Derrick Plumage Becomes First Back-to-Back RGPS Main Event Champ
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The RunGood Poker Series (RGPS) Council Bluffs $600 Main Event at Horseshoe Hotel and Casino in Council Bluffs, Iowa attracted 576 entries and offered up a $299,520 prize pool. On Sunday, the returning 73 players were whittled down to a final winner.
It was only three months ago that Derrick Plumage won his first RunGood Main Event ring in the $420 Contender Weekend Main Event In Council Bluffs for $51,888. Now, after a relatively quick final table, Plumage dominated to go back-to-back winning $56,931 in the process.
He now stands alone as the first RGPS Main Event champion ever to win two titles back to back, earning himself over $100,000 over the course of the year.
“It still doesn’t feel real,” the 40-year-old father and family man said after winning the event. “Last time I was second in chips going into Day 2, made it to the final table, did not knock out many people until the last two. This time around I came in second in chips, made it to the final table, and knocked out seven of eight players.”
The chip leader of the first flight of the tournament possessed a dominating presence at the final table.
“Leaves me some room for improvement,” he joked about only knocking out seven players of the final eight he could have.
Throughout the day, he was surrounded by a close group of friends on his rail that were with him the first time he won the main, and they stayed with him for a while.
“If I had to pick one person to highlight, it would be my buddy Dave,” Plumage remarked. The long hours he spent at the casino during the week, his friends were with him every step of the way. “My buddy Dave, I couldn’t do it without him.”
RGPS Council Bluffs Final Table Results
| Place | Name | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Derrick Plumage | $56,931 |
| 2 | Mark Homan | $39,896 |
| 3 | Keith Jeffrey | $25,669 |
| 4 | Loren Hackman | $18,271 |
| 5 | Mo Nuwwarah | $14,018 |
| 6 | Doug Hawley | $11,532 |
| 7 | Matthew Palmer(US) | $9,525 |
| 8 | Yoel Gonzalez | $7,588 |
| 9 | Daniel Hamm | $5,691 |
Day 2 Action
Day 2 kicked off to a quick start, with many players’ dreams of rings being dashed quickly out the gate. Players who fell short of the final table included Blair Hinkle (46th-$1,198), Nathan Steuer (34th-$1,557), Bernard Lee (20th-$2,666), and Grant Hinkle (18th-$3,145). The final table was reached when Mark Kastory’s king-six offsuit could not improve against Mark Homan’s ace-king. He ended his run in tenth place for $4,762.
Derrick Plumage Wins Weekend RGPS Contenders Horseshoe Council Bluffs
Final Table Action
First to go at the final table was Daniel Hamm, who took home $5,691 for his efforts. He moved in his short stack of 825,000 from first position with jack-ten against the pocket queens of Mo Nuwwarah. Although Hamm flopped a gutshot straight draw, he was unable to improve and his quest for a ring ended in ninth place.
Shortly after, Yoel Gonzalez got into a preflop raising war with Plumage. He eventually got in his 1,400,000 with king-queen of hearts, up against Plumage’s ace-ten offsuit. The board ran out as no favor to Gonzalez and he collected $7,588 for his eighth-place finish.
Matthew Palmer came to the final table with one of the shorter stacks and was unable to win a single pot at the final table. In his final hand, he found his king-jack failing to hold up against Plumage’s queen-ten and he ended in seventh place, collecting $9,525 for his efforts.
Doug Hawley came to the final table with the shortest chip stack, but a timely double and some patience rewarded him with a few ladders. When the time came, he called with ace-six against Plumage’s shove who had king-ten. All seemed peachy until the river where Plumage made a straight and Hawley shook everyone’s hands, wishing them luck, and ended his run in sixth place for $11,532.
Former PokerNews reporter Mo Nuwwarah seemed poised to take control of the tournament when he got involved in a 7,000,000 pot with ace-king offsuit against Plumage’s ace-queen suited. The flop gave Nuwwarah top pair top kicker, but the river completed Plumage’s flush, and Nuwwarah left the tournament area quickly, collecting $14,018 for his fifth-place finish.
Shortly after, Loren Hackman tried his luck at racing against Plumage when he got his short stack in with king-five offsuit and Plumage called him with ace-two offsuit. The board gave Hackman no favors and he left in fourth place, collecting $18,271, and leaving the other three to battle for their spot on the podium.
It was the start-of-final-table leader Keith Jeffrey who fell first when he moved all in with an ace-high flush draw, only to get called by Plumage’s two pair. The flush draw did not come home and Jeffrey collected $25,669 for his impressive third-place finish.
Heads up only last two hands, the second of which saw Plumage move all in from the button with ace-seven, only to get called in the big blind by Mark Homan with ace-queen. The flop and river each had a seven on it and Plumage’s three sevens won him the tournament.
Homan finished in second place for $39,896. Since Plumage already owned a seat for the Pro-Am, Homan won his seat for the Pro-Am coming this winter on top of his second-place finish.
The next RGPS will actually be on the high seas as the RGPS CardPlayer Cruise Royal Caribbean will take place October 29-November 6. From there, the tour will head to San Diego's Jamul Casino November 15-20 followed by a season-ending visit at Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Northern California from November 25-December 5. Click here for more information on all future stops.
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