Ryan Tepen Wins Inaugural RunGood Cup Championship To Make It His Best Year Ever
The inaugural RunGood Cup Championship is going home with a RunGood Team Pro. Ryan Tepen navigated through the largest field of the 2015 season, 403 players, to claim $54,687 and the massive RunGood cup at Harrah's New Orleans.
The score makes 2015 the most fruitful years of Tepen's live poker career, as he has amassed more than $275,000 in cashes. He was simply unstoppable on Day 2, cutting through the final table with ease as he maintained the chip lead almost the entire time and eliminated is final five opponents in quick succession.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ryan Tepen | $54,687 |
| 2 | Tim Woodson | $33,763 |
| 3 | Chris Torres | $22,469 |
| 4 | Chris Savage | $15,573 |
| 5 | Patrick Eskandar | $11,769 |
| 6 | Mike Henrich | $9,154 |
| 7 | Mike Horchoff | $7,608 |
| 8 | George Haik | $6,300 |
| 9 | Randolph Reese | $5,326 |
After having some success in the early levels, a critical pot came up for Tepen at the start of Level 16 (3,000/6,000/1,000). He opened under the gun to 13,000 and got one caller before a big blind opponent re-popped it to 63,000. After about 30 seconds, Tepen reraised all in, and the big blind called about 100,000 more.
Big blind: 3♣3♦
Tepen: A♣A♥
A K♠6♣6♦ flop hit the felt, and a 6♠ turn sealed it for Tepen with sixes full.
The money bubble burst shortly thereafter, with 45 players paid. Among them were Jeff Bryan (44th), Rodney Spriggs (37th), RunGood Team Pro Ray Henson (36th), Will Berry (30th), and World Series of Poker gold bracelet winner Corey Harrison (19th).
Things continued to fall Tepen's way even in pots he lost, such as when he called a bet from Mike Henrich on a ten-high flop with queens and an ace hit the turn, causing both players to shut down and Henrich to win with kings.
At the final table, Tepen went in as the leader with about 1.5 million at Level 22 (12,000/24,000/4,000), but Day 1a leader Chris Torres pulled ahead following the eliminations of BJ McBrayer (10th) and Randolph Reese (9th). Torres opened from an early position with the 5♥5♠ and check-shoved a 2♦5♣5♦ flop. George Haik was unable to get away from tens and busted eighth.
Mike Horchoff was the final elimination before Tepen overwhelmed his remaining opponents. First, he flopped a set of eights against Henrich's aces to send him packing in sixth for a pot of more than 2 million at Level 23 (15,000/30,000/5,000). Then, Tepen got lucky when his K♠Q♠ outdrew the A♣J♥ of Patrick Eskandar all in preflop, with the RunGood Pro flopping a cinch as three spades hit.
Chris Savage provided the only rough waters when he four-bet shipped the J♥10♥ and beat Tepen's A♣Q♣, but he too was swept away by the Tepen tide when Tepen got the 7♦5♥ in against Savage's eights on a 7♠3♣6♥ flop and got there.
Another monster flop for Tepen arrived three-handed when he defended in a blind battle against Torres and saw K♦J♠J♣ flop. He held the J♦4♦ against the K♠Q♥, and Torres shoved into Tepen on the turn and got snapped off.
That left Tim Woodson, whom Tepen had battled with at the final table of RunGood Council Bluffs, at an 8-1 deficit heads up. It was a mere formality as Tepen swatted him away on the first heads-up hand. Woodson took a consolation prize of $33,763.
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