After over twelve hours of play at the $600 Main Event at the RunGood Poker Series in Tunica, Mississippi, the field of 76 was whittled down to two winners after Ricky Loyd and Kevin Broadway agreed to a chop deal, with Loyd receiving $50,804 for his efforts while Broadway received $46,804 along with the RunGood Poker Series ring and the trip to RGPS Thunder Valley.
“Im super excited, it was a good one to be the first,” Broadway responded when asked if it was his first RunGood ring. He was also very excited to get a chance to play in the Million Dollar Freeroll later this year and that the prize money will also “help have a good summer in Vegas as well…Im going to take a serious look at playing the [WSOP] Main Event this year... I don't think there will be a better opportunity to play it.”
This is the Arkansas native beat out a field of 601 entries for his largest tournament cash in his 20-year career as a recreational player, and he explained that the feeling really hadn't quite sunk in yet.
When asked if he played professionally, he replied, “Oh no no, definitely not, I do manufacturing for a living, I actually work for Frito-Lay, so I make potato chips for a living. Just every time the WSOP circuit or the RunGood Series comes around, I make it a point to play those events.”
2023 RGPS RunGood Tunica Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kevin Broadway | $46,804* |
| 2 | Ricky Loyd | $50,804* |
| 3 | Kelly Black | $28,846 |
| 4 | Cliff Hart | $21,501 |
| 5 | Khanh Chau | $16,220 |
| 6 | James "Coach" Milligan | $12,376 |
| 7 | Jason Arnold | $9,532 |
| 8 | Patrick Rogers | $7,438 |
| 9 | Michael Monaghan | $5,875 |
*-denotes chop deal
Action of the day
People sat down and began playing fast and furiously, with many stacks busting before the first hour was even up. Defending champion JW Carter did not find make it to Day 2 which meant that a new champion would be crowned tonight.
Others whose runs felt shorter than they would have wished included Michael Cardell who was the first to bust in 76th place for a min-cash of $844. Tournament regulars Chris Johnson and William Anderson also did not make it far into the day despite success early on. Day 1a chip leader Jon Swift was also lost in the weeds on Day 2 and busted out just after the three-table redraw. The overall Day 1 chip leader Brodie Harris also couldnt get much going and he was eliminated 6 levels in when his ace-queen suited was cracked by John George and his ace-nine in a massive pot.
On the flip side of things, Michael Chilton carried over his momentum from Day 1b and went on a tear throughout the early levels, establishing himself as the dominant chip leader. RunGood Ambassador Chris Conrad also caught fire when his pocket nines flopped top set in against pocket jacks and pocket queens- which were held by Walker Miskelly. Conrad jumped up to over two million in chips and also happened to be seated at the same table as his parter-in-crime, Katerina Lukina, who also made a deep run. Unfortunately for Conrad, his luck ran out when his flopped top pair against Loyd’s top set for a substantial amount of chips, and things just went downhill from there and he ended up busting in 15th Place.
Another player that was very active throughout the day was Bryan Loch, who was almost eliminated in the very first level but managed to stay alive and used that as a catalyst to make a deep run. Unfortunately, his tournament came to an end when his pocket sixes fell to Kelly Black and his king-queen and he was out in 12th for ($4,657).
Final Table Action
After Chilton busted in 10th place, Michael Monaghan came into the final table as a very short stack and was eliminated in one of the first hands to Loyd who held pocket tens against Monaghans nine-three offsuit.
Following him out the door was another short stack in the form of Patrick Rogers who lost with jack-three against Cliff Hart’s ace- four and exited in 8th for $7,438.
After that, a lot of the chips flowed around the table until Jason Arnold was caught in a bad spot when his pocket tens were absolutely crushed by Loyd’s ace-king that made him a full house.
Loyd was also responsible for the bustout of James “Coach” Milligan, who had at one point convinced the table to do a chop but was thwarted when Black backed out at the last minute, which resulted in a $10,000 difference for Milligan.
Next to go was Khanh Chau who got it in with pocket queens but was cooler by Hart’s superior pocket kings and he was sent home in fifth for $16,220.
The action then died down quite considerably, and some time passed before the next player exited, which was coincidentally Hart after he lost a massive pot with kings versus Black’s pocket sevens that hit a straight.
Black himself was then the victim of a very swingy stretch that ended with him losing several big pots in a row and finally was wiped out by Loyd for a third-place finish of $28,846.
After Black was eliminated, the two remaining players, Loyd and Broadway agreed to chop the remainder, with Loyd receiving $50,804 for his efforts while Broadway received $46,804 along with the RGPS ring and the Trip to RGPS Thunder Valley.
