Joltin' Joey: McCaig Bags Lead on Day 1a at Downstream
Joey McCaig is no stranger to deep tournament runs at Downstream Casino, having booked cashes in Heartland Poker Tour and Mid-States Poker Tour events here among his $43,000 in live scores, and now he's looking to add a RunGood Poker Series win to his list of accomplishments. He bagged 171,000 to lead the 18 survivors of Day 1a, as 72 players turned out for the first of three starting flights in the 2015 RunGood Poker Series Downstream Casino Resort Main Event.
McCaig got lucky in Level 7 (400/800/100) when he bet 3,000 on an 
flop after both blinds checked to him. The player in the small blind called, but the one in the big blind shoved all in for 12,150, and McCaig called with the 
, saying he was hoping to see a flush draw, and the player in the small blind folded. Instead, the player in the big blind held the 
, but watched helplessly as McCaig hit an ace on the turn.
From there, McCaig kept building and later busted another opponent when he opened to 4,500 at Level 11 (1,000/2,000/300) and a player in the cutoff seat shoved for 29,000. McCaig called with the 
and held on a dead board against the 
.
Ike Richmond (152,000), RunGood Pro Chris Conrad (142,000), and Daniel Stone (100,500) also bagged north of five starting stacks. RunGood Pro Ray Henson (96,500), Daniel Hughes (56,000), Terry Karn (55,000), Will Berry (49,000), and AP Phahurat (17,000) also survived.
Conrad picked up one of the most monstrous pots of the evening when he saw an Alex Scarlett open to 5,000 and a Berry three-bet to 10,500, only to peek down at two aces in the big blind. Conrad shipped it for about 45,000 and both players immediately called, with Scarlett holding the 
and Berry the 
. A couple of Broadway cards flopped to give Berry a sweat, but nothing else of consequence came out of the deck.
Despite that fortuitous hand, Conrad needed to win a flip with queens against Berry's ace-king a bit later to survive once more.
Some of the notables who fell during Day 1a included Justin Gardenhire, Amanda Baker, Ross Bybee, Rodney Spriggs, and John Heckenkamp, with the former three all among the roster of RunGood Pros.
All those who busted will have another crack on Day 1b, which is set for noon on Saturday, and PokerNews will continue to provide the live updates all the way to the end.