How many players have ever won three live tournaments in a single day? Do the research, you’ll come up empty.
Yet, Nick Rigby just did it. Two weeks ago. It’s hard to fathom, but it’s true.
At the recent RunGood Poker Series stop at Hollywood Casino in St. Louis, Rigby put together one of the craziest 24-hour run goods you’ll ever see. He took down the $400 Power Stack on Thursday, came back the next day and won the $500 PLO event, then capped it off with a $200 NLH Turbo title that same night.
Three wins, three shiny RunGood rings, all in one day. And Rigby left St. Louis with a $44,773 payday to boot.
The outrageous heater didn’t come out of nowhere. The fire within the super-aggressive Rigby had been lit two weeks earlier in Cherokee, North Carolina. He was coming off a sixth-place finish for $70,000 in the largest WSOP Circuit Main Event at Cherokee.
With that finish, momentum was building for Rigby heading into the St. Louis RunGood Series.
PokerOrg caught up with Rigby, who is best known for making the 'dirty diaper' (two-three offsuit) famous, to break down how a 24-hour winning streak like this actually happens.
'Everyone's excited to try to bust me'
Let's talk about your 24-hour run and three RunGood Series rings. That’s crazy!
Can we rewind to the stop before that series?
Go for it.
I was in Cherokee, North Carolina, for the WSOP-C stop. I think they said it was the biggest circuit main event ever held on American soil. It was almost $400,000 for the first.
I got sixth in that for $72,000, which is really where my sun runner heater started. After that, I found myself in St. Louis for the RunGood stop.
How do you prepare mentally for three deep runs in a 24-hour period? Are you simply riding a wave of an adrenaline rush?
I think when you're in that winning mentality, you're going to keep winning as if you almost expect to win. If you went into an event with a poor attitude, it’s the same; it's going to reflect that.
Obviously, you can't affect the cards you're downloading or what you do with them. But turning poor hands you're dealt into good ones just by playing your opponents correctly is a key aspect of that momentum.
You seem to excel at the mid-stakes events.
I would say overall, the higher the stakes, the less fun you have as far as verbal communication at the tables goes. But Tana Karn does a great job with the RunGood stops by creating a mid-stakes community that everyone enjoys talking at the table.
Even when you're approaching a new table?
As soon as people see coming to their table, they kind of roll their eyes and say, ‘Buckle up’ or ‘We're in for an interesting ride.'.
So you’re saying the recreational players can’t wait to play with you?
Well, it's usually pretty receptive when I sit. (laughs) Everyone's excited to try to bust me.
Wait, let me guess.
Yes. I get a lot more 'two-three offsuit' hands played against me than others. But I've seen it at higher stakes, too. What can I say? People want to bust me with the diaper, which is great to have working against you.
Everyone's playing the Dirty Diaper from any position to try to create a memorable moment. It's fun.
Three rings in 24 hours
Let’s talk about your three tournament blitzes in 24 hours. Was it smooth sailing through all of them?
I'm an ambassador for RunGood. I arrived there earlier in the week, expecting to play every event unless they overlapped.
One of the first events was the $400 Power Stack, which got a good turnout. During the event, I stayed in my comfort zone when it came to exploitative play against the rest of the field. I eventually found myself at the final table on Day 2.
Where did you stand?
I came into the table as the chip leader.
Were there any fun spots at the table from the get-go?
We did have one player who would either go all in or fold. There was no in between. So, there's no post-flop play. I always joke with my friends that I have a PFA, which stands for post-flop advantage. So, it's a little frustrating when a player just takes that whole element out of the game, going all in or folding. And he came into the final table second in chips.
Other than that, a good friend of mine at the final table and I ended up playing heads-up. We decided to play to the death; we both wanted the ring. I ended up beating him with ace four against ace six in the final hand. We made light work of him. (laughs)
Then, you registered for a $500 PLO event the next day, correct?
Yes. I shot my first buy-in pretty quickly and was on to the next bullet. I found some luck and spun it up. Ultimately, I was the chip leader at that final table as well.
That’s wild.
I know. I was pretty much in the driver's seat at that point, kind of dictating the pace of play. It was a really fun heads-up match. On the final hand, I had an open-ended flush draw, and he had top and bottom pair. I hit the flush on the river. That was our second ring in St. Louis.
The greatest hand in poker?
I understand the 'dirty diaper' played a part during the last event.
It did. During the turbo event, it was just kind of off to the races out of the gate making hands, and on to the final table.
When we got three-handed, I was in the small blind with the diaper, and the button folded. I had most of the chips in play at that point.
The big blind was playing about eight bigs effective. And we looked down at the glorious 
, and we opted to rip it. He called and rolled over ace-king only to get the unfortunate news that he was up against the greatest hand in poker.
The greatest hand in all of poker? OK. We will roll with that for the moment.
Well, not the greatest hand, second best. It was the clean diaper. (laughs) The flop came 
. One spade. The turn was the 
, and the river was the 
.
That got us heads-up, and we played one hand. I jammed [Ad 7s], and he called [Qs 4h]. We get an ace in the window, and just like that, we had won three RunGood rings.
That’s amazing. What’s next for Rigby?
I have a few more RunGood stops. I'm in contention for player of the year after those three wins. I'm going to try to squeeze in an extra stop or two as the season dies down here, before going into the WSOP.
Other than that, my future plans are to go to Florida to play the WPT Seminole Hard Rock. My girlfriend will join me on that one. That's one of my favorite stops. It's almost like a vacation. Great pool, outdoor shopping, everything.
Then it’s time to gear up for the summer in Vegas, where I hope to win my first bracelet.
Best of luck, Nick. See you there.
Photo courtesy of Rachel Kay Winter/8131 Media.
