First Stop of Spring RunGood Poker Series Wraps Up in Tulsa
The first stop of the spring RunGood Poker Series schedule concluded on Sunday at the Hard Rock Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The six-day series culminated with a $675 buy-in Main Event featuring three starting flights and $100,000 guaranteed. And, as part of RunGood's season-long charity theme and partnership with Operation Gratitude, over 100 care packages were sent to troops overseas during the Tulsa series.
The Main Event attracted 345 entries with 36 players earning a payday. After an even three-way chop that saw the top three finishers pocket $32,099, Oklahoma firefighter Byron Abernathy officially took the title and the trophy after beating Seth Evans heads up.
Main Event Final Table Payouts
| Place | Player | Payout |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Byron Abernathy | $32,099 |
| 2nd | Seth Evans | $32,099 |
| 3rd | Eric Bishop | $32,099 |
| 4th | Travis Speck | $13,841 |
| 5th | Gilbert Martinez | $10,381 |
| 6th | Chris Louviere | $8,142 |
| 7th | Brady McDonald | $6,680 |
| 8th | Jesse Jones | $5,699 |
| 9th | Bart Bogard | $4,906 |
| 10th | Will Berry | $3,867 |
Road to Victory
According to the RunGood live updates, after starting Day 2 in the middle of the counts, Abernathy was able to hang around on Day 2 as the field thinned out, staying afloat enough to not put his stack at risk throughout the day.
Abernathy took the lead for the first time with four players remaining, when he found a favorable three on the turn holding pocket threes to give him a full house, against the flopped trip fours of Travis Speck. Speck was sent to a fourth-place exit and Abernathy didn't look back.
With Speck's elimination, the final three were sitting on comparable stacks and decided on an even chop. The third of the trio to win the top prize money was Eric Bishop, who busted to Abernathy shortly after the three-handed deal was made.
Abernathy took a sizable lead into heads-up against Evans with 4.3 million to 2.6 million chips and blinds at 30,000/60,000/10,000. During the course of the heads-up battle, Evans was able to take the chip lead from Abernathy, but the latter grinded back and once again had Evans on the ropes.
In the final hand, Evans min-raised with ace-queen suited and called when Abernathy put him to the test with pocket threes. A three on the flop gave Abernathy a set, which held to give Abernathy his first career win in a multi-day event and his biggest cash to date.
Side Event Winners
In addition to the Main Event, the series featured an array of side events. RunGood pro Justin Gardenhire (pictured above) won the first of those, besting a field of 190 in the $135 buy-in RG Pro Bounty for $5,089. The $180 buy-in RG DeepStack got 391 runners and was chopped up between the three winners Scott Horvath, Larry Harker, and Dan Martin.
John Heckenkamp beat out 51 players to win the $230 RG PLO Re-buy, banking $12,705 for his efforts. In the final event, after a four-way chop for $822 each, father and daughter Ed Smith and Mary Cornelius (pictured below) captured the $100 buy-in RG Jack & Jill event title that drew 48 teams.
The next stop on the RunGood Series will take place at the Horseshoe Council Bluffs in Iowa starting on Feb. 20 with another $100,000 guaranteed Main Event running from Feb. 22-25. You can check out the remaining spring schedule here.
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