The RunGood Poker Series wrapped up its semi-annual stop at Jamul Casino in San Diego County over the weekend.
Over the course of just six days, the RGPS Checkpoint festival hosted 10 events, concluding with a $600 Main Event. The series’ staple event created a prize pool of $277,160.
RunGood events are known for providing a different experience from other tours and events in the US. They feature smaller average buy-ins than most circuits and often have a lighter, more friendly, family-oriented atmosphere, with events such as “Guest Bounty” and “Flip and Go” tournaments.
As a result, tour ambassadors and other loyal players follow RunGood throughout the country, participating in the festivities and competing for the RGPS rings awarded to each event’s winner. This past week, RunGood ambassador Lexy Gavin-Mather claimed one of the rings, while Rafi Azam took down the Main Event for a career-best earning of $52,280.
Azam improves on last year’s result at Main Event
All poker must be played in person at casinos or card rooms across the state. Efforts to legalize California online poker have failed in the past. There’s no question it would be popular in the Golden State. And with the largest population in the country, online field sizes would be among the biggest as well.
Last weekend, Azam’s victory almost never happened. According to event updates, Azam took a five-month break from the game.
He took third place in this event one year ago during the “Contenders” series, and his friend (and fifth-place finisher) Afzal Atta convinced him to enter. He made Day 2 with a below-average stack, less than 20 big blinds to start the day. But he won a massive pot against RGPS Tulsa ring-winner Joey Gargiulo early and never looked back.
By the three-table redraw, Azam became the chip leader. He regained the top spot in the counts with 16 left and remained there until he was the last one standing, defeating other local notables such as Russell Davies and Mark Feinberg.
RGPS Jamul Final Table Results
Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Rafi Azam | Escondido, CA | $52,280 |
2 | Victor Kulish | San Diego | $37,140 |
3 | Mark Feinberg | San Diego | $24,015 |
4 | Dan Duong | San Diego | $16,915 |
5 | Afzal Atta | San Marcos, CA | $13,000 |
6 | Yary Hing | San Diego | $10,700 |
7 | William B Allred | San Diego | $8,920 |
8 | Russell Davies | San Diego | $7,120 |
9 | Anastasia Knapp | San Diego | $5,340 |
Gavin-Mather among other ring winners
Seven preliminary events led up to last weekend’s Main Event, including a $150 Seniors event, a $200 Guest Bounty and a $300 Pot-Limit Omaha event.
The largest prelim event was Event No. 3: $250 Deepstack, which drew 244 entries to create a prize pool of nearly $50,000. Gavin-Mather took down the event, earning $8,618 and her second-career RGPS ring.
On her road to victory, Mather outlasted 2019 WSOP Main Event fourth-place finisher Garry Gates (ninth place) and denied Miguel Bautista his second ring of the series. Bautista won the $200 Guest Bounty event two days earlier.
Full Series Results
Event | Winner | Prize |
---|---|---|
Event #1: $150 Seniors | Joel Pellosa | $4,173 |
Event #2: $200 Guest Bounty | Miguel Bautista | $8,000 |
Event #3: $250 Deepstack | Lexy Gavin-Mather | $8,618 |
Event #4: $200 Single Day | Shun Wakita | $5,326 |
Event #5: $300 Pot-Limit Omaha | Scott Aulds | $4,180 |
Event #6: $200 Two Green Chip County | Alberto Garay | $3,544 |
Event #7: $165 Flip and Go | Michael Souza | $3,690 |
Event #8: $600 Main Event | Rafi Azam | $52,280 |
Event #9: $150 Black Chip Bounty | (Not Yet Published) | (Not Yet Published) |
Event #10: $200 Closer | (Not Yet Published) | (Not Yet Published) |
RGPS heads up north now
The RunGood Poker Series is a multi-time Global Poker Awards Best-Mid-Major Circuit/Tour winner and a nominee for the award once more at the upcoming ceremony. This year is its busiest schedule, with two series concurrently running.
The RGPS Checkpoint Graton Casino and Horseshoe Tunica events began on Feb. 28.
Graton Casino, located an hour north of San Francisco, ran its first-ever tournament series last September. Of course, that series had the RGPS name on it and was such a success that it returns for a nine-day series that will run through March 8.
The full RGPS Graton schedule can be found on the RunGood website.
RunGood will return to California from July 13-31 for the season finale at Thunder Valley Casino near Sacramento. The series will feature numerous events worth checking out, including
- $250K Guaranteed Monolith (opening weekend)
- $500K Guaranteed Hendon Mob Mid-Major Championship
- $1 Million Guaranteed RunGood Checkpoint Main Event