Italy’s Umberto Ruggeri scored his first live poker victory, winning the Merit Poker Western Series Main Event for a six-figure sum. Brian Craig of Kansas triumphed in the RGPS Tulsa Main Event for the coveted RGPS gold ring. Here is a recap of Merit Poker Westerseries and RGPS Tulsa Main Event.
Umberto Ruggeri Wins Merit Poker Western Series 2025
The Merit Poker Western Series at Merit Crystal Cove Hotel has officially concluded with Umberto Ruggeri winning the main event, earning a six-figure sum of $377,500, and his first live poker victory. Ruggeri’s most significant earnings came in the 2023 EPT Prague Main Event when he rounded out the podium for a career-defining $494,412. He now has pushed his accumulated live earnings past $1.1 million, cementing him as one of the rising poker stars in the Italian poker community.
The $3,300 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event drew a record-breaking 791 entries across four flights, crushing the $1,500,000 GTD. It almost reached $2.2 million for a total prize pool of $2,183,160. The impressive prize pool was split among the top 103 players, with the top 3 finishers collecting a six-figure sum.
When the main event action reached three-handed play, Umberto Ruggeri, Mihai Niste, and Muhtar Taysi went for an undisclosed deal. As the chip leader Ruggeri took home the main event trophy and the $377,500 payout, Mihai Niste finished 2nd for $251,000, and Muhtar Taysi collected $180,300 for his 3rd place finish.
2025 Merit Poker Western Series Main Event Final Table Payouts
| Rank | Player | Payout |
| 1st | Umberto Ruggeri | $377,500 |
| 2nd | Mihai Niste | $251,000 |
| 3rd | Muhtar Taysi | $180,300 |
| 4th | Mario Colavita | $130,200 |
| 5th | Xiaosheng Zheng | $94,600 |
| 6th | Alexander Sokolovsky | $75,900 |
| 7th | Ryan Mandara | $63,200 |
| 8th | Renars Skanis | $50,500 |
| 9th | Edward Quinn | $37,950 |
Source – Merit Poker
Brian Craig Clinches 2025 RGPS Tulsa Main Event
The RunGoodGear Poker Series has officially wrapped up its first series of the year – the 2025 RGPS Tulsa. The 6-day series was held at Hard Rock Casino Tulsa and featured 11 RGPS rings across 11 events.
The crown jewel of the series was Event #9: $800 buy-in main event which saw Brian Craig taking home the RGPS ring and his career-best payout of $70,169. It was his first major live poker victory, since winning a WPT event in 2018. This victory has brought Craig’s live earnings close to $150k.
A total of 517 entrants, ended up generating a total prize pool of $361,900. The impressive prize pool was shared among the top 63 players, with the top 7 scoring double-digit. Tulsa’s Mike Travis finished 2nd, opening his Hendon Mob profile with a prize of $46,757. Josh Wyatt also made it to the podium collecting $34,453.
2025 RGPS Tulsa Main Event Final Table Payouts
| Rank | Player | Payout |
| 1st | Brian Craig | $70,169 |
| 2nd | Mike Travis | $46,757 |
| 3rd | Josh Wyatt | $34,453 |
| 4th | Michael Cantrelli | $25,695 |
| 5th | Ryan Anderson | $19,362 |
| 6th | Tyler Barnes | $14,766 |
| 7th | James Stone (OK) | $11,400 |
| 8th | Ha Tran | $8,867 |
| 9th | Greg Henry | $7,021 |
Source – RGPS Blog
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