Level 28
: 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante
The fourth event of the Lodge Championship Series has come to an end here in Round Rock, Texas. A total of six Day 1 flights were played in Event 4: $400 NLH $500,000 Gauranteed, gathering 1,556 registrants throughout. This created a $526,640 prize pool that had the eventual winner set to take home $82,024 for their victory.
When the final day began there were 186 runners, all of which had made the money, and when the field hit five-handed play a deal was agreed upon between Rudy Cadenas, Benjamin Perez, Seth Simmons, Chris Staats, and Jonathan Letempt.
Cadenas took home the lion's share for a total of $54,231, but it was Letempt taking home the trophy after the two flipped a classic piece of American copper. Letempt won the last flip of the tournament, which secured him the trophy to go along with his $41,408 pay day.
Final Table Payouts
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
| 1 | Rudy Cadenas | Las Vegas, NV | $54,231* |
| 2 | Benjamin Perez | Plainview, TX | $46,937* |
| 3 | Seth Simmons | Nathrop, CO | $45,347* |
| 4 | Jonathan Letempt | San Marcos, TX | $41,408* |
| 5 | Chris Staats | Tuttle, OK | $39,981* |
| 6 | Elijah Ruffin | Chandler, AZ | $17,379 |
| 7 | Eider Da Cruz | Gardena, CA | $13,693 |
| 8 | Scott Brewer | N/A | $10,533 |
| 9 | Hieu Tran | Amarillo, TX | $8,426 |
*denotes deal made at final table
The fourth event here at The Lodge Poker Club had a very enticing $500,000 guarantee, especially for only being a $400 buy-in. Six Day 1's were lined up to pump the prize pool, and the 1,556 registration slips that were accumulated during that time did just that, having a total of $526,640 for the remaining 186 Day 2 qualifiers to fight over.
Many short stacks fell to the wayside early in the day, and as the field began to plummet some of the leaders followed. Cosmic Medrano and Alexander Connolly both began near the top of the leaderboard but quickly began to lock horns. After going blow-for-blow on table 119, they both moved and quickly vanished from the field. Some other notables that failed to find the final table include Blake Whittington, Eric Salazar, Jason Gooch, and Benjamin Anderson who took a couple of bad beats during the last two tables of the night, sending most of his stack to Letempt.
Kevin Xu fought as long as he could and almost made a complete turn around before falling to Eider Da Cruz, setting the official final table. Just before the first break of the final table, Cadenas pulled out his one-time card on Simmons. He pushed a turned board with nines and Simmons tank-called holding a pair of dimes for the best hand. Cadenas then found a fortuitous nine on the river to stay alive, doubling through Simmons in the process.
Just after the break, it was Hieu Tran who was the first to take an exit, dropping back-to-back hands with Cruz finishing him off. Cadenas then hopped in for a few hands with Scott Brewer, which resulted in Brewer taking a walk to the payout desk. The start of Day 2 chipleader was next on the chopping block after he shoved ace-jack of spades and was called by Staats who held just ace-seven. A hockey stick on the river doubled Staats, leaving Cruz in shambles. He pushed shortly after with a pair of sevens, only to run into the pocket nines of Perez who then flopped a set to eliminate Cruz.
Some talk was in the air about a chop when it reached the final six but Elijah Ruffin found himself a little to shallow-stacked to complete the conversation and took a shot with five-deuce. Perez called with kojak and ended the hand with a boat, eliminating Ruffin from the field in sixth place.
The tournament clock was then paused and the rest is history. Congratulations to Rudy Cadenas on taking home the biggest prize, and also to Jonathan Letempt on securing a trophy for his mantle.
That wraps it up for the PokerNews live coverage of Event 4, but tune in tomorrow for all the updates on the $600 Mystery Bounty.
Level 28
: 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante
The final five runners in Event 4: $400 NLH $500,000 Guaranteed have agreed upon an ICM chop. Payouts will be posted shortly along with a recap of the event.
Level 28
: 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante
The final five runners are now discussing deal and the clock has been paused.
Level 28
: 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante
The players will now be taking a 15-minute break.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
10,075,000 | |
|
6,450,000 | |
|
5,850,000 | |
|
4,375,000 | |
|
4,100,000 |
Level 28
: 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante
Elijah Ruffin put his stack of about 800,000 into the middle and Benjamin Perez snapped it off from the big blind, putting Ruffin at risk.
Elijah Ruffin: 
Benjamin Perez: 
"I've got live cards!" Ruffin said with a smile. The dealer then fanned out 
, "Nevermind," laughed Ruffin as he stood up. A 
turn and 
river cemented it for Perez who sent another player out the door.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
6,450,000 | |
|
Busted |
Level 28
: 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante
The action was on Eider Da Cruz, he shoved from the button and Chris Staats called in the big blind for less, totaling 2,200,000.
Chris Staats: 
Eider Da Cruz: 
The flop came down 
, leaving Cruz in the lead with his kicker. A 
peeled off on the turn and it looked like Staats was going to be headed to the payout desk until an unlikely 
popped off, hitting Staats with the money card to survive.
Cruz then shoved a few hands after and Benjamin Perez called, putting the start-of-day chipleader at risk of elimination.
Eider Da Cruz: 
Benjamin Perez: 
An unfortunate pull of cards for Cruz saw no help on the 
board that landed. Perez pulled in the pot and Cruz was eliminated in 7th place.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
5,200,000
900,000
|
900,000 |
|
|
4,700,000
2,600,000
|
2,600,000 |
|
Busted |
Level 28
: 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante
Benjamin Perez pushed his 970,000 blind from under the gun and Eider Da Cruz three-bet shoved the hijack, totaling 2,925,000. Rudy Cadenas called in the small blind and Jonathan Letempt woke up from the big blind, announcing he was all-in. Cadenas quickly chucked his hand and they turned over their cards with Letempt in a spot to knock out both.
Benjamin Perez: 
Eider Da Cruz:
Jonathan Letempt: 
The threeway flop came 
, hitting Perez with a nine to take the lead. A fell on the turn, changing not much as two players were sweating their tournament lives.
The safe river missed Letempt and both players at risk survived to see another hand. Perez quadrupled his stack and Cruz took down the side, increasing his stack as well with sailboats.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
6,015,000
2,365,000
|
2,365,000 |
|
|
5,675,000
-3,125,000
|
-3,125,000 |
|
|
4,850,000
-2,250,000
|
-2,250,000 |
|
|
4,300,000
3,325,000
|
3,325,000 |
Level 28
: 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante
The last level saw chips shifting but little worth noting, here are some updates on the current stacks as players head into a new level.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
8,800,000
3,700,000
|
3,700,000 |
|
|
7,100,000
-225,000
|
-225,000 |
|
|
3,850,000
-2,775,000
|
-2,775,000 |
|
|
3,650,000
-1,250,000
|
-1,250,000 |
|
|
2,300,000
580,000
|
580,000 |
|
|
2,100,000
-1,600,000
|
-1,600,000 |
|
|
975,000
-1,000,000
|
-1,000,000 |
Level: 28
Blinds: 150,000/300,000
Ante: 300,000