Three RunGood Ambassadors Bag on Day 1a of RGPS Tunica Main Event; Phan Leads the Field
Day 1a of the 2022 RunGood Poker Series Contenders Tour Tunica $575 Main Event saw 184 entries turn up to Horseshoe Tunica with the hopes of making it through 12 full levels of play for the first of the tournament's three starting flights. By the end of the night, 46 players remained to take part in the celebratory bag 'n tag and advance to Sunday's Day 2.
Donnie Phan (213,000) finished play atop the counts, scoring a knockout in the final three hands of play that would ultimately land him as the chip leader. Cody Stanford, who spent much of the day atop the counts, ended play second in chips with 187,000. Papa Karn (185,000) was just behind him, with Michael Monaghan (170,000) in fourth before Kyle Cartwright and Edward Fisher finished the day tied for fifth with 165,500 each.
A trio of RunGood Ambassadors in Preston McEwen (163,000), Michael Sanders (102,000; pictured), and Daniel Lowery (56,500) also made it through the day, and the list of notables did not stop there: JW Carter (162,000), Chase Turner (158,500), and Ryan Phan (55,500) were just a few of the others that also advanced.
Two ClubGG Qualifiers in Virginia “P5145-5606” Bereis (105,500) and Colyn “Old Man Coff” Fuson (60,500) also found a bag, and will be back at it on Sunday in the hopes of making a deep run. Meanwhile, plenty more were less fortunate, including RunGood Ambassadors "Boston Rob" Mariano and Julie Cornelius, as well as lifetime seven-figure money earner Johnny Landreth and recent RGPS Council Bluffs third-place finisher Kaleb Dunn.
Two more starting flights remain in the RGPS Tunica $575 Main Event, both of which will take place Saturday. Day 1b begins at noon local time, and all who have yet to advance upon its completion will have one final shot at 7 p.m. for Day 1c. PokerNews will be back on the floor for all the action tomorrow, so be sure to come back then.