The final 11 players in the RunGood Poker Series main event at the Horseshoe Council Bluffs all had a shot at the posted $84,633 first-place prize, but rather than deal with the stress of a final table, they each agreed to chop the remaining prize pool and lock up a $26,058 payday.
Deals in live poker tournaments are commonplace, but rarely outside of the final table, and especially in a series main event. It’s simply too difficult to get that many players to opt in… or is it?
The idea was spearheaded by Kyle Hinnerichs, who was sitting on more than four times the chips of the four shorter stacks left in the event according to the PokerNews live updates. With the chip leader on board, the other ten players all agreed to evenly divide what was left of the prize pool.
All that was left to play for was the championship ring and the Pro-Am seat into the All-Stars Event later this year in Las Vegas presented by PokerGO.
Freeman Kauffman eventually came away with the win. The Waverley, Iowa resident was one of the short stacks when the deal was made, and admitted to reporters that it was his first time playing a poker tournament in a casino.
There were 851 entries in the tournament, creating an overall prize pool of $434,010. The final 90 players finished in the money, earning a minimum cash of $981.
Here are the final results.
| Place | Player | Payout |
| 1 | Freeman Kauffman | $26,058 |
| 2 | Brantley Grace | $26,058 |
| 3 | Steve Vang | $26,058 |
| 4 | Ryan Fetherkile | $26,058 |
| 5 | Bhaskar Setti | $26,058 |
| 6 | Kyle Hinnerichs | $26,058 |
| 7 | Ron Koenemann | $26,058 |
| 8 | Timothy Sciscoe | $26,058 |
| 9 | Matt Morfitt | $26,058 |
| 10 | Paul Strohm | $26,058 |
| 11 | Jon Stanfield | $26,058 |
*Winner photo courtesy of @RGPokerSeries on Twitter.