Papa Karn advances to Day 2 with 69,400
A relatively quick Day 1a is in the books and Phil Weast is on top of 13 players who will advance to Day 2 on Friday evening at 7:30 p.m.
The opening flight of the Run Good Poker Series Global Championship Main Event saw 53 entries and a good mix of Run Good regulars as well as Card Player Cruisers has moved on to Day 2.
Weast kicked off a nice run after busting Kelly Vande Mheen. Weast went on to bag 137,400 but did not finish too far ahead of Shawn Sparks (131,500) and Scott Buller (123,900).
Sparks earned the elimination that stopped play when he sent Jane Johnson home a tad bit early after flopping an ace against Johnson who missed a gut-shot straight draw and was eliminated.
Buller had a pretty big stack early in the tournament and bounced around a little before finally settling into third place for Day 1a.
Chris Conrad was eliminated just before the last level of play when he got all in in a three-way pot. He lost to Reba Wright who had pocket tens against the T♣ 9♣ of Conrad. Fellow Run Good Ambassador Dan Lowery ran up a big stack early and eventually found himself drawing very thin against Lauren Bunch when she flopped a flush. Bunch would exit shortly after when she had the nut flush against Shane Fuller's full house. Bunch's husband, Eric also failed to qualify for Day 2 during this flight. Grant Hinkle, Sam Panzica, and Derrick Contreras also failed to qualify for Day 2.
Papa Karn bagged 69,400 after an intriguing spot facing a shove from Justin Gardenhire. Karn opened on the button and Phil Weast called. Gardenhire shoved and Karn folded before Weast called and both players chopped the pot with ace-jack. Karn finished the day in night place of the remaining 13.
Here are the chip counts for the players who advanced from Day 1a:
| Phil Weast - 137,400 | Shawn Sparks - 131,500 |
| Scott Buller - 123,900 | Neil Peters - 104,400 |
| Cody Pack - 101,300 | Reba Wright - 75,900 |
| Shane Fuller - 74,600 | Justin Gardenhire - 70,000 |
| Papa Karn - 69,400 | Daniel Stone - 56,700 |
| Charles Bass - 47,900 | Donald Lazenby - 38,400 |
| Cash Carpenter - 30,500 |
Day 1b will start Thursday 7:30 p.m. and all the updates will be right here on RunGoodGear.com.