Andrew Moreno Wins $2,700 Mission RunGood Million Dollar Main Event ($200,080)

Andrew Moreno’s journey to his first RunGood Poker Series title was not without its bumps in the road during the $2,700 Mission RunGood Million Dollar Main Event held at the Thunder Valley Casino and Resort. In the end, Moreno was the last one standing as he took down the title, the RGPS ring, and the first-place prize of $200,080.

In fact, it almost didn’t happen as Moreno shared with PokerNews that he had misgivings about coming to the tournament at all, due to scheduling issues with his flight and the more important fact that it would keep him away from his wife and two young children. Moreno chose to go through with his plan to play the main event, and it paid off for the accomplished poker professional.

Early Day 2 was fraught with adversity for Moreno as he endured a few tough hands that saw his stack shrivel when he folded a full house on the river to Haixia Zhang, and then folded during another big pot where Paul Vang showed a bluff. Moreno spoke about his tumultuous Day 2 that nearly derailed his title run.

“I got raised all in on the river, and I ended up folding, and the gentleman windmilled the bluff in my face. And the whole table was kind of in disbelief,” Moreno said. “It felt like the whole table was kind of laughing at me. And there was this moment where I felt my blood pressure rise and kind of like my brain go a little foggy.”

Despite these negative feelings, Moreno reset his mentality in the wake of that moment.

“I just told myself, okay, this is where you just get to show yourself how good you are,” Moreno said.

The reset in mentality paid off. From that point forward, Moreno began his ascension back into contention and finished the day third in chips as they came into the penultimate day with 17 left. 


Moreno’s Day 3 was smooth sailing at the onset, but he hit yet another snag during the final table that saw him equalize with the remaining players as they entered dinner break. During another moment of doubt, Moreno leaned on his family, whom he missed dearly, to guide him back to his center.

“I was talking to my wife and my son, and it was just like this switch that I needed,” Moreno said. “My son is three, and I said, ‘Buddy, Dad is not feeling good right now. He’s stressed out. Do you have any advice for me?”

Moreno said his son replied, “We believe in you, Dad.” Moreno stated that after talking to his family, he came back from break relaxed and at peace with whatever was going to happen.

The journey to the title was, of course, about the poker, but Moreno shared that ultimately what made this win special was that it was a battle of an internal struggle as well as a poker struggle.

“I really faced myself at a couple different points in the tournament and was able to look myself in the mirror and say, ‘I know who I am and I know what I can do,’ and I was able to execute on that,” Moreno said. “That meant a lot to me.”

Final Table Results

Day 3 Action

The day began with a flurry of knockouts in the first two levels. 2023 champion Tyler Patterson was the first victim of the day as he was unable to gain any traction and was eliminated in 17th place. Patterson was the first of a slew of knockouts as the second blind level of the day saw seven players hit the exit, including: Kais Mohammad, Joel Foscalina, Jonathan Wang, Paul Vang, Mahmoudreza Heshmati, Kao Saevang, and Thu Tran to get the tournament to a final table.

Dan Stavila was the next one out in ninth place after the players came back from the first break of the day courtesy of Moreno. Play hit a standstill as various players secured double-ups, but Michael Persky wound up being the next player to hit the payout desk when he was knocked out in eighth place by Robert Grossglauser.

Stephen Hesse was Grossglauser’s next victim as he went out right before the second break of the day when he ran into the pocket aces of Grossglauser. Shane Miller wasted little time getting his chips in following the break and lost a flip to Grossglauser, who scored his third knockout of the final table.

While the pace had been frenetic up until this point, the final table would hit a quagmire as players buckled down with their deep stacks. Jackson Spencer would break the stalemate when he coolered Robert Grossglauser with pocket kings versus jacks.

Grossglauser would meet his demise after the first hand back from dinner break when his pocket fours fell victim to the pocket sixes of Moreno to be eliminated in fifth place. Despite that elimination, the play was meticulous as players picked their spots.

Four-handed play at the final table lasted for over two hours until the deadlock was broken when Jackson Spencer was eliminated in fourth place against Moreno.

Joshua Prager was the next to go in third place, setting up the brief heads-up battle between Hamed Valizadegan and Moreno, where Moreno finished the match in just a few hands to win the title.