Craig Walker Leads The 17 Survivors From Day 1b
The second flight of The RunGood Poker Series Checkpoint $600 Main Event at Downstream Resort and Casino outside of Joplin, Missouri, saw an uptick in entrants from yesterday’s flight from 108 to 138, bringing the total number of entrants for the event up to 246. The $100,000 prizepool has already been hit and will continue to be surpassed in the next two flights that begin tomorrow.
Leading the way is Craig Walker who ended his day with 514,000, good for second in chips overall. Walker found himself clashing multiple times with one of the tournament chip leaders Danny Barnes (465,000), and through that he rallied a late night surge to the chip lead. This will mark Walker’s first RGPS cash as he puts himself in prime position to make a deep run in this tournament.
Day 1b Top Ten Chip Counts
| Place | Name | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Craig Walker | 514,000 |
| 2 | Dustin Messner | 510,000 |
| 3 | Danny Barnes | 465,000 |
| 4 | Dakotah O'Dell | 422,000 |
| 5 | Joe Ferguson | 400,000 |
| 6 | Jason Darland | 342,000 |
| 7 | Lance Ledford | 297,000 |
| 8 | Yordanos Mebrahth | 189,000 |
| 9 | Brandon Robinson | 158,000 |
| 10 | Philip Fuhrman | 146,000 |
Dustin Messner (510,000) came up in a very close second after maintaining a large stack throughout the majority of the day. RGPS Main Event Champion Dakotah O’Dell (422,000) also bagged large and will be looking to add another big cash to his already decorated resume. Others that found bags included, Joe Ferguson (400,000), Jason Darland (342,000), Brandon Robinson (158,000), Will “Wonka” Anderson (137,000), Wesley Jones (123,000), and Blair Hinkle (79,000). All of them will join the survivors from the previous flight and future two flights on Sunday at noon.
Players that did not find any success in today’s flight included Brian Frenzel,Denise Pratt, Grant Hinkle, Dustin Hill, Sam Washburn, and the defending champion Scott Brandau. With unlimited re-entry available in this tournament, it is likely that their faces will appear in the following two flights. Rodney Spriggs went out on the bubble as he lost queens to kings on the bubble against Philip Fuhrman (146,000), then lost the rest of his chips to O’Dell when his king-jack could not improve against O’Dell’s ace-jack.
Play ended with 10:02 left on the clock in level 15 with blinds at 8,000/16,000 with a 16,000 big blind ante in the flight prior, so that means that Day 2 players(who are already guaranteed a min cash) will return at this time barring another flight ending earlier than this one. Day 1b ended is level 17, so they will go back two levels. Stay tuned to PokerNews for all updates regarding The RunGood Poker Series Joplin Main Event.