Iowa stop sees an 11-way chop at the final table
The RunGood Poker Series returned in a big way earlier this month, with a successful series at Jamul Casino in San Diego that followed a 15-month hiatus.
A two-time winner of the Global Poker Awards Best Mid-Major Series award, the RunGood Poker Series is a certified fan favorite of the live tournament circuit. That status was further cemented by the big numbers that turned out for the RGPS Council Bluffs Main Event at Horseshoe Council Bluffs in Iowa over the weekend.
The $575 Main Event drew 851 entries, a new record for any RGPS Main Event. For a second straight time, the pinnacle event from a RunGood Poker Series festival ended in a multiway chop that allowed several players to walk away with a significant return on investment for the tournament.
The RGPS Council Bluffs ended in an 11-way chop, with the top 11 finishers all taking home a $26,058 payday. The RGPS Jamul Casino Main Event ended in similar fashion, with the San Diego Main Event ending with a nine-way deal at the final table on June 13.
The RGPS Jamul Main Event saw a nine-way deal that awarded different payouts based on ICM consideration. The 11-player deal that went through at Council Bluffs Main Event, however, awarded a straight 11-way chop.
Once the final 11 players agreed to the chop, the tournament continued on with the official All-Stars Ring and a spot in the RunGood Poker Series/PokerGO Pro-Am on the line. Freeman Kauffman came away with that honor, and he’ll get a spot among the 64-player field at the Pro-Am.
The RGPS Pro-Am commences from the PokerGO Studio this December. Here’s a look at the 11-players who chopped the RGPS Council Bluffs $575 Main Event:
RunGood Poker Series Council Bluffs $575 Main Event payouts
| Place | Player Name | Payout** |
| 1 | Freeman Kauffman* | $26,058 |
| 2 | Brantley Grace | $26,058 |
| 3 | Steve Vang | $26,058 |
| 4 | Ryan Fetherkile | $26,058 |
| 5 | Bhaskar Setti | $26,058 |
| 6 | Kyle Hinnerichs | $26,058 |
| 7 | Ron Koenemann | $26,058 |
| 8 | Timothy Sciscoe | $26,058 |
| 9 | Matt Morfitt | $26,058 |
| 10 | Paul Strohm | $26,058 |
| 11 | Jon Stanfield | $26,058 |
Chip leader with 11 remaining calls for the straight chop
PokerNews’ Brandon Temple was on hand to live report for the $575 Main Event. He said the 11-way chop was the idea of Kyle Hinnerichs, the chip leader when the tournament got down to the final 11 players.
The normal first-place prize would have been $84,633, with the 11-way deal spreading the money from the top end of the payout structure evenly. As a result, all 11 players in the deal came away with a big return on investment from the $575 buy-in tournament.
With 851 entries, the final prize pool for the RGPS Council Bluffs Main Event ended up at $434,010. That number smashed the guarantee considerably, as the tournament promised at least a $100,000 prize pool.
We don’t yet know when the next stop for the RunGood Poker Series will take place. The next scheduled event for the tour was supposed to happen in Tunica, MS, but the event was cancelled because of “circumstances outside our control” according to the RGPS website.
The first two stops on the officially dubbed RunGood Poker Series All Stars Comeback Tour Powered by PokerGO certainly have to be considered a major success for poker’s “best mid-major tour.”
Featured image source: Twitter
