Who Will Win The RGPS Graton Main Event?
After a successful week of tournaments, a total of 1,043 players came out to play The RunGood Poker Series $800 Main Event at Graton Casino in Rohnert Park, California. This massive turnout smashed the initial guarantee and put the prizepool at $730,100, with a whopping $122,385 awarded to first place. The starting field has been reduced to just 132 players, all of whom are guaranteed $1,175, but all of them with eyes on the prestige of winning one of the biggest RGPS Main Events ever.
Leading the way is Day 1a’s chip leader Noel Rodriguez, who ended his day with 799,000. Rodriguez bagged the only stack over 700,000 and despite three flights coming after him, held onto the chip lead through them all. Rodriguez holds the top spot as well as over $200,000 in career cashes on Hendon mob. A win here could add his biggest overall score, and with his stack he is in the prime position to make a run for it.
Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Noel Rodriguez | 799,000 | 99 |
| 2 | Dan Sarasin | 611,000 | 76 |
| 3 | Jonathan Warta | 577,000 | 72 |
| 4 | Daniel Lowery | 576,000 | 72 |
| 5 | Craig Stampher | 564,000 | 70 |
| 6 | Giovanni Magat | 558,000 | 70 |
| 7 | Cody Stanford | 507,000 | 63 |
| 8 | Henry Frazier | 500,000 | 63 |
| 9 | Tomas Padilla | 500,000 | 62 |
| 10 | Seaver Kyuw | 477,000 | 62 |
Daniel Lowery also cracked the top five in chips with 576,000. Lowery holds more RGPS title than anyone else in RGPS history, and with all of his results and his chip stack, he looks to be a threatening force to the field. Cody Stanford bagged up 507,000 coming fresh off of a win in this past RGPS PLO event, where he won his third ring. Others that found their way to bags over the course of the past two days included Jeff Beachy (442,000), WSOP Bracelet Winner Marco Johnson (418,000), Viet Vo (380,000), Rob “Boston Rob” Mariano (362,000), Josh Prager (332,000), Alex Loncar (322,000), and Taylor Pollard (312,000). Each one looking to make a mark in RGPS history.
The 132 players come Level 15 and blinds at 4,000/8,000 with an 8,000 big blind ante. The levels following the first will become 40-minute levels, with a 15-minute break occurring after every three rather than every four and play will continue until a winner is crowned.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for all updates and the eventual results of The RunGood Poker Series $800 Main Event at Graton Casino in California. Also check out updates for the concurrently running RunGood Poker Series $600 Main Event at Horseshoe Casino in Tunica Mississippi.