Illustrative archive photograph; not from the RGPS Lake Erie event. Photo: Chris Liverani / Unsplash.
A three-way deal settled the money. An unusual showdown settled the championship ring.
Michael Barlow won the RunGood Poker Series Lake Erie Main Event after the last three players agreed to split the remaining prize money and two of them played a nine-card flip for the title.
The $600 tournament in Elyria, Ohio, finished on October 4. Barlow received $29,318, with Antonio Ndoja and David Hanna each collecting $29,316.
Nine cards each, one ring
With the deal agreed, Barlow and Ndoja were dealt nine cards apiece and used a five-card community board to settle the ring. Hanna did not take part in the flip.
Both players made a full house. Barlow’s tens full of aces beat Ndoja’s tens full of jacks, giving him the Main Event title.
The result brought Barlow his second RunGood title. His first came alongside his brother Matthew in an Ohio tag-team event in 2024.
Why the deal mattered
Barlow told PokerNews he had been the shortest stack when the deal was offered. Taking roughly the same payout as the other two players made financial sense to him.
That sequence is the key to the story: the three players settled their cash payouts before Barlow and Ndoja flipped for the ring. The final result therefore needs to be read alongside the deal, rather than as a conventional winner-takes-the-top-prize finish.
The recorded top three were:
- Michael Barlow: $29,318
- Antonio Ndoja: $29,316
- David Hanna: $29,316
A $200,000 Main Event in Ohio
Official live reporting recorded 360 entries, a $200,000 prize pool and 37 paid places.
The Main Event was part of RunGood’s Golden Expedition stop at Lake Erie Poker Room. The organizer scheduled five starting flights from October 1–3, followed by the Day 2 final on October 4. The $200,000 guarantee was advertised before play began.
RunGood’s next scheduled stop is Hollywood St. Louis on October 6–11, followed by Champions Club Houston on October 12–18.