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Coconut Creek Player Wins RunGood All-Stars Pro-Am

Written by Jennifer Newell
Last updated on
Jennifer Newell

It was the culmination of a comeback year for the RunGood Poker Series. They had to cancel most events in 2020 due to the pandemic, and they and their partner casinos weren’t able to return to live poker until June 2021. But they did return with big crowds and more enthusiasm, all leading up to the year-end All-Stars Pro-Am. PokerGO just hosted that event in Las Vegas, and it was a smash hit.

Comeback Tour 2021

RunGood CEO Tana Karn was determined to resume RunGood Poker Series (RGPS) tournaments. He spent time during the pandemic talking to casino partners and monitoring Covid-19 protocols in states on his tour. When everything was ready and the casinos were able to staff for poker tournaments, Karn released the schedule.

The Comeback Tour started in June at Jamul Casino in San Diego, California. That Main Event garnered 559 entries and a $279K prize pool. From there, they went to Council Bluffs, Iowa, where 851 entries pushed the prize pool to $434K.

Horseshoe Casino Tunica threw a wrench into the tour when it cancelled the next tour stop, but Karn had been through worse. He moved forward with the Seminole Coconut Creek Casino in August, went back to Jamul in San Diego in September before rounding out the month at Thunder Valley in Northern California. They went back to Horseshoe Casino Iowa in mid-November.

December was Pro-Am business. Its partnership with PokerGO took players to the PokerGO Studio at the Aria, with the RGPS season’s biggest winners facing off against some poker celebrities in a televised freeroll. Not a bad way to end a year.

Bringing Stars Together

The RunGood All-Stars Pro-Am rounded up the qualifiers from the first tournaments of early 2020 and the aforementioned ones on the 2021 schedule. The winner of the Main Event at each stop and the person at the top of the venue’s leaderboard for that tour stop each won a seat to the invitational-only Pro-Am. There was also a chance to win a seat at the Aria in Las Vegas via either of two events. One each on December 9 and 10 offered ring events with the winners receiving Pro-Am seats.

Those players arrived in Vegas to represent the teams that corresponded with the casinos at which they won. For example, Jamul players represented the San Diego Card Sharks. There were the Council Bluffs Bluffers, Joplin Grinders, and Tunica Riverboat Rounders, to name a few.

RGPS winners comprised 32 of the seats at the 64-person Pro-Am. (Those numbers were adjusted a bit to add a few more players.) The others were invited poker pros, celebrities, and even some members of the poker media. Some of the better known of them included Nate Silver, Michael Ian Black, Jamie Kerstetter, Rob Mariano, Joe Stapleton, Maria Ho, Jeff Platt, Brad Owen, Garry Gates, Danielle Andersen, David Williams, ACR Ambassador Ebony Kenney, and 2021 WSOP Main Event champion Koray Aldemir.

All in all, there were 88 entries and a prize pool of $44K.

Finding a Final Table

The first of two Pro-Am days brought everyone together to play poker.

The action moved along fairly quickly with only 13 places being paid. Armando Mesina busted on that money bubble. As play continued, Jamie Kerstetter busted in 13th place for $880, followed by Kenji Egashira for the same amount. James Heyman left in 11th and Anthony Kellen in tenth, each of them collecting $1,320.

The final nine players took to one table to play further. Lisa Teebagy was in the lead at that point, with Johnnie Moreno in second and Ebony Kenney in third. Raminder Singh was the shortest stack.

Danielle Andersen started with a double through Teebagy, as Brian Frenzel ousted Andra Zachow. Singh then doubled through Teebagy before busting Moreno in eighth place. That stopped the clock for the day, with seven finalists set to return on December 12 to play for the win.

Their chip counts were:

Danielle Andersen = 2.76M chips

Raminder Singh = 18.3M

Brian Frenzel = 1.505M

Ebony Kenney = 895K

Garry Gates = 635K

Christopher Christian = 555K

Lisa Teebagy = 340K

For Cash, Trophy, and Glory

With PokerGO streaming the final table, play resumed on Sunday to play for more than $10K and the trophy.

It didn’t take long for Singh to get aggressive and eliminate Teebagy in seventh place. Andersen stepped up to bust Gates in sixth, but it was Singh in the spotlight again when he ousted Christian in fifth place. Frenzel doubled through Andersen, but the latter then busted Kenney in fourth place. Frenzel tried for another double, but Singh wouldn’t allow it, sending Frenzel out in third place.

Heads-up play began with Singh holding 5.95M chips to the 2.55M of Andersen. The latter doubled through her opponent with A-J over Q-T, but Singh remained in the lead and even extended it. Finally, Andersen was down to just 800K and pushed with J-6 suited. Singh called with Q-J, caught a queen on the flop and another on the turn.

Raminder Singh claimed victory from his qualification at the Coconut Creek RGPS stop. He took home the largest payout from the prize pool, the coveted trophy, and the title of Pro-Am champion.

-1st place: Raminder Singh $10,560

-2nd place: Danielle Andersen $7,480

-3rd place: Brian Frenzel $5,280

-4th place: Ebony Kenney $4,400

-5th place: Christopher Christian $3,520

-6th place: Garry Gates $2,640

-7th place: Lisa Teebagy $2,200

 

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