Phuong "Peter" Ta has been playing poker for more than twenty years, and this week he finally collected the title that had eluded him. Ta won the RunGood Poker Series (RGPS) Golden Expedition Jacksonville $1,200 Main Event at bestbet Jacksonville, taking home $71,353 after a heads-up chop with Corey Major. It is the largest live cash of his career and his first major tournament victory, and the way he got there makes for one of the better stories of the fall tournament calendar.
The result is a useful reminder of how the mid-stakes live circuit works. Series like RunGood do not produce the six- and seven-figure headlines of a WSOP bracelet event, but they do produce a steady stream of recreational-turned-serious players who finally break through. If you are building a tournament schedule of your own, our tournaments page explains how the major formats compare, and our poker strategy hub covers the fundamentals that decide fields like this one.
The Numbers: 394 Entries at bestbet Jacksonville
The $1,200 Main Event drew 394 entries. Day 2 began at noon local time with 50 players still in contention, and the final table ran well past 2 a.m., stretching into the fourteenth hour of play that day. Antwan Prince started the final table as chip leader with 1,950,000, but the stack that mattered most belonged to Ta by the time play wound down.
Here is how the final nine paid out, according to PokerNews coverage of the event:
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Phuong Ta (USA) | $71,353 |
| 2 | Corey Major (USA) | $66,353 |
| 3 | Sandro Sa (Brazil) | $40,486 |
| 4 | Dustin Bennett (USA) | $30,118 |
| 5 | Sokol Curri (USA) | $22,680 |
| 6 | Afnan Chowdhury (USA) | $17,290 |
| 7 | Grant Palmer (USA) | $13,347 |
| 8 | Mary Darnell (USA) | $10,434 |
| 9 | Antwan Prince (USA) | $8,262 |
Notice the gap between first and second. Ta and Major agreed to a heads-up chop that left just $5,000 on the table for the champion, so the trophy and the title were effectively decided by that final sum rather than by the money. That is a very common arrangement in live events, and it is worth understanding if you ever reach the final two. We explain the maths behind deals like these in our guide to what ICM is.
From 3,000 Chips to the Chip Lead
The most striking part of Ta's run came on Day 1b. At one point he was down to just 3,000 chips, a stack so small that most players would have been resigned to the rail. Ta said he had lost roughly 90 percent of his money before he doubled and then tripled his way back, eventually climbing to the overall chip lead by the end of the day.
That swing is a good illustration of why deep-stacked tournament structures reward patience. A 3,000-chip stack in a field that started with far more depth still has fold equity and the chance to double through a single opponent. Players who keep their discipline when short, shoving in good spots rather than bleeding away blinds, are often the ones who recover. If you want a refresher on shove-or-fold ranges and how stack depth changes your decisions, start with our poker odds page and the pot odds explainer.
How the Final Table Unfolded
Prince began the final table with the big stack, but he was the first to go. He moved all in for 565,000 holding ace-five against Major's pocket eights and was eliminated in ninth place. Darnell followed in eighth when her last 340,000 chips were lost to Curri, who hit a flush on the turn. Even so, she earned $10,434 for her run.
Four-handed, Major controlled nearly 65 percent of the chips in play and looked like the clear favorite. When heads-up play began, Ta held a 7,725,000 to 4,100,000 lead. Major later fell to 2,025,000 before Ta's ace paired on the flop and ended the match. It was a quiet finish to a long day of swings, and a good example of how chip leads in tournaments are fluid: Major's near-65-percent stack four-handed did not translate into a title.
Who Is Phuong Ta?
Ta is a nail salon owner from Bluffton, South Carolina. By his own account he has played for more than two decades but only turned his attention to tournaments in the last year. His live résumé before this win was modest but steady:
- A final table at the Wynn Fall Classic in Las Vegas in 2021, where he won $67,000, then his career best.
- A final table at the WSOP Circuit Main Event in Cherokee, North Carolina, in 2024.
- A 14th-place finish in this same event at bestbet Jacksonville in 2023.
According to the Hendon Mob database, he had nearly $200,000 in total live earnings before the series. This win pushes that total comfortably past $250,000, though that is our own arithmetic rather than a figure from the tournament report.
Asked about the win, Ta described it as "a lot of fun" and said he was a little tired but enjoyed playing with a strong table. For a part-time grinder with a business to run, that is a refreshingly low-key reaction to the best result of his poker career.
What This Result Means for Players
There are a few practical takeaways for anyone chasing mid-stakes live titles.
Short stacks are never dead. Ta's Day 1b comeback from 3,000 chips shows that tournament poker rewards survival. Late registration and re-entry formats give you additional shots, but even without them, the right shove at the right time can rebuild a stack quickly.
Chip leads are fragile. Major held nearly two-thirds of the chips four-handed and still finished second. Do not mistake a big stack for a guaranteed win; keep playing disciplined poker, particularly against opponents who have been through a swing of their own.
Experience compounds. Ta's near-misses in 2021, 2023 and 2024 gave him the experience to navigate a 14-hour final day. Long days are physically demanding, and decision quality drops late at night. Managing your energy, staying hydrated and sticking to a routine are underrated edges. For the money side of a long tournament career, see our guide on bankroll management.
Know your variance. A $1,200 buy-in with a 394-player field is high-variance by nature. Even strong players will cash only a small percentage of the time, so treat the results as a long-run average rather than a short-run measurement.
The Bigger Picture: RunGood in the Fall
RunGood has become a fixture on the American live calendar, with stops that cater to players looking for lower buy-ins and deep structures. The Jacksonville stop at bestbet is one of the best-attended on the schedule, and the series now heads west for its Bay Area stop later this month, where the Main Event buy-in has been reduced. If you prefer playing online, cash games and online tournaments offer a similar learning environment, and our real money poker guide covers where to play.
Whether you choose live or online poker, Ta's victory is a reminder that the best stories in this game rarely belong to the biggest names. They belong to players who stay in their seats, keep making good decisions, and wait for the right moment to run. For anyone wondering how live and online experience compare, our online poker vs live poker breakdown is a good place to continue.
Results and chip counts in this article are drawn from PokerNews live coverage of the RGPS Jacksonville Main Event. Always check the official series page for any updates.