Eric Bunch Leads The Field Coming Into Final Day; Tucker Looks to Defend His Title in Tulsa for the RunGood Poker Series $800 Main Event
The final day of the $800 Main Event for the RunGood Poker Series at the Hard Rock Casino and Hotel Tulsa has arrived. After three Day 1 flights over two days, the event attracted a total of 472 entrants, with 56 players advancing to Day 2. The tournament generated an impressive prize pool of $330,400, with a minimum cash payout of $1,248 and a grand prize of $65,829. Leading the pack into the final day is Eric Bunch.
Bunch established himself as the Day 1a chip leader, bagging an impressive 844,000 chips and holding onto that crown through the subsequent flights. With 147 entrants on Day 1a, he outperformed the second-place finisher, World Series of Poker champion Michael Perrone, who bagged 472,000—more than 300,000 behind Bunch. Eighteen players from this flight advanced to Day 2.
On Day 1b, Timothy Hicks emerged as the leader, bringing 785,000 chips into Day 2. This flight saw the largest turnout of the three, with 178 entrants, and 22 players made it through to the final day.
Day 1c mirrored Day 1a with 147 entrants, with 18 players advancing to Day 2. Robert Holly closed the night as the chip leader after starting in the middle of the pack during hand for hand play. He won several significant pots off the chip leader just before the money bubble and ultimately eliminated him, securing the advance for all 18 players to Day 2.
Top 10 Chip Counts for Day 2
| Place | Name | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eric Bunch | United States | 844,000 |
| 2 | Timothy Hicks | United States | 785,000 |
| 3 | Robert Holly | United States | 596,000 |
| 4 | Lionel Jiang | United States | 496,000 |
| 5 | Ernie Grant | United States | 481,000 |
| 6 | Michael Perrone | United States | 472,000 |
| 7 | David Eiland | United States | 416,000 |
| 8 | Andy Chen | United States | 416,000 |
| 9 | Savanah Mora | United States | 407,000 |
| 10 | Daniel Hughes | United States | 390,000 |
Defending champion Todd Tucker has a shot at retaining his title. He participated in the Day 1c flight and started as the short stack during hand-for-hand play. However, he managed to bag 89,000 chips, giving him a total of 15 big blinds.
Two players managed to bag chips in multiple flights, first was Matt Rogers. After finishing Day 1a with just 22,000, he returned for Day 1b and secured a more respectable 137,000. Although he aimed to bag a third time by playing Day 1c, he was eliminated just shy of the money. Nonetheless, Rogers will receive a minimum cash payout for his smaller bag and will carry his Day 1b stack into Day 2. Also bagging twice was Melinda Hettick.
The players will begin Day 2 at Level 14, with blinds set at 3,000/6,000 and a 6,000 ante. Each level will last 40 minutes, and players will enjoy a 15-minute break after every two hours of play. The competition will continue until a champion is crowned.
Be sure to follow PokerNews for live coverage and updates until the completion of this tournament.