Todd Nichols Leads Final 69 into Day 2 of RGPS Tulsa Main Event
The RunGood Poker Series $800 Main Event at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma has seen all of its flights run their course. 398 players entered into the final two flights of this event, putting the total number of entrants at 558, smashing the $100,000 prize pool guarantee with a new total of $390,600. Out of these entrants, only 69 found themselves a bag for Day 2, each one of them securing a min-cash.
Kansas resident Mark Martin bagged up the largest late-night stack to finish Day 1c, and will enter Sunday's final day sitting fifth overall in the chip count. Right behind Martin were Chris Baumhoer and Luke Frazier, who will both bring top 10 stacks into Day 2.
Leading the tournament is Todd Nichols, bagging an impressive 619,000 chips in Day 1b. He is followed by Day 1a leader Zachary Smith, who collected 608,000 chips in his bag.
Day 1c Top Ten Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Hometown | Chip Count | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark Martin | Dexter, KS | 479,000 | |||||
| 2 | Chris Baumhoer | Bentonville, AR | 466,000 | |||||
| 3 | Luke Frazier | Tulsa, OK | 456,000 | |||||
| 4 | Tim Black | Pittsburg, KS | 398,000 | |||||
| 5 | James Traber | Edmond, OK | 332,000 | |||||
| 6 | Nikhil Behl | Tulsa, OK | 327,000 | |||||
| 7 | John Popa | Tulsa, OK | 300,000 | |||||
| 8 | Kenneth Nicoletti | Little Rock, AR | 280,000 | |||||
| 9 | Kelly Cortum | Norwalk, IA | 279,000 | |||||
| 10 | Chris Freeman | Oronogo, MO | 275,000 |
Many players remain in this stacked field of names, including RGPS Ambassadors Daniel Lowery (206,000) and Ashley Frank (203,000). Jared Ward (499,000) also bagged a big stack in the second flight, along with RGPS regular Duster Ellis (431,000). RGPS Player of the Year frontrunner Brian Winter also bagged 224,000 in the first flight, while second-placed points holder Shaun Emery bagged (205,000) in Day 1b.
Not all were fortunate enough to see tomorrow, as many including Will Berry, Daniel “Donk” Hughes, Kasey Mills, Michael Lech, and WSOP Main Event Champion Scotty Nguyen all found their hopes of a RGPS Tulsa Main Event Title dashed on this trip. Defending Tulsa Champion Tyler Barnes also met an early end when his ace-four offsuit fell to Forrest Kollar's pocket kings.
Flight 1a ended earlier than the following two flights. Play ended and 11:42 was left in level 14 with blinds at 3,000/6,000 and a 6,000 big blind ante. The 69 surviving players will start play again on Sunday, January 21 at high noon in the poker room. The levels will continue to be 40-minute blinds, with a 15-minute break after every three levels, with play continuing until a new champion is crowned.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for all updates on the RunGood Tulsa Main Event.