After an open from James Traber, Zachary Smith ripped his entire stack into the middle, all 2,600,000, and Traber announced a call, putting himself at risk.
James Traber: 10♠10♦
Zachary Smith: A♠10♥
Smith would need to hit an ace in this huge pot, but the runout of 4♣K♥6♣7♦2♣ did not do it and all but 15,000 of his chips were shipped over to Traber.
Smith was then forced all-in from the small blind the very next hand with ten-six versus the pocket queens of Todd Tucker, but failed to survive and was sent out in seventh place.
Todd Tucker opened to 250,000 and James Traber moved all in for around 1,900,000. When the action got back to him, Tucker announced a call to put him at risk and flipped over his cards.
James Traber: A♠10♦
Todd Tucker: 9♠9♦
The window card was a ten to give Traber a pair, but a nine rolled off right behind it on the flop of 10♠6♦9♣. The board completed with J♥Q♦ to give Tucker the win and Traber was eliminated in sixth place.
Chris Baumhoer opened to 300,000 and then Todd Tucker three-bet him to 1,100,000. After a lengthy pause, Baumhoer pushed all in and Tucker made the call to put him at risk.
Chris Baumhoer: 4♥4♠
Todd Tucker: K♥Q♣
Baumhoer was a slight favorite with his pocket pair, but the flop of K♣2♣6♦ immediately gave Tucker the upper hand as he paired his king. The runout of A♦9♥ did not provide the four Baumhoer needed and he was sent out in fifth place.
The board read 6♣7♣10♦7♦ when David McFeely led out for 200,000 and Todd Tucker raised to 500,000. McFeely then moved all in and Tucker snap-called to put him at risk.
David McFeely: K♣J♣
Todd Tucker: 10♣7♦
With an already-made full house, Tucker had McFeely already drawing stone dead and the 5♣ on the river was just adding insult to injury as McFeely hit his flush.
McFeely's stack was shipped over to Tucker and the two players shook hands before McFeeley headed to the payout desk as the runner-up.
After three days of play, the RunGood Poker Series $800 Main Event here at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma has come to a close after almost 11 hours of play on the final day. The total number of players from all three flights came to 558 entries, creating a $390,600 prize pool that almost quadrupled the $100,000 guarantee.
After navigating through a tough final day, it was Todd Tucker who emerged victorious after defeating David McFeely heads-up to claim the title, the championship ring, and the $73,242 first-place prize. Adding to the champion's purse in a big way is the addition of the Dream Seat package, which provides a full travel package and a seat to the Dream Seat Invitational, the winner of which will be entered into the televised PokerGO Tour Championship $1,000,000 Freeroll. This is a 64-player capped field, meaning Tucker could parlay this win into serious money.
This is the second-highest score for Tucker, as the high school math teacher placed fourth in a WSOP Circuit main event last July for $97,797. When asked if he had any plans for his winnings, he replied:
“Oh no, not really, I'm just a family man from Arkansas...I grew up in Boonesville, Arkansas, I live in Van Buren, Arkansas, and I teach in Alma, Arkansas. And I've got two girls who are involved in all sorts of things, so most of the money will be spent on them.”
The proud Arkansas native certainly is a family man, as he was sporting a bracelet made by his two daughters, and the coin he was using as a card protector was another gift from them from a Catholic teacher’s organization.
RGPS Tulsa Final Table Results
Place
Player
Hometown
Prize
1
Todd Tucker
Van Buren, AR
$73,242
2
David McFeely
Bolivar, MO
$49,098
3
Joshua Brower
Tulsa, OK
$36,170
4
Duster Ellis
Papillion, NE
$26,912
5
Chris Baumhoer
Bentonville, AR
$20,272
6
James Traber
Edmond, OK
$15,468
7
Zachary Smith
Mena, AR
$11,952
8
Todd Nichols
Edmond, OK
$9,335
9
William McCracken
Bolivar, MO
$7,382
Todd Tucker
Action on the Day
When the 69 players who returned to play the Day 2 session took their seats, the action started from the onset and showed no signs of slowing down as a flurry of eliminations saw the field cut from 69 down to 27 within just a couple of hours. Ashley Frank and Jared Ward hit the rail at this point as they exited in 39th and 38th for $2,031. From there, stacks were a little deeper and play began to find a slightly slower pace. During the next level, Daniel Lowery (26th- $2,344) and Papa Karn (19th- $3,281) reported to the rail. Next to go was PoY points leader Brian Winter as he padded his stats with another deep run, exiting in 15th place for $3,906.
Brian Winter
Final Table Action
The final table of nine was still reached relatively early in the night but would take up the majority of the day as everyone was eyeing the title and no one was willing to go out easy. The final table got off to a fast start with the first two eliminations happening in short order, the first of which being William McCracken, who was eliminated when McFeely called his huge river bluff-shove with just a pair of sixes.
Exiting shortly after was Day 1 chip leader Todd Nichols, who ran his ace-ten into the pocket aces of Duster Ellis to earn himself the eighth-place payout of $9,335. The action then slowed way down until Zachary Smith shoved 43 big blinds with ace-ten into James Traber’s pocket tens and failed to improve. He was left with less than a big blind and was eliminated in seventh place when he was forced in from the small blind the very next hand.
It was almost an hour before another player was lost and it was Traber who hit the rail in sixth place. He was the third player in a row to exit holding ace-ten when Tucker flopped a set of nines. That’s when Tucker gained momentum and he went on to knock out Chris Baumhoer in fifth and Duster Ellis in fourth soon after. A few hands later, he knocked out Joshua Brower in third when his king-queen trumped Brower’s ace-nine when he hit trip queens.
Heads-Up Battle
Once heads-up play began, Tucker held a 3:1 chip lead against McFeely, but after a few key hands, McFeely closed the gap and even took the chip lead. However, this did not last long as he misread his hand and jammed into Tucker with a pair of kings, five kicker. Tucker made the call and flipped over a pair of kings, but with a superior queen kicker and he was awarded a full double-up as McFeely was left devastated. It only took a few more hands before Tucker sealed the deal. He made a full house and McFeely jammed once more, drawing dead. McFeely exited as the tournament’s runner-up while Tucker was crowned the champion.
The victory marks Tucker’s first RGPS ring and he certainly proved himself a worthy champion with solid play, well-time aggression, and absolute control throughout the entirety of the event.
Todd Tucker
That closes out coverage from this stop, but the next RunGood Poker Series kicks off on February 20th at Jamul Casino in San Diego, California, so mark your calendars!
As always, stay connected with PokerNews for up-to-date coverage of all major tours and news stories within the poker industry.