It's busy times for the RunGood Poker Series in the fall of 2023, with its new "Road Trip" tour of tournament series offering coast-to-coast stops between now and mid-November, while also inking a deal with Global Poker Index (GPI) for a year-long RGPS leaderboard, with five seats into the 2024 Hendon Mob Mid-Major Championship awaiting the RGPS's overall best finishers.
It's another step forward for RunGood, which began under founder Tana Karn as a poker-themed clothing-and merchandise creator, then launched a mid-priced tour that began in the lower Midwest and has since expanded across the US. The tour has received numerous accolades, including multiple Global Poker Awards honors.
The late-2023 "Road Trip" theme includes ten separate stops from Baltimore to San Diego over the next three months. RGPS action begins with a stop at Tunica, Mississippi's Horseshoe Casino August 27 - September 3, 2023, and concludes with a November 14-19 return trip to San Diego's Jamul Casino.
The complete slate of series stops is at follows, with specific event offerings for each stop available at RunGood's Upcoming Events page:
- August 27 - September 3: Horseshoe Casino, Tunica, MS
- September 5 - September 10: Horseshoe Casino, Baltimore, MD
- September 26 - October 1: Hollywood Casino, St. Louis, MO
- October 10 - October 15: Hard Rock Casino, Tulsa, OK
- October 19 - October 29: Graton Casino, Rohnert Park, CA
- October 24 - October 29: Harrah's Casino, Kansas City, MO
- November 2 - November 12: Jack Casino, Cleveland, OH
- November 7 - November 12: Horseshoe Casino, Tunica, MS
- November 14 - November 19: Horseshoe Casino, Council Bluffs, IA
- November 14 - November 19: Jamul Casino, San Diego, CA
"I'll never forget the thrill and excitement of hopping into the car with a friend and hitting the open highway." said Karn. "Remember that feeling of when your friend turns to you and says wanna go? Whether it was a two-hour or eight-hour trip, there's just as many memories made there and back as there was at the destination."
Dream Factory stop at Thunder Valley wraps up 2023 fall season
That doesn't quite wrap up the Road Trip season, however. An eleventh fall stop for RGPS occurs at the end of November at Thunder Valley, near Sacramento. The stop is named "Dream Factory" because it includes the Dream Seat Invitational, offered in partnership with PokerGO.
Players who have won official RunGood ring events at any time during 2023 will be eligible to enter the Dream Seat Invitational, which begins November 29 at Thunder Valley. The event is not free; it costs $300 to enter, but significant added value comes in the form of the entry into the early-January PGT Championship in Las Vegas that the Dream Seat Invitational winner receives. The PGT Championship freeroll, in turn, offers $500,000 to the winner.
A list of players who are eligible to enter the Dream Seat Invitational is available on RunGood's dedicated page for the event. Eligible players are listed under links to the RGPS stops at which they qualified.
GPI deal adds to RunGood's partnerships
RunGood's continuing growth isn't due solely to the tour's popularity with players. It also involves increased leverage via deals with other poker concerns, such as its new deal with GPI/THM. According to Karn, RunGood has officially inked a deal with GPI that will see GPI creating and publishing what Karn calls "roughly a year-long points leaderboard" for RunGood Poker Series events.
Whenever that leaderboard race ends -- full details have yet to be released -- it's top five finishers will receive a seat package into the 2024 Hendon Mob Mid-Major Championship. The 2023 Hendon Mob MMC was held in July, also in partnership with RunGood, and also at California's Thunder Valley Casino. Though the top five players all receive a seat package, the leaderboard winner does receive an extra bonus, being honored on a traveling banner as the RunGood Player of the Year.
Featured image source: RunGood Poker Series