Utke Leads The Way; Acker, Alsup, and Foster All Advance
The first flight of The Rungood Poker Series Checkpoint $600 Main Event at Jamul Casino in San Diego, California has come to a close. 156 entrants paid their fee to get into the tournament, ensuring that 20 players would advance into Day 2 and secure themselves a minimum cash.
Leading the way is Chad Utke who ended the day with 657,000. Utke is no stranger to The RunGood Poker Series, having final tabled one event and cashed in the main event in the last RGPS Jamul casino. Many of his chips were acquired late in the day, where he moved all in to make his opponent fold a straight, even though he held only the same straight and he won the massive pot. Being the only player to bag over half a million, Utke looks to make his third RGPS cash a big one as he leads the field to the second day.
End Of Day 1A Chip Counts
| Rank | Name | Hometown | Chip Count |
| 1 | Chad Utke | Calgary, Canada | 657,000 |
| 2 | Victor Kulish | San Diego, CA | 498,000 |
| 3 | Gary Crite | San Diego, CA | 455,000 |
| 4 | Tim Acker | San Diego, CA | 426,000 |
| 5 | Young Hillard | San Diego, CA | 399,000 |
| 6 | Shane Truesdale | Oceanside, CA | 378,000 |
| 7 | Gary Bousquet | San Diego, CA | 322,000 |
| 8 | Jesus Diaz | San Diego, CA | 202,000 |
| 9 | Rich Alsup | Minneapolis, MN | 180,000 |
| 10 | Noel Eicher | Poway, CA | 170,000 |
Topping off the podium are Victor Kulish (498,000), and Gary Crite (455,000). Crite was the chip leader for much of the day, while Kulish saw a late surge push him to the top. Last years’ runner up and bracelet winner Rich Alsup (180,000) found his way into the top ten at the end of the day, Grant Foster (108,000) found his way to a bag fresh off of a second place finish earlier this series, and former RGPS Jamul Main Event winner Noel Eicher (170,000) looks to add a second title to his illustrious resume.
Fortunes were not on everyone’s side as the day saw many players fall by the wayside. RGPS winner Anthony Bland became the final casualty of the night when his top pair was unable to fade the open ended straight draw of Victor Kulish. Daniel Hughes, Mark Feinberg, Tavish Margers, Johnnie “Vibes” Moreno, and Garry Gates will all have to look to the following flights in the hopes to bag for the second day.
The 20 survivors will return to play on Sunday February 26th, with blinds at 4,000/8,000 unless one of the following flights finds an earlier end point. Tomorrow on Saturday, February 25th at 11 AM will see the kickoff of Day 1b and 6 PM will be the beginning of Day 1c, as well as the last chance to secure a bag for the second day. With unlimited re-entry in all tournaments and registration open until level 9, players will have ample opportunity to come play for their shot at RGPS glory.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for all updates regarding The RunGood Poker Series Checkpoint $600 Main Event at Jamul Casino.