Run It Up Reno VII put the finishing touches on the first week of play with a lot of bounties. There were two trophy events on the schedule and both of which paid a little extra for scoring a knockout.
One of the most highly sought after events on the schedule kicked off at noon. The $1,100 Thursday Thrilla, featuring $500 bounties attracted one of the toughest fields of the series. It drew 183 entries and ended up with a stacked final table featuring RIU’s own Matt Staples, Jon Turner, Stephen Song and Brian Sherrier.
When the dust cleared, Mark Mazza was the last man standing. He defeated David To heads-up, winning his first RIU trophy and $24,100, along with $5,250 in bounties.
Mark Mazza (left) heads-up with David To (right)
Mark Mazza celebrates with his rail
On the original schedule, Thursday was one of two days without a scheduled social event. Joe Stapleton wielded his influence to change that at the last minute. ‘Stapes’ put together an open mic night, stand-up comedy event in one of the conference rooms during dinner break of the Thrilla.
Several players and even some RIU employees took the microphone and tried their hand at stand-up for the first time with ‘Stapes’ hosting the show.
Joe Stapleton warms up the crowd
Brent Harrington does a set
The second event on the schedule was the $150 six-max pot-limit Omaha bounty event. Jim Brundige took it down and continued his dominance of the RIU series. In his third final table in the last seven days, Brundige defeated the 141-entry field and earned $3,280.
All of this capped off the final day before the start of the $600 no-limit hold’em main event. Day 1A kicks off at noon and sends the series into its final weekend.
To see more photos from event photographer Antonio Abrego, check out the RIU Flickr Library.
