This Monday saw the 8th edition of Run It Up Reno conclude with the $600 buy-in Main Event, which attracted 629 entries. 9 players returned to the Peppermill Casino to battle it out on the live-streamed final table. In the end, it was poker pro Dan O’Brien who emerged victorious to win $46,681in top prize, beating Loren Klein in heads-up and denying him a third RIU Main Event title. With this Main Event win, O’Brien has taken his lifetime live earnings to over $3.3 million.
“It feels really good to win, it really does. It was a lot of fun. I ran really well the entire tournament obviously. I tried to focus on playing well and really not worrying about anything else,” O’Brien said.
As for Klein, he holds more than $2.7 million in lifetime earnings. In addition to being a two-time RIU Reno Main Event champion, he is also a three-time WSOP bracelet winner. The player had won the last summer’s $10,000 PLO Championship for $1,018,336, the 2017 WSOP Event #41: $1,500 PLO for $231,483, and the 2016 WSOP Event #45: $1,500 Mixed NLH/PLO for $241,427.
The first elimination from the final table came in Robert Valdez who lost a flip with pocket nines to Vito Distefano’s ace-jack. The next player to fall was Chris Gallagher who three-bet jammed king-seven and got called by Klein holding ace-ten. Klein got a ten on the river to eliminate Gallagher in 8th place. Following him in 7th place was Kevin Gerhart whose king-six lost to Klein’s pocket fours.
The next elimination came in Julio Uribe who ran ace-deuce suited into O’Brien’s aces. He exited the tournament in 6th place. Up next, Distefano, who began the final table as chip leader, shoved all-in with queen-jack, which lost to Klein’s ace-eight. The start of the FT chip leader exited in 5th place.
A few hands later, RIU Reno IV champion Tim Tucker got eliminated in 4th place when his pocket jacks lost to Klein’s queen-jack. The latter spiked a queen on the flop to eliminate Tucker. Falling in 3rd place was Austin Roberts whose queen-ten suited couldn’t overcome O’Brien’s ace-queen.
After busting Roberts, O’Brien entered heads-up with Klein as the chip leader. The two battled it hard for some time and exchanged the chip lead multiple times. Eventually, a big hand came and it saw Klein flop two pair and O’Brien get a bigger two pair. The latter doubled and a couple of hands later he eventually took down the title. Klein had to settle for $30,950 for his runner-up finish in the event.
Final Table Payouts:
| Dan O’Brien | $46,681 |
| Loren Klein | $30,950 |
| Austin Roberts | $22,180 |
| Tim Tucker | $17,120 |
| Vito Distefano | $13,920 |
| Julio Uribe | $11,640 |
| Kevin Gerhart | $9,825 |
| Chris Gallagher | $8,245 |
| Robert Valdez | $6,750 |
Weijie Zheng Takes Down 2019 Irish Poker Open Main Event For €300,000
The 2019 Irish Poker Open €1,150 Main Event drew a huge field with 1,807 entries to generate a massive €1,805,870 prize pool. The largest share of the prizepool eventually went to Ireland’s Weijie Zheng who shipped the event for €300,000 ($337,797) at Citywest Hotel in Dublin on Monday.
This win was Zheng’s biggest live cash and an encouraging addition to his bankroll as he had entered the tournament with $26,611 in live tournament career earnings as per The Hendon Mob data.
The final table began with Zheng as chip leader holding a double the chips of his nearest competitor Max Silver. Zheng managed to maintain his chip lead and eventually won the tournament.
After Gallagher exiting in third place for €125,000 ($140,749), the heads-up began between the eventual winner and Dave Masters. The two battled it for quite a sometime. In between, Masters lost a big chunk of his chips and eventually decided to shove all-in with sixes and he was snap-called by Zheng with king-jack. A jack on the flop to pair up Zheng and Masters was eliminated in 2nd place. Zheng took home the trophy and top prize, Masters walked away with an impressive €190,000 ($213,938) for his runner-up finish. The €190,000 was Masters’ largest live cash to date.
Final Table Payouts:
| 1 | Weijie Zheng | € 300,000 |
| 2 | Dave Masters | € 190,000 |
| 3 | Thomas Gallagher | € 125,000 |
| 4 | Raymond Wheatley | € 85,000 |
| 5 | Sami Agel | € 63,520 |
| 6 | David Crilly | € 50,000 |
| 7 | Max Silver | € 37,500 |
| 8 | Seamus Cahill | € 27,500 |
| 9 | Steven Alper | € 21,000 |
