Justin Arnwine Wins RGPS Grand Prix Maryland Main Event

Justin Arnwine has made a living out of winning poker tournaments, lots of them, but his crowning achievement came on Sunday at the final table of the $1,700 RunGood Poker Series Grand Prix Maryland Main Event.

Arnwine won the ring and $80,646 top prize for beating out the 251-entry field, putting on a masterclass in how to close out a tournament at the final table before ultimately defeating the uproarious and unpredictable Russ Dunlevy heads-up.

RGPS Grand Prix Maryland Final Table results

“That’s pretty special,” Arnwine said after donning the RGPS Main Event ring for the first time. “This is probably my signature win. I’ve won a lot of tournaments live, a lot of tournaments online, but usually they’re single-day tournaments. If they are multi-day tournaments, we’ll chop. There was a second when it looked like we would chop, and then he said, well, for the sport of it, let’s play. I was so glad he said that. I was like, yes, yes. Finally. Let’s play for something that matters.”

Arnwine is known for two things: his Hello Kitty outfit and his prolific record of winning tournaments. The first came about by accident. Arnwine had been playing at a casino for a few days but ran out of clothes. The only store left open at the mall was a kiosk with three Hello Kitty hoodies. He bought them out of necessity, and they got such a reaction when he returned to play that it soon became his trademark.

The second, though, is no accident but rather a testament to Arnwine’s passion for the game and willingness to put in the hours, day after day. He holds the unofficial record with more than 150 tournament victories on his resume, virtually all of them in low buy-in events here at the MGM National Harbor and other casinos across Maryland as he prefers to keep all of his own action. His earnings today are more than double his previous best score and push his total live earnings past $1.3 million. But he still has detractors who say he only wins because he constantly rebuys. While posing with his new ring today, Arnwine made sure to send a message and held up a sign that read “1 Buyin Haters.”

“I usually play and just keep firing until the end of registration, and people give me a lot of shit about it. Like, he only wins because he rebuys. So when I do win on one buy-in, I have to point it out. Otherwise, they’ll think I never win on one buy-in, but I win on one buy-in all the time,” he said.

Arnwine credits his proficiency at closing out tournaments to his ability not to allow thoughts of winning to cloud his judgment. His goal is to play his game, and more often than most, winning will come with it.

“I think that I do a good job at convincing myself that winning isn’t the goal. That the goal is to play my best poker. Most of the time, my best poker is enough to do the job. Winning is a byproduct of playing my best game,” he said.

Day 2 Action

Day 2 began with 33 players returning out of 251 entries already in the money. Arnwine was in second place with 801,000 after bagging the chip lead on the first opening flight.

Nicholas Rigby took the chip lead when his tens held up against Nathan Bomey’s ace-queen and Alexander Wiggins’ ace-king for a double knockout. Arnwine then earned his own double elimination, waking up with aces to bust both Zach Kates and Tyler Shields. Rob Gardner (33rd), Kash Corpening (27th), Christopher Chatman (21st), Aaron Pinson (19th), and Lara Eisenberg (13th) were also among those to fall short of the final table.

With 11 players remaining, Charles Furey and Jeffrey Chang found themselves all in at the same time on separate tables. Furey failed to complete a straight draw against Kade Venkatesan’s set of sevens, while Rigby rivered a straight against Chang’s eights for the knockout to set the nine-handed final table.

Rigby led with 3,200,000 at the start of the final table, while Arnwine was still in second place with 1,920,000. Lee Sommers was all in for 300,000 with two queens against Craig Delisle’s ace-jack, but Delisle flopped two pair to take the lead and send Sommers out as the first final table casualty.

Arnwine passed Rigby for the chip lead when he spiked a set of deuces, climbing above 3,000,000. Rigby’s downfall continued as he tangled in a pot with Dunlevy, who called the clock on himself after Rigby shoved the river. Dunlevy ended up calling with two pair, and Rigby mucked to hand over the double up.

Hamid Izadi left Delisle on fumes after doubling up with aces. Delisle then lost a race with tens against Roy Kim’s ace-queen and was eliminated in eighth place. Kai Nicholls was the next to fall, his king-jack dominated by Arnwine’s king-queen.

Rigby had fallen below 1,000,000 before winning a flip with ace-queen against Kim’s nines. Kim was left with just 200,000 and Rigby finished him off the next hand to send the start-of-day chip leader out in sixth place.

Rigby doubled up two hands in a row, first spiking a king against Venkatesan, then fading a flush draw and two overcards holding pocket fives against Dunlevy as he climbed back up to 1,400,000.

Rigby, though, was left short again when he made two pair, queens and sevens, and called Arnwine’s river bet of 300,000, but Arnwine showed a set of threes. Rigby was then all in for 700,000 with ace-eight and racing against Arnwine’s two sixes. Arnwine hit a full house on the turn and Rigby, the RGPS Grand Prix Southern Indiana champion, hit the rail in fifth place.

Arnwine began to separate from the pack during four-handed play. He first shoved the river on Dunlevy with just nine-high. “You sick f**k,” Dunlevy told him. The sight of Arnwine winding up his Hello Kitty figurine usually meant an all-in shove was incoming, and it was a common occurrence today at the final table.

Dunlevy came from behind to double off Venkatesan when his ace-seven outflopped Venkatesan’s ace-jack. Heading on what would be the last break of the day, Arnwine led with 5,585,000, far ahead of Izadi in second place with 1,950,000.

Venkatesan fell in fourth place after running his ace-eight into Dunlevy’s ace-ten. Izadi then bet 200,000 on an eight-high flop and Arnwine wound up the cat. Izadi called for 1,600,000 and both players showed top pair, but Izadi was ahead with a ten-kicker. Arnwine also had a flush draw, and he made his flush on the river to win the pot and bust Izadi in third place.

Arnwine led Dunlevy 7,100,000 to 2,900,000 at the start of heads-up. “We made it this far. Let’s play,” Dunlevy said after the two opponents briefly discussed a deal.

Arnwine won a big pot with ace-high as Dunlevy lamented not going for another barrel on the river. He was knocked down to 2,000,000 before raising to 350,000 in the big blind after Arnwine limped. Arnwine called and Dunlevy bet another 200,000 on the flop. Arnwine called to see an ace come on the turn. Dunlevy slowed down and checked, and the cat again walked across the table.

“I like to think I can come back from this, J-Man,” Dunlevy said as he spent several minutes agonizing over the decision. He eventually announced a call for his last 1,300,000 and turned over two sevens, but Arnwine showed two pair, aces and threes, to win the pot and close out another tournament victory.

He may have come up just short of capturing the title, but Dunlevy still put on a show with his constant stream-of-consciousness table banter and unorthodox style.

“He’s a lot of fun,” he said about Dunlevy. “I really enjoyed playing with Rigby. I was really impressed with that queen-seven hand, how he didn’t go broke there. I don’t always get into this mindset, but today, and a lot of days that I win, I don’t hate my opponents. I don’t view them as the enemy. They’re my partner in crime, like a dance partner. If they weren’t here, then we couldn’t have a game. I was really happy that everyone came and brought their A-Game. Today, my A-Game was enough. This was definitely my A-Game.”

The victory was a career-changing moment for Arnwine, but his life is about to change in one other important aspect, as well. He and his wife, Caitlyn, are expecting a daughter. “Already have people trying to buy some of her action,” he said. “I think I’m going to play a lot less dailies and do a lot more traveling.”

Arnwine also wanted to send out a special message after his win. “I had to say, thank you to Tournament Director Pat for always making me feel comfortable and appreciated. Even though he’s gone, he’s not forgotten,” Arnwine said.

Arnwine’s record of tournament victories would fill several pages. But, in a career filled with them, this was the biggest one of them all.