Noel Eicher Wins RGPS Jamul Casino Main Event in Home Town ($38,390)
San Diego's Noel Eicher took down the RunGood Poker Series (RGPS) Jamul Casino Main Event late Sunday evening after nearly 12 hours of play on Day 2 to earn a payday of $38,390. Eicher defeated David Van Reyk after entering heads-up play with a commanding chip lead to secure the first-place prize and trophy, as well as a seat to the RGPS: All Stars Pro-am Event at PokerGo Studios in December 2022.
The Main Event, which offered three starting flights, attracted a massive field of 500 entrants to generate a prize pool of $250,000, two and a half times the guarantee of $100,000. Only 107 of those players made it to Day 2, including two who double-bagged, and 63 of them made the money.
Eicher was one of four players who agreed to an ICM-chop in addition to agreeing to play out the tournament for a remaining $4,000 in prize and the trophy. Those other players were Van Reyk ($31,4870, Rafi Azam (3rd - $30,800) and Dillon Najor ($23,838).
RGPS Jamul Casino Main Event Final Table Results
| PLACE | PLAYER | HOMETOWN | PRIZE (USD) | |
| 1 | Noel Eicher | San Diego, CA | $38,390* | |
| 2 | David Van Reyk | San Clemente, CA | $34,310* | |
| 3 | Rafi Azam | N/A | $30,800* | |
| 4 | Dillon Najor | Del Mar, CA | $23,838* | |
| 5 | Jacob Mendelsohn | San Diego, CA | $11,735 | |
| 6 | Shane Truesdale | N/A | $9,780 | |
| 7 | Katerina Grishakova | Carlsbad, CA | $8,145 | |
| 8 | Andrew Moreno | Las Vegas, NV | $6,520 | |
| 9 | Christopher Smith | La Mesa, CA | $4,055 |
*Denotes four-way deal.
Local Victory
Eicher, who is from Poway in San Diego County, told PokerNews after his victory that he felt "very blessed" to take down a local tournament.
"It’s been a long road," Eicher said in a winner's interview. "I’ve spent a lot of time studying and a lot of time playing. I’m glad to see it come to fruition in a tournament like this.”
Eicher made a strong showing at the 2021 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. that included a 658th-place finish in the Main Event for $20,000 and a 12th-place finish in the $1,500 No Limit 2-7 Lowball event that brought Phil Hellmuth his 16th bracelet, an experience that Eicher called "probably the highlight of my WSOP this past year."
"I got really deep. I got 12th place, so I got to play with all of these guys who are icons of the game. And it was so much fun," he said.
Day 2 Action
One of the star players at the final table was Andrew Moreno, who in June 2021 took down the $10,000 Wynn Millions for just shy of $1.5 million. Moreno ended Day 1b as chip leader but ultimately fell in eighth place when his pocket sixes were pipped by the pocket eights of Azam.
The Day 1a chip leader, Shane Truesdale, was out shortly after in sixth place when his ace-queen was dominated by the ace-king of the eventual champion. Eicher also eliminated Azam in third place to enter heads-up play with around 90 percent of the chips in play.
The final blow came when Van Reyk moved all in with nine-seven only to run into the pocket kings of Eicher, who was able to dodge the flush outs his opponent picked up on the turn.
Eicher creditedJonathan Little’s PokerCoaching.com for helping him study the game and exploit the aggression of his opponents.
“There’s a lot of aggression. A lot of these guys are super aggressive," he said.
He added that "it all came down to a good run of cards, obviously a lot of luck involved."
"But I’m very pleased with my performance even though I was certainly lucky in several instances," said Eicher.
RunGood ambassadors Joe Stapleton, “Boston” Rob Mariano and Julie Cornelius all made deep runs in the tournament that extended into Day 2, with Cornelius faring the best with a 33rd-place finish worth $1,415.
Other players who made it to Day 2 in the Main Event include Forrest Kollar, Kyna England, Lena Evans, Adrian Moreno, Arturo Segura, Ron Segni, Spencer Tep and Huy Nguyễn.
A full list of winners at the 2021 RGPS Jamul Casino stop is available below.
2021 RGPS Jamul Casino Winners
| TOURNAMENT | ENTRIES | PRIZE POOL | WINNER | HOMETOWN | PRIZE | |
| $125 Seniors Event | 123 | $12,300 | George Osthimer | CA | $1,860 | |
| $135 Opening Night Guest Bounty Event | 251 | $26,355 | Dave Patchel | Marysville, MI | $4,245 | |
| $185 DeepStack Event | 313 | $45,385 | Huy Nguyễn | Scottsdale, AZ | $7,292 | |
| $200 Two Green Chip Bounty Event | 114 | $18,810 | Brad Lawn | San Diego, CA | $3,094 | |
| $300 Pot Limit Omaha Event | 69 | $17,940 | Paul Cross | Minneapolis, MN | $3,451 | |
| $575 RunGood Main Event | 500 | $250,000 | Noel Eicher | San Diego, CA | $38,390 | |
| $240 Black Chip Bounty Closer Event | 116 | $23,780 | Brandon Schaefer | $3,591 |
That wraps up the PokerNews live reporting team's coverage of the RGPS Jamul Casino Main Event on the tail end of an exciting RunGood stop. Their next stop will be February 15-20 at Horseshoe Iowa Casino in Council Bluffs, Iowa just across the river from Omaha.