Team PokerStars Pro Chris Moneymaker Bags the Day 1A Chip Lead in the RIU Main Event

The first of two starting flights in the $150,000 guaranteed $600 Main Event at Run It Up Reno has come to an end! A total of 223 entries came through the cage and just 45 players remain after 14 levels of play.

Team PokerStars Pro Chris Moneymaker came out on top as the chip leader with 313,500 after a strong day on the felt. A notable hand on the day was when bottom pair turned into quads by the river and he still managed to get max value from a straight! The 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion has certainly made an impression here in Reno and looks to earn his first piece of RIU gold in just a couple of days.

Close behind Moneymaker, by 500 in chips in fact, was Dale Fenton with 313,000. David Spurr (263,000), Sung Song (254,000) and Hunter Malcolm (245,000) round out the top five counts on the day.

The day began on a strong note with over 100 runners already in the field in Level 1, and this number more than doubled by the end of play. Wes Cutshall came out of the gate with heaps, and Moneymaker made his mark early on as well. Familiar faces who took shots today but were unable to advance included our RIU leader Jason Somerville, 2018 Thrilla Champion Jimmy Cappucci, Team PokerStars Pros Kevin Martin, Jeff Gross and Lex Veldhuis, and Survivor star Tyson Apostol. Day 1B is at Noon on Saturday, so expect these players to take as many shots as they can to make Day 2 on Sunday.

Nathan Manuel

Daniel O’Brien

Hayden Fortini

Jaime Staples

Jason Somerville

Jed Hoffman

Jeff Gross

Kevin Martin

Lex Veldhuis

Tyson Apostol

Vincent Newland

Wes Cutshall

 

As expected, tons of heroes made it through to Day 2 including Team PokerStars Pro Jaime Staples (140,500) and his brother Matt Staples (239,500), Twitch streamer Arlie Shaban (148,500), poker power couple Hayden Fortini (92,500) and Kim Stone (60,000), Jake Irvin (209,000), Wes Cutshall (204,000), Jed Hoffman (182,000), Vincent Newland (171,500), Ryan Carter (148,500), Mark Mazza (114,000), Richard Gross (106,000), Brett Gordon (82,500), Nick Kiley (82,000), Garry Gates (67,500), Kevin Gerhart (55,000), Ryan Leonis (47,500) and Deb Swift (45,000).

Day 2 resumes on Sunday at Noon, but in the meantime we’re gearing up for all the action on Saturday at Noon for Day 1B! Keep following along on RUNITUP.com for updates throughout the day, and tag us at @runitupreno using the hashtag #runitupreno to let us know how your week is going.