The Horseshoe Council Bluffs seems to be the biggest hunting ground for the USA’s Abbas Pasha who burst onto the live poker scene just a few years back. Pasha, who lives in Ames, Iowa, just over two hours away from Council Bluffs, first made waves here last year by winning the World Series of Poker Circuit 975 + 125 NLH for his first ring. Just over a year later, he is back with a bang.
Following three long days of intense play, he has won the 2024 RGPS Rungood Resort Council Bluffs $800 Main Event, claiming the $58,735 first place prize and his second live win. This marked his career-best victory, boosting his live earnings to $118,294.
Pasha overcame a tough field of 403 entries and eventually overcame Julie Cornelius who narrowly missed out on making history. Despite her heart-breaking runner-up finish, she walked away with a career-best score of $ 41,127, boosting her live tournament earnings to $249,293 and solidifying her status as a force to be reckoned with on the live poker scene.
2024 RGPS RunGood Resort Council Bluffs Main Event Quick Recap
The $800 buy-in RGPS Rungood Resort Council Bluffs Main Event drew 403 entries, crushing its $200,000 and resulting in a massive prize pool of $282,100. A total of 48 players returned for Day 2 action, all in the money and guaranteed at least $1,368.
The action was fast with eliminations coming quickly on Day 2. Rungood regular Daniel Lowery (48th for $1,368) was the first player with Brent Gregory following him in 46th for $1,368. Among other notables who cashed but failed to reach reach the final table were WSOP bracelet winners Blair Hinkle (31st for $1,636), Mo Nuwwarah (25th for $1,975) & Bob Slezak (21st for $2,835), and three-time MSPT champion Nick Barksdale (13th for $4,161).
Final Table Action
With the double elimination of David Caron (11th)and Andre Allen (10th), the 9-handed final table was reached with Julie Cornelius leading the way and looking in prime position to win the title. The first elimination from the final table came shortly after dinner break, with Jared Ward being the first to fall in ninth place. He got his stack in with king-queen against ace-jack and he failed to beat the ace-jack of Hendricks to hit the rail in ninth.
The next casualty in eighth place was Siphonh Tran who jammed with king-jack only to run into ace-jack of Girouard. Ben McCoy followed in seventh place. The start-of-day chip leader shoved 16 big blinds with pocket eights and was called by the ace-five suited of the eventual runner-up Cornelius who found an ace on the river.
The next to fall were Logan Cate, who was busted by Abbas Pashi in sixth and Cash Carpenter whose king-eight could not get there against the king-queen of Hendricks. Four-handed play continued until James Girouard busted in fourth. He called with ace-three against a small blind jam from Cornelius who held ace-ten and flopped a ten pair to score the second her second elimination at the final table. The next elimination was scored by Pasha who busted Jeremy Hendricks in third place (($26,441). The latter ran queen-ten into pocket aces of Pash and failed to improve his hand.
Pasha began heads-up play with a massive chip lead but Cornelius fought back and even took the lead at one point but could not go all the way. In a pivotal hand, Cornelius’ queen-ten lost to eight-seven of Pasha. Left with a short stack, she went all-in and won it to get to 275,000 but was all-in again in the next hand. She held a stronger ace-ten against Pasha’s seven-three. But unfortunately for her, the board ran out 5-4-2-7-9, giving Pasha a pair of sevens to win the pot as well as the title. Cornelius had settle in second place, good for $41,127 – her career-best score.
2024 RGPS RunGood Resort Council Bluffs Main Event Final Table Payouts (USD)
1 Abbas Pasha $58,735
2 Julie Cornelius $41,127
3 Jeremy Hendricks $26,441
4 James Girouard $17,420
5 Cash Carpenter $13,414
6 Logan Cate $11,109
7 Ben McCoy $9,309
8 Siphonh Tran $7,586
9 Jared Ward $5,873
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