Pham Leads The Way; Homan and Jordison Bag Big In Day 1a Of The RGPS Council Bluffs Main Event
The first flight ofThe RunGood Poker Series $700 Main Event at The Horseshoe In Council Bluffs, Iowa saw a total of 188 players put their name into contention for the next title of RGPS Main Event Champion. The tentpole event of the series that boasts a $100,000 guarantee, sees the number of entrants setting up for a passing of that guarantee. Only 23 players found themselves bagging at the end of the day, setting up their return for tomorrow.
Leading the way is Quang Pham(NE) who ended his day with 476,000. Pham holds $81,222 in hendon mob earnings and his cash here today guarantees him at least another boost in the thousand digit. Pham took the lead today when his ace-ten filled up against an opponent’s pocket queens for a pot worth over 500,000 in level 10. After that he maintained his position at the top of the leaderboard as the day ticked away. Pham has two prior RGPS cashes, but this third one is looking to be his biggest one yet.
Not too far behind him is last RGPS Council Bluffs runner up, Mark Homan(434,000). Homan battled with his same table all day, becoming the early tournament chip leader, then dropping down to average stack before rising back to the top. Homan’s best live score still remains his second place finish, but he looks to top that this time around and claim the top spot.
Angela Jordison(331,000) made a nice splash in her RGPS debut. Jordison has been crushing the tournament poker scene over the past year, and a win in this event would be another accolade of one of the most decorated players in the field.
Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quang Pham(NE) | 476,000 |
| 2 | Shaun Giap | 463,000 |
| 3 | Mark Homan | 434,000 |
| 4 | Brandon Jay | 348,000 |
| 5 | Angela Jordison | 331,000 |
| 6 | Josh Fordyce | 325,000 |
| 7 | Benjamin Nelson | 323,000 |
| 8 | Nathan Rohda | 305,000 |
| 9 | Jeremiah Slough | 282,000 |
| 10 | Donnie Phan | 264,000 |
Others who found bags included Donnie Phan (264,000), Renato Spahiu (239,000), Kevin Berthelsen (176,000), Michael Miller (173,000) and Kaleb Dunn (138,000). All of them looking to add new titles to their already stacked results.
Not all found fortunes on this day as Daniel Hughes, Jason Crews, Jared Ward, Mo Nuwwarah, Daniel Hamm, and defending champion Derrick Plumage. The bubble was burst today when Taylor Howard was unable to improve with his king-jack against ace-king. All will have ample opportunity to re-enter tomorrow.
Play ended in level 16 with blinds at 5,000/10,000 and a 10,000 big blind ante. Players will return to this level unless another flight ends at an earlier time.
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