The RunGood Poker Series is running two stops at once this month. The RGPS Golden Expedition visits Horseshoe Casino Tunica in Mississippi from November 10 to 15 with 13 ring events and a $600 Main Event guaranteeing $200,000, then overlaps with RGPS Bay Area at Graton Resort & Casino in California, which runs November 12 to 22 with 18 ring events, more than $500,000 in total guarantees and a $300,000-guaranteed Main Event whose buy-in has dropped from $1,100 to $800. Both stops count toward the 2026/27 RunGood Player of the Year race and feed the PokerNews PowerStack race for Dream Seats to the PGT Championship.
RGPS Tunica: Nov 10-15
Key events
- Main Event: $600 buy-in, $200,000 guarantee, three starting flights on November 13 (6 p.m.) and November 14 (11 a.m. and 6 p.m.), Day 2 on Sunday, November 15
- PowerStack: $250 buy-in, $50,000 guarantee, two flights on Wednesday, November 11 (noon and 6 p.m.), finals on Thursday, November 12
Highlights from the schedule
The 13-ring series includes a $250 Seniors event (50+) and a $250 Series Opener on November 10, a $200 Five-Card PLO ring event on November 11, a $300 One Day NLH and a $250 Big Bet Bounty with $400 bounties once players cash on November 12, and a $300 Pot-Limit Omaha and a $300 Ladies event on November 13. The closing day features a $200 Turbo NLH and a $400 Black Chip Bounty. Flip & Go satellites run on demand, and $145 Turbo Main Event satellites award one $600 seat for every five entries.
Last time in Tunica
Context from the previous Tunica stop: the March 2026 RGPS Passport Main Event drew 495 entries and a $252,450 prize pool, and William Latta won $49,110 and a ring after defeating Kyle Cartwright heads-up. The previous PowerStack in Tunica drew 452 entries for a $90,400 prize pool, and Cody Stanford won $18,067 and a ring, beating Tony Wofford heads-up.
Those numbers give a sense of scale. A $200,000 guarantee on a $600 buy-in needs roughly 333 entries to be met, and the March Main Event nearly hit 500, so the guarantee looks achievable based on recent turnout. Past results do not guarantee future fields, of course, but it is a useful benchmark.
RGPS Bay Area at Graton: Nov 12-22
Key events
- PokerNews PowerStack Mystery Bounty: $400 buy-in, $200,000 guarantee, five starting flights November 12-14, Day 2 on November 15 (Ring #2)
- RunGood Main Event: $800 buy-in (down from $1,100), $300,000 guarantee, four Day 1 flights on November 20 (10 a.m. and 4 p.m.) and November 21 (10 a.m. and 4 p.m.), Day 2 on November 22 at noon (Ring #16)
Other notable events
The 18-ring schedule includes a $300 Series Opener on November 12, a $400 Big Bounty on November 15, a $300 Graton Harvest Classic with flights November 15-17, a $400 Seniors 50+ NLH on November 16, a $300 Limit Omaha 8, a $400 Monster Stack, a $300 T.O.R.S.E., a $300 Mixed PLO, a $300-per-team Tag Team PLO/NLH, a $600 SuperStack and a $300 Pot-Limit Omaha. The final day includes a $400 Win a Ring on the River NLH and a $200 Double Board Bomb Pot PLO. Lower-buy-in options include $200 one-day turbos and nightly bounty and bomb-pot events.
The lower Main Event buy-in
The headline change is the Main Event: the buy-in is $800 rather than $1,100, but the guarantee holds at $300,000. In March 2026, Aaron Overton won the $1,100 Main Event at Graton for $94,050. A lower buy-in with the same guarantee means a higher required field to avoid an overlay; at $800 per entry and ignoring fees, a $300,000 pool requires more entries than it would have at $1,100. For players, that is good news if the field falls short, because an overlay is extra value.
Satellites are plentiful: $100 in-room NLH satellites feed several events, $240 package satellites (one in six wins a $400 Mystery Bounty entry plus an $800 Main Event entry) run November 12 to 14, and $200 Main Event satellites (one in five wins an $800 entry) run on November 19, 20 and 21.
The PowerStack Race and Dream Seats
One of the underappreciated parts of RGPS is the PowerStack leaderboard. Points are earned at designated PowerStack events across the Fall season. The top 10 players get a package to Thunder Valley, including entry to the $300 Dream Seat Invitational at the RunGood Dream Factory Festival (November 27 to December 3). The Invitational winner earns a seat in the PGT Championship at PokerGO Studio in January 2027, a freeroll with $500,000 in prizes.
Standings after ten stops: Jesse Stephens and Derek Kerns lead with 70 points each, followed by Shannon Lee on 65 and Peter Brooks on 60. Rayz Rayl, Charlie Dawson, Michael Kennedy, Phong Nguyen and David Burke have 55 each, and Grant Hinkle has 51.7. With the Graton PowerStack leaderboard also offering a Thunder Valley package to its top 10, the points race has real stakes.
What This Means for Players
Check the overlay math. A guarantee versus the buy-in tells you how many entries are needed. If you see a field falling short, a tournament can be +EV for everyone. Our tournaments page explains how guarantees work.
Use satellites strategically. One-in-five and one-in-six satellites offer big discounts compared with buying into the Main Event directly. In satellites, chip accumulation matters less than survival; read about ICM to see why.
Choose bounty formats carefully. Mystery and big-bounty events change the value of a call. When you can win a bounty, your required equity falls; our pot odds guide shows the math.
Pace your bankroll. With 31 ring events across the two stops, the temptation to play more is strong. Our bankroll management guide suggests limits to protect your roll, and the cash games vs tournaments comparison explains why tournaments swing so wildly.
Think about Omaha. Both stops feature PLO and Omaha variants. If you are expanding your skills, our Omaha guide is a good place to begin.
The Bigger Picture
RGPS has grown into one of the most important regional circuits in the United States, and its tie-in with the PGT shows how a regional series can provide a pathway to televised events. For players who cannot afford large buy-ins, an RGPS Dream Seat is one of the few realistic routes to a freeroll with $500,000 in prizes. For more on the freeroll itself, see our PGT Championship preview.
All details are based on PokerNews reporting published in late October 2026. Confirm schedules, buy-ins and rules with RGPS and the host casinos before traveling.