$2,500 Main Event
Day 1a Completed
2024 RGPS Destination RunGood Thunder Valley
$2,500 Main Event
Day: 1a
Level 10
: Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
The first of two opening flights in the biggest RunGood Poker event of the year is in the books with Andrew Voor bagging the lead with 390,000. Voor had a top-three stack for much of the day but managed to eliminate Yuan Yongqi in the final hands of the day with ace-queen versus her ace-king to edge him into the lead.
Close on his heels is Yunkyu Song who had a few deep runs this summer at the WSOP and is looking for yet another to pad his resume. In third is high roller Daniel Rezaei who max late-regged and spun up his stack quickly to end the day with 350,000. Behind him is another high-stakes regular Andrew Ostapchenko who bagged 274,000 and rounding out the top five is Dawson Dvorak.
Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrew Voor | United States | 390,000 | 156 |
| 2 | Yunkyu Song | United States | 367,500 | 147 |
| 3 | Daniel Rezaei | Austria | 350,000 | 140 |
| 4 | Andrew Ostapchenko | United States | 274,000 | 110 |
| 5 | Dawson Dvorak | United States | 251,500 | 101 |
| 6 | Ari Katz | United States | 241,000 | 96 |
| 7 | Matthew Salsberg | United States | 239,500 | 96 |
| 8 | Nissar Quraishi | United States | 230,500 | 92 |
| 9 | Andrew Moser | United States | 230,500 | 92 |
| 10 | Cody Golden | United States | 222,000 | 89 |
207 players took their seats throughout the day with 62 finding their way to a bag after ten one-hour levels of play.
Among other notables bagging up were RPGS Baltimore Main Event winner Ari Katz (241,000), Matthew Salsberg (239,500), Matthew Wantman (141,500), Michael Noori (88,500), and Jeff Platt who is looking to spin up on Day 2 with 29,500. Of course, we can’t forget about our reigning champion, Tyler Patterson, who put 163,500 chips in a bag and is looking to use them for a title defense!
Those who didn’t make it through the day but can come back again tomorrow include WPT Rolling Thunder defending champ Casey Sandretto, Brett Murray, Brek Schutten, Daniel Smiljkovic, Jared Jaffee, and Terrance Reid.
Another Opening Flight Saturday
With one successful opening flight in the books, the second will take place Saturday at 11 a.m. local time with an even bigger field expected that will almost certainly send the prize pool past its $1,000,000 guarantee.
Make sure to get here early as the RGPS and Thunder Valley team will be rolling out the red tarmac and will be geared up for a full flight before cards go in the air!
Players will again have two entries available to them throughout the day with late registration closing at the start of Level 9.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for continued coverage from the beautiful Thunder Valley Casino Resort until a Destination Champion is crowned on Monday.
Level 10
: Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
Play has come to an end on Day 1a and the following players have bagged up to return Sunday for Day 2 at 11 a.m.:
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
390,000
110,000
|
110,000 |
|
||
|
367,500
178,000
|
178,000 |
|
350,000
145,000
|
145,000 |
|
274,000
20,000
|
20,000 |
|
251,500
144,500
|
144,500 |
|
241,000
-24,000
|
-24,000 |
|
239,500
140,000
|
140,000 |
|
||
|
230,500
34,500
|
34,500 |
|
230,500
-16,000
|
-16,000 |
|
222,000
101,000
|
101,000 |
|
215,500
75,500
|
75,500 |
|
204,000
80,500
|
80,500 |
|
185,500
80,500
|
80,500 |
|
182,500
-7,500
|
-7,500 |
|
178,500
-24,000
|
-24,000 |
|
168,000
-13,500
|
-13,500 |
|
165,500
82,000
|
82,000 |
|
164,500
85,000
|
85,000 |
|
163,500
-30,500
|
-30,500 |
|
||
|
152,500
-48,500
|
-48,500 |
|
|
150,000
-8,000
|
-8,000 |
|
148,500
79,500
|
79,500 |
|
|
148,500
78,500
|
78,500 |
|
148,500
500
|
500 |
|
|
146,000
28,000
|
28,000 |
Level 10
: Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
The Tournament Director has announced that three more hands will be played before the players bag up for Day 2.
Level 10
: Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
After a preflop betting war, Yuan Yongqing moved all in and was called by big stack Andrew Voor to put her at risk.
Yuan Yongqing: A♠K♥
Andrew Voor: A♣Q♦
Yongqing was in good shape to double with her superior ace, but the runout was brutal as it came 10♠J♠9♥10♥8♦ to give Voor a straight on the river to send her to the rail.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
280,000
21,000
|
21,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
Busted | |
Level 10
: Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
Alfred Ugaitafa opened to 4,000 and then was three-bet to 17,000 by Andrew Greenawalt in the blind. Ugaitafa made the call and the two went heads-up to a flop of J♥10♣7♥.
The action then went check-check and they continued to the turn J♠, which saw a bet of 6,500 from Ugaitafa and a call from Greenawalt.
On the river A♦, Ugaitafa fired for 15,500 and was snap-called by Greenawalt.
"Ace-king is good, I guess," Ugaitafa said as he tabled A♥Q♣, to which Greenawalt responded by tabling A♣K♦ to take the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
181,500
81,500
|
81,500 |
|
81,000
-52,000
|
-52,000 |
Level 10
: Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
Level 10 is now underway and this will be the last level of the evening before players bag up to return for Day 2 on Sunday.
Level: 10
Blinds: 1,000/2,000
Ante: 2,000
Level 9
: Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante
Life Outside Poker is a new podcast for PokerNews hosted by Connor Richards that seeks to pull back the curtain on poker players and allow viewers and listeners to get to know them on a personal level.
In the 13th episode, Connor speaks with 888poker ambassador and streamer Ian Simpson, who talked about first learning poker as a kid, getting a degree in biotechnology and becoming a biology teacher, poker streaming and his breakout year of live poker in 2013 that saw him winning the Irish Poker Open for $339,604.
Simpson also discussed the importance of being a responsible poker ambassador and how science can change the world for the better.
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Level 9
: Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante
Anthony An made it 8,000 to go preflop and was called by Adam Duong to see a flop of J♣Q♠8♠.
Duong checked, An bet 10,000, and Duong called to see the turn peel the 9♥.
Duong checked once more to An, who then loaded the clip and fired off a big bet of 35,000, which produced a fold from Duong to win him the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
140,000
65,500
|
65,500 |
|
|
105,000
-12,500
|
-12,500 |