Million Dollar Main Event | 2023 RGPS Checkpoint Thunder Valley

07-31-2023 15:14 UTC-8

Liu Doubles on River

Kirk Brown

Level 25 : Blinds 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante

After the action folded around, Adam Hannula moved all in from the small bind and the pressure was then on Shijia Liu in the big blind who went into the tank.

After a solid minute, he finally pushed out his stack to make the call, putting himself at risk.

Shijia Liu: Q♦10♣
Adam Hannula: A♠6♦

Hannula was in the lead with his ace-high, and the flop of 3♥A♦Q♣ gave him the superior pair of aces, but the runout of 2♥10♦ gave Liu two-pair on the river to win the pot for a double-up.

Player	Chips	Progress
Shijia Liu	850,000 -1,395,000	-1,395,000
Adam Hannula	145,000 -1,130,000	-1,130,000

Level: 25

Blinds: 30,000/60,000

Ante: 60,000

07-31-2023 14:33 UTC-8

Break Time

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Kirk Brown

Level 24 : 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante

The surviving seven players are now on their second 15-minute break of the day and will return to battle shortly.

07-31-2023 14:17 UTC-8

John Kenner Wins RGPS Thunder Valley Player of the Series

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Chad Holloway

Level 24 : 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante

Through the first 14 events on the RGPS Thunder Valley stop, a Player of the Series race was held. Players earned points for cashing in eligible open-field tournaments, and the player with the most points received a complimentary entry into the $2,500 buy-in, $1,000,000 GTD RGPS Million Dollar Main Event.

That player wound up being John Kenner, who finished atop the leaderboard with 166 points. That staved off the likes of Joseph Ricardo, who had 161 points. Below is a look at others to amass big points as tallied by Dan Ross of Hold’em Live Updates.

Player of the Series Leaderboard Top 10 Results

Place	Player	Points
1	John Kenner	166
2	Joseph Ricardo	161
3	Kulwant Singh	153
3	Victor Paredes	153
5	Shane Miller	152
6	Pedro Rodriguez	148
7	Hieu Le	129
7	Michael Mendonsa	129
9	Brett Hildebrand	125
9	Travis Fujisaka	125

Tags: John Kenner

07-31-2023 14:14 UTC-8

Michael Zimmer Eliminated in 8th Place ($27,040)

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Kirk Brown

Level 24 : 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante

Short-stacked Michael Zimmer got the last of his chips into the middle preflop and was called by chip leader Paul Sampson to put him at risk.

Michael Zimmer: A♥6♥
Paul Sampson: A♠J♥

The board ran out 10♠10♥7♠8♣Q♥ for Sampson's ace-jack to hold and Zimmer was eliminated in eighth place.

Player	Chips	Progress
Paul Sampson	7,650,000 1,625,000	1,625,000

Michael Zimmer	Busted

Tags: Michael Zimmer Paul Sampson

07-31-2023 14:04 UTC-8

Alexander Rodriguez Eliminated in 9th Place ($21,505)

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Kirk Brown

Level 24 : Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante

After losing two big pots to Paul Sampson, Alexander Rodriguez was left on fumes when he moved all in for 175,000 after a preflop open by Kevin O'Donnell.

Tyler Patterson made the call behind and O'Donnell tossed in the extra 75,000 as well.

The flop came out 7♥2♠Q♦ and action checked through to the 10♠ turn which saw another check from Patterson. O'Donnell then set out a bet of 225,000 and Patterson got out of the way.

"Two-pair," O'Donnell announced as he flipped over 7♦10♦.

"Yeah, I'm dead," Rodriguez sighed as he rolled over A♣4♣.

The river completed with the A♠ for max pain and O'Donnell was awarded the pot while Rodriquez made his way to the payout desk in 9th place as the final table's first casualty.

Player	Chips	Progress
Kevin O'Donnell	1,750,000 -105,000	-105,000
Alexander Rodriguez	Busted

Tags: Alexander Rodriguez Kevin O'Donnell Paul Sampson Tyler Patterson

Level: 24

Blinds: 25,000/50,000

Ante: 50,000

07-31-2023 13:37 UTC-8

Final Table Time

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Kirk Brown

Level 23 : Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante

Seat	Player	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	Darren Rabinowitz	2,760,000	55
2	Phatseluck Yang	1,445,000	29
3	Michael Zimmer	805,000	16
4	Kevin O'Donnell	1,855,000	37
5	Paul Sampson	6,025,000	121
6	Adam Hannula	1,275,000	26
7	Shijia Liu	2,245,000	45
8	Alex Rodriguez	1,035,000	21
9	Tyler Patterson	1,545,000	31

Player	Chips	Progress
Paul Sampson	6,025,000 975,000	975,000

Darren Rabinowitz	2,760,000 95,000	95,000

Shijia Liu	2,245,000 195,000	195,000
Kevin O'Donnell	1,855,000 55,000	55,000
Tyler Patterson	1,545,000 -205,000	-205,000

Phatseluck Yang	1,445,000 30,000	30,000
Adam Hannula	1,275,000 -415,000	-415,000
Alex Rodriguez	1,035,000 1,035,000	1,035,000
Michael Zimmer	805,000 -290,000	-290,000

07-31-2023 13:24 UTC-8

Tongzu Ding Eliminated in 10th Place ($21,505)

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Kirk Brown

Level 23 : Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante

Short-stacked Tongzu Ding moved all in preflop and was called by Kevin O'Donnell to put him at risk.

Tongzu Ding: A♦Q♠
Kevin O'Donnell: 7♣7♦

Ding needed some help to catch up to O'Donnell's pocket pair, and the flop of K♠4♠8♠ gave him a sweat with a flush draw, but the runout of 2♦8♥ bricked out for him and he was eliminated in 10th place.

Player	Chips	Progress
Kevin O'Donnell	1,800,000 420,000	420,000
Tongzu Ding	Busted

Tags: Kevin O'Donnell Tongzu Ding

07-31-2023 13:11 UTC-8

Brett Hildebrand Victorious in Event #13: $600 Heads-Up NLH

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Chad Holloway

Level 23 : Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante

While all eyes have been on the $2,500 buy-in RGPS Million Dollar Main Event, it is just one of more than a dozen tournaments that have been playing out at Thunder Valley Casino.

Another was Event #13: $600 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em, which was capped at 64 players and awarded a $33,280 prize pool. Among those to participate were WPT champ Tyler Patterson, noted poker commentator Jeff Platt, and Survivor’s “Boston” Rob Mariano.

However, only the “Elite Eight” made the money, and in the end, it came down to Brett Hildebrand taking on Travis Fujisaka for the title. The former ultimately prevailed in the final match to claim the RSPG ring and $9,985 in prize money.

Event #13 Final Results

Place	Player	Prize
1	Brett Hildebrand	$9,985
2	Travis Fujisaka	$6,655
3	Justo Avalos Palacios	$3,660
4	Joseph Ricard	$3,660
5	Scott Foss	$2,330
6	Steven Crick	$2,330
7	Benjamin Underwood	$2,330
8	Tracy Rogers	$2,330