Flabbergasted Jason Grimes Secures RGPS Tunica Main Event Title
After 13 hours of play, the returning tournament field of 83 was reduced to a single player in the 2024 RGPS RunGood Resort Tunica Main Event. Each one guaranteed a piece of the $342,210 prize pool, but all with their eyes up top. The field possessed many known names, RunGood regulars, and tournament legends from many different tours, but today was a day for just one man.
Prior to today, Jason Grimes had just $25,592 in lifetime earnings. At a final table with millions of dollars in earnings split between multiple players, it would be Grimes who would triple his lifetime earnings with his new high score of $52,102. “I’m going to do something stupid like pay off debt,” the new champion joked about what he was to do with his new winnings. “Straight into the bank with it.”
Starting the final table as one of the shorter stacks, Grimes was not unaware of the accolades that many on his table shared in their decade-spanning careers. He was quite honest about his fears playing at that kind of table. “It’s sheer terror,” he bluntly put it. “I do this maybe once a week; I play RunGood sometimes. This is my first cash on this tour, so my first instinct was to stay out of their way.” His careful navigation of the final table was aided by the hand distribution according to him. “Luckily, I caught hands, and they held up.”
“I am flabbergasted; I have always wanted to win something, and to win a RunGood ring is something special. The main event? It’s just insane,” Grimes said, beaming with joy while trying on the ring. As far as the Dream Seat Invitational goes, Grimes said that will have to wait until a different time but he hopes to capitalize on using the free seat. “I love free stuff, so we will see.”
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jason Grimes | Paducah, KY | $52,102* |
| 2 | Houston White | Madison, TN | $52,102* |
| 3 | Kristopher Duren | Jefferson, GA | $30,731 |
| 4 | Hamid Izadi | Atlanta, GA | $22,928 |
| 5 | Daniel Lowery | Peter Pender, AR | $17,282 |
| 6 | Charles Westbrook | Byram, MS | $13,175 |
| 7 | Jeffrey Brown (FL) | Hollywood, FL | $10,164 |
| 8 | Rhonda Hart | Cabot, AR | $7,939 |
| 9 | James West | Brighton, TN | $6,262 |
*reflects a heads-up deal
Day 2 Action
A fast and furious day was upon us for Day 2 of the RGPS Tunica Main Event, as many of the game’s greats exited the tournament on the way down to the final. Players that fell by the wayside included John Holley (74th - $958), Yekaterina Lukina (72nd - $1,027), Chris Conrad (62nd - $1,129), former Tunica Main Event champion Loi Hoang (45th - $1,471), Jess Roberts (32nd - $1,951), Cody Stanford (20th - $2,738), and WSOP bracelet winner Kyle Cartwright (13th - $4,038) all fell short of the final table.
The final player to fall short of the final table was Brandon Dirnberger who ended his run when his king-ten could not improve against Kristopher Duren’s ace-three and the final table was set while Dirnberger collected $6,262 for his tenth place finish.
Final Table
It took only a couple of hands for the first all-in confrontation to occur as Jeffrey Brown(FL) found himself all in with ace-queen against James West’s pocket nines. The queen on the turn spiked Brown, and he trended upward for a little while West’s momentum seemed to halt in its tracks. He eventually moved all in with pocket sixes against Houston White’s open after two players called behind him, but he was sad to see he was up against pocket jacks. Those jacks propelled White higher up the counts, and West became the final table’s first casualty as he collected $6,262 for his ninth-place finish.
RGPS ring winner Rhonda Hart was excited to make the final after being all in for her tournament life against Brown with two tables left with ace-two against aces and managed to make three twos to double up. Her visit to the final table was short, as she got in her final chips against White. She moved in her final chips with a flopped middle pair against White, who held a set. The turn left her drawing dead, and Hart finished another deep run in the RGPS Tunica Main, collecting $7,939 for her efforts.
Duren was the next player to be all in against White as his sixes held up against White to survive and take White out of the chip lead. The chip lead that initially sat with Charles Westbrook had transferred over to Daniel Lowery as seven-handed play began. The next man on the chopping block ended up being Brown as he got in his last chips on an eight-high flop with a pair of fives against White, who held an eight and a flush draw. White’s flush came in on the river, and Brown took home $10,164 for his seventh-place finish.
Starting the final table with a massive chip lead, Westbrook found himself trending downward throughout the final table after losing a couple of sizable pots to Lowery and other players. He had a costly pot that turned out to be tournament-defining as he three-bet jammed against Jason Grimes holding king-six and Grimes called with queens to double up and leave Westbrook with crumbs. The next hand, he got involved in a three-way all-in between Lowery and Duren. Westbrook held eight-seven and flopped a straight, which left Lowery’s ace-queen drawing dead, but Duren ran out jacks full to eliminate Westbrook in sixth place for $13,175.
Lowery had dominated the table as he climbed from third to second to first. RGPS’ number one title holder found an unfortunate two hands that spelled his end in fifth place. The first saw a pot for nearly half of the chips in the tournament as Lowery held a pair of nines against White’s king-ten offsuit. A ten on the flop saw White take a massive lead over the remaining players as Lowery tumbled down to the shortest stack. His next bit of misfortune saw his aces get cracked by Duren’s queen-ten and he collected $17,282 for his finish.
Hamid Izadi began the day as the chip leader, but by the time the final table started, he never seemed to get any momentum into his court. He began the final table fourth in chips, where he sat until he eventually got all of his chips in against Grimes with ace-queen against Duren’s king-ten. Grimes filled up to send out the experienced tournament player in fourth place for $22,928.
Three-handed became a fearsome battle as each one of the three spent time at the top of the chip counts and as the shortest stack. The battle continued for a couple of hours, and eventually, it would be Grimes who left Duren at death’s door when they got in all their chips on the turn as first and second in chips. Grimes held jacks on a ten-high board while Duren held king-ten, and the jacks held up for Grimes to take a massive lead over the rest of the table. The following hand, Duren got in his last two big blinds with queen-ten and found himself unable to improve against Grimes king-queen, and Duren continues what has been a career-best year for him with this third-place finish worth $30,731.
When heads-up began, Grimes held a significant lead over White, and a deal was discussed. The agreed-upon values became $52,102 for both players. White took home his second-best career score, finishing in second place, while Grimes took home the ring as well as a seat to the Dream Seat Invitational Tournament in November at Thunder Valley.
Michael Johns Wins NAPT Golden Player Of The Series
Many players throughout the entire RGPS Tunica stop partook in the first-ever Golden Player of The Series leaderboard competition. The points were allotted based on the number of entrants into the tournament. Every player that cashed in any tournament this week put themselves onto this leaderboard, with the winner receiving a $5,300 NAPT Main Event Seat, $2,900 in Hotel and lodging expenses, and $1,800 in additional expenses, which tallies up to a package worth $10,000.
After six cashes and three final tables that included a fourth, a second, and a first-place finish, it was back-to-back RGPS Tunica Deepstack ring winner Michael Johns who won a hotly contested race to become the first ever RGPS Golden Player of The Series.
“This day is a perfect day,” Johns said, beaming after he locked up the competition on the final day of the series. “It’s magical and this is the reason that I came down here. I told my friend that I think I have a shot at it, and to see it come to fruition is just so exciting.”
It was a race that pulled out the tour’s best and brightest, and many players hopscotch up and down the leaderboard as time passed, but towards the end of the series, an exciting development occurred. While none of the players in the top 5 of the point race ended up cashing in the main event, where the biggest points were given out, Johns, Preston McEwen, and Joshua Turner each sat in the top three on the leaderboard. Each cashed in the $200 Closer at the end of the series. Turner finished outside of the final table which left McEwen and Johns battling at their second final table together of the series.
“One of the most intense tournaments I have played because of the points. Preston and I got to the final table with equal stacks. At one point, Preston doubled up through me and left me short at the table, but I doubled through him shortly after when my pocket jacks doubled up with a full house against his flush.”
Shortly after that, McEwen finished in sixth place, and Johns ended his run in the second-to-last tournament of the series in fourth place. When they both were eliminated in the following event, the race was locked up for Johns, who looks to play in the biggest buy-in he has ever played.
“Very nice kid and great player,” McEwen said after the race had ended “well deserved.” McEwen took home his fourth RGPS ring on this trip, and he looks for another shot on the leaderboard at one of the following stops.
NAPT Golden Player of the Series Leaderboard Tunica
| Place | Player | Total Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Johns | 268 |
| 2 | Preston McEwen | 225 |
| 3 | Joshua Turner | 191 |
| 4 | Daniel Lowery | 179 |
| 5 | Charles Clubb | 167 |
| 6 | Shannon Hamblen | 158 |
| 7 | John Holley | 146 |
| 8 | Kevin Visentin | 144 |
| 9 | Yekaterina Lukina | 134 |
| 10 | Jamie Strickland | 124 |
Thank you for reading along with PokerNews. Be sure to check in later this month for the next stop at Hollywood Casino, St. Louis where a new RGPS Main Event champion and Golden Player of The Series recipient will be awarded.
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