Dan O'Brien Wins RIU Reno VIII Main Event for $46,681
The eighth edition of Run It Up Reno ended Monday night with the conclusion of the $600 buy-in Main Event, a tournament that attracted 629 runners. Nine players returned to the Peppermill Casino to battle it out on the live-streamed final table, and it was poker pro Dan O��Brien denying Loren Klein a third RIU Main Event title to capture a $46,681 first-place prize.
The win brought O��Brien��s lifetime earnings up over $3.3 million and, in a sense, symbolizes his return to tournament poker after laying relatively low in 2018. Surprisingly, it marked just his third documented win and is arguably the most prestigious.
��It feels really good to win, it really does. It was a lot of fun,�� O��Brien said. ��I ran really well the entire tournament obviously. I tried to focus on playing well and really not worrying about anything else.��
He continued: ��I really didn��t play much in 2018, I was working on some other things. In the fall I decided to actually put some work in. It��s really nice to put in all that work and see immediate results even though it��s still a lot of luck to get here.��
As for Klein, he has more than $2.7 million in lifetime earnings. In addition to being a two-time RIU Reno Main Event champ �C he won both the RIU Reno III and V �C he is also a three-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner after taking down last summer��s $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship for $1,018,336, the 2017 WSOP Event #41: $1,500 PLO for $231,483, and the 2016 WSOP Event #45: $1,500 Mixed NLH/PLO for $241,427. He��s also finished runner up in two other WSOP tournaments for $552,713 and $195,147 respectively.
��He��s incredible. He has a really high success rate in tournaments, and generally he doesn��t play that many,�� O��Brien said of his heads-up foe. ��He��s definitely a tough opponent. I like him as a person but I was certainly rooting against him.��
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dan O��Brien | $46,681 |
| 2 | Loren Klein | $30,950 |
| 3 | Austin Roberts | $22,180 |
| 4 | Tim Tucker | $17,120 |
| 5 | Vito Distefano | $13,920 |
| 6 | Julio Uribe | $11,640 |
| 7 | Kevin Gerhart | $9,825 |
| 8 | Chris Gallagher | $8,245 |
| 9 | Robert Valdez | $6,750 |
The short-stacked Robert Valdez bowed out right at the start of the final table �C the result of losing a flip with pocket nines to Vito Distefano��s ace-jack �C but then it took several hours for the next player to fall. It happened when Chris Gallagher three-bet jammed king-seven suited and received a call from Klein, who had ace-ten. Gallagher paired his seven on the flop but a river ten sent him packing in eighth place.
Kevin Gerhart was next to go losing a flip with king-six to Klein��s pocket fours, and then Julio Uribe followed him out the door in sixth place running ace-deuce suited into O��Brien��s aces. Distefano, who began the final table as chip leader, dwindled before getting all in with queen-jack and failing to get there against Klein��s ace-eight to exit in fifth place.
Not long after, RIU Reno IV champ Tim Tucker hit the rail when his pocket jacks were cracked by Klein��s queen-jack after a queen spiked on the flop. The elimination of Austin Roberts in third place �C his queen-ten suited couldn��t overcome O��Brien��s ace-queen �C saw the eventual champ take a small chip lead into heads-up play against Klein.
The two battled back and forth for quite some time and swapped the chip lead on several occasions. Eventually, a big hand played out that saw Klein flop two pair and O'Brien turn a bigger two pair. The latter doubled and a couple of hands later it was all over.