Making the First Cash Count: Chris Wicks Wins RunGood Council Bluffs Main Event
The RunGood Poker Series spring "Ignite the Night" festival ended with Chris Wicks taking down the $675 Main Event at Horseshoe Council Bluffs. He claimed $31,443 in prize money and a $2,000 World Series of Poker package after topping a field of 209 runners for the first recorded cash of his tournament career.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Wicks | $31,443 |
| 2 | Jerry Moore | $19,730 |
| 3 | Greg Poor | $12,516 |
| 4 | Issac Tucker | $9,125 |
| 5 | Ryan Phan | $6,844 |
| 6 | Mark Turner | $5,611 |
| 7 | Duster Ellis | $4,871 |
| 8 | Mark Fink | $4,193 |
| 9 | Kevin O'Donnell | $3,453 |
After three starting flights, just 43 players qualified for Sunday's Day 2, and Wicks was among the leading competitors after bagging 221,500 to lead Day 1c. The bubble burst early on with 21 places paid, and it was RunGood pro Duma Lowery walking away empty-handed in 22nd after losing most of his stack with queens when Mike Fick held kings.
Wicks went into the final table in the middle of the pack, and Jerry Moore was the star of the show at the start of it. He amassed a monstrous stack of 2.1 million, good for half of the chips in play, after he eliminated Mark Fink in eighth in Level 21 (10,000/20,000/3,000).
Four players had seen a 5?10?4? flop, and Wicks bet 70,000. Moore made it 325,000, and Fink was on the button and shoved all in for 626,000. Wicks folded and Moore called, revealing the 5?5? for a set. Fink needed a heart as he had the Q?10? but the board ran out dead for him.
That's when Wicks went on a rush, winning two huge flips. First, he eliminated Duster Ellis with the 8?8?, hitting a set on the river after Ellis outflopped him with the K?Q?. Then, Wicks' tens held up against the A?Q? of Mark Turner, sending him out in sixth.
Moore got the next two knockouts, holding with the Q?Q? when Ryan Phan shoved over him with the A?Q?. Phan has been on quite the run, amassing more than $160,000 in cashes since the start of 2015, including a second-place finish in the Main Event of the WSOP Circuit stop here last month.
Moore then eliminated Issac "Rungood" Tucker with the K?J? against the Q?10?, and he and Wicks had massive stacks three-handed while Greg Poor was grinding about 10 big blinds. Poor made some headway early but ultimately shoved with the K?K? only to have Wicks call with the A?9? and get there.
Wicks and Moore were about even with around 2 million apiece and blinds of 15,000/30,000/5,000 going to heads-up play. But what looked like it could be a drawn-out match ended quickly, after Wicks took a lead early and then the two saw a 3?8?Q? flop. Moore check-called 105,000, and the turn was a 10?. Moore checked, Wicks bet 300,000, and Moore shoved for about 1.5 million. Wicks called with the Q?10? and his top two was good against Moore's Q?8?. The river was a 7?, and Wicks became the latest RunGood champ.
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