A professional bass fisherman from Alabama made the biggest catch of his poker life at Horseshoe Tunica, where Joshua Butler topped 627 entries in the two-day $600 RunGood Poker Series (RGPS) Grand Prix Tunica Main Event. Butler defeated Hamid Izadi heads-up to secure the RGPS ring and $49,282 from a $326,040 prize pool that smashed the $200,000 guarantee, with a three-way deal flattening the top payouts.
From Bass Boats to Final Tables
Butler, who had only played two live tournaments before this week, showed poise under pressure throughout a marathon final day that began with 76 players returning along the banks of the Mississippi River.
“Ecstatic, very tired.” Butler said on his state after winning. “It went 14 hours or so today, however long it was. It was a grind, I just tried to put myself in the best spot I could and, you know, hopefully run good.”
A longtime professional bass fisherman, Butler said the mindset that serves him on the water carried over to the felt.
“I mean, for sure. I mean just keeping a level head, you’re never out of it. Same way with fishing, you’re one bite away from having your whole day swing the right way. Same way in poker, you’re one big hand away from no telling what happens. So, there’s a lot of parallels to it. You just got to keep the level head and keep grinding.”
Final Table Results
A three-way agreement at the top flattened the payouts, with Butler, Izadi, and Chris Kennedy locking in their shares before playing down to a champion.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joshua Butler | United States | $49,282* |
| 2 | Hamid Izadi | United States | $40,000* |
| 3 | Chris Kennedy | United States | $40,000* |
| 4 | Jamie Kizer | United States | $21,897 |
| 5 | Nathan Morton | United States | $16,497 |
| 6 | Cody Stanford | United States | $12,577 |
| 7 | Brian Durr | United States | $9,704 |
| 8 | Dylan Crawford | United States | $7,579 |
| 9 | Teresa Lammie | United States | $5,992 |
*Denotes three-way agreement to flatten payout structure
A Win Shared at the Rail
With his wife and friends cheering him through the late stages, Butler capped his third-ever live poker tournament with a breakthrough title.
“It means everything. I mean, actually I’m really new at this,” Butler said, as his nearest and dearest were able to rail his breakthrough win. “This is only my third live tournament ever to play, so to have my wife here, I mean, it’s incredible. We get to share it together and it’s something we’ll definitely never forget.”
As for what comes next, Butler is keeping his options open.
“I don’t know, we might go on the road and try a couple more events and see where it leads.”
