Lewis and Swartz Lead The 20 Survivors Of Day 1a at The RGPS Road Trip Cleveland Main Event
A total of 153 players came out to play the first day of The RunGood Poker Series Road Trip $1,000 Main Event at Jack Casino in Cleveland, Ohio. This is the seventh event that RunGood has run this week and the biggest buy in that Rungood had run at Jack Casino ever. From a starting field of 153, to just 20 survivors at the end of the day, each one of them is guaranteed a piece of the $400,000 guaranteed prize pool.
Leading the way is Shmaryahu Lewis, who ended their day with 558,000. Lewis at a middle point during the day, found himself all in with ace-jack against Sean Faraj’s (308,000) ace-king, but managed to spike a jack to stay alive. After that hand, he continued to rake in pot after pot, soaring higher and higher up the chip counts. The Pot-Limit Omaha cash game regular secured his first RGPS cash as he has put himself in tentpole position for a title.
Day 1a Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shmarayahu Lewis | 558,000 |
| 2 | Daniel Swartz | 540,000 |
| 3 | Kyle Gross | 497,000 |
| 4 | Mark Scheeler | 404,000 |
| 5 | Nathan Huffman | 335,000 |
| 6 | Sean Faraj | 308,000 |
| 7 | Nicholas Rigby | 267,000 |
| 8 | Jonathan Vaughn | 252,000 |
| 9 | Jameson Selvaggio | 250,000 |
| 10 | Jonathan Lewis | 219,000 |
Nipping at his heels is Daniel Swartz, who ended his day with 540,000. Swartz is no stranger to deep runs in fields of all sizes as the Ohio local adds another cash to his $756,436 in lifetime earnings. Just barely missing out on last year’s final table, he looks to use his wealth of experience and tournament knowledge to better his finish.
Also finding bags were PokerNews Cup final tablist Kyle Gross (497,000), Mark Scheeler (404,000), Nicholas Rigby (267,000), and Anthony Carbone (88,000). Each one of them is looking for their first RGPS main event title.
Not all found fortunate run outs today as players like Daniel Hughes, Emily Berglund, Robert Shega, Michael Lech, and WSOP Main Event champion Greg Raymer were all eliminated from the tournament today. They will have ample opportunity to play tomorrow as entry and re-entry will be open for the first 9 levels.
Play ended with 17:30 left in Level 14 with blinds at 3,000/5,000 and a 5,000 big blind ante. Play will return to this level on Sunday, November 12th, barring another flight ending earlier. Players will return at 12:15 on that day.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for all updates regarding the RGPS Road Trip and be sure to check out the coverage of RGPS Tunica Main Event running later this weekend.