Justin Arnwine adds another victory to the RGPS Maryland Main Event.

Justin Arnwine emerged victorious from 329 entries in the RGPS Maryland $1,300 Main Event, winning $78,501 and his second RGPS championship ring. He defeated Maclaren Chatham and is now on track for the mid-stakes Player of the Year award.

Death, taxes, and Justin Arnwine winning a poker tournament. These are the three certainties of life.

Less than a year after winning the inaugural RunGood Poker Series event at MGM National Harbor, Arnwine once again emerged victorious from 329 entries today, winning his second RGPS championship ring and taking home the Golden Expedition Maryland $1,300 Main Event for a prize of $78,501.

"It feels really great. I rarely let myself enjoy a victory, but I told myself that if I win this match again, again, outright, without taking any prize money, then I'm going to enjoy this moment, and it feels good," Arnwine said after dominating Maclaren Chatham in a brief heads-up match.

RGPS Maryland Main Event Final Table Results

Arnwine set new goals for herself this year.

Arnwine has long been considered the unofficial record holder for most tournament wins in his career, with over 150. But he's surpassed himself in the past few months. He won a ring at the previous RGPS event in Maryland in April, then took down the mystery bounty at ARIA in June. He won a WSOP Circuit event in July and another tournament at The Venetian, continuing to add to his extensive trophy collection. Just weeks ago, he took first place in the Maryland State Poker Championship after a three-way split.

With a newborn in the family, Arnwine has dedicated himself to a single goal this year: to become the mid-buy Player of the Year, and he's working toward that goal. "I had won a lot of tournaments before people knew who I was, but then I felt a little disrespected because people said those were just day tournaments. And my wife always encouraged me to travel. She said, 'You have to travel.' I knew that to win multi-day tournaments, I had to step out of my comfort zone and play in other places," he said.

"So this year was that year, especially since my daughter was a newborn, and I thought, okay, this year I'm going to go all out and try to win the Mid Buy-in Player of the Year award. So we won two rings here. Then I won Aria. Then I won The Venetian. Then I won the Monster Stack Tournament at Horseshoe. Then I won Borgata, and now I've won this one. So when all the Borgata data is updated, I'll be number one in the Mid Buy-in Player of the Year award."

When he won this tournament last year out of 251 players, he held up a sign that read "1 Buy-In Haters." This time he couldn't say that, as he used eight buy-ins on Day 1, but he learned that the best way to win poker tournaments is to go all out and play with a fearless mindset. That worked for him today.

"That definitely helped today. There were a few times I had a chip lead and then I lost it, and Mac was kind of dominating the table. I was just willing to keep myself in the game because I was willing to take risks earlier than the ICM rules allow. But I just decided, no, I wanted to win, and to win, I had to be willing to get out earlier than what I was supposed to be supposed to be," he said.

Raymer and Rigby were eliminated early on the second day.

Arnwine entered the day as the chip leader, with 43 players remaining, and was the only player to surpass the one million chip milestone. Greg Raymer (40th), Nicholas Rigby (36th), John Major (30th), Day 1 Group C chip leader Ivan Tomic (29th), defending champion Arash Asadabadi (28th), and Kash Corpening (17th) were among the first to be eliminated. Last year's runner-up Russ Dunlevy once again fell to him, being eliminated in 16th place.

Nathan Farlow had a run of good luck near the final table bubble, hitting a flush on the river to eliminate 14th-placed Ari Katz, and then making a straight on the turn against Christopher Caruso. "Man, you've got some good luck," George Karmires told him, and Karmires soon found out for himself when Farlow hit a straight on the river to send him to 12th place. Jimmy Chen secured the final table with a full house, eliminating 10th-placed Nathan Bomey.

Final Table Results

Arnwine started the final table with a commanding 4,900,000 chips, more than double that of Chen and Farlow. Boris Kravets started with less than two big blinds and was eliminated on his first hand, while Farlow's good fortune continued as he held the advantage against Mark Wahba in a set-a-set. He also hit two pair, eliminating seventh-placed Valentin Lita.

Michael Stroman and Chen put on a classic coin toss, with Chen hitting top pair of Aces against Stroman's two Queens on the flop to win the elimination. Casey Hatmaker then went all-in with a pair of 5s, but Arnwine held top pair of Aces, eliminating Hatmaker in fifth place.

Farlow cooled off significantly from his impressive run, his chip stack dwindling to less than 1,000,000. He went all-in with J-4, only to be met by Chen with AK. Chen hit two pair on the turn, sending Farlow to fourth place. Meanwhile, Chatham, holding triplets of tens, took the chip lead from Arnwine after being paid off on the river.

Chatham continued his climb, surpassing 10,000,000, while Arnwine dropped to just over 2,000,000 before making a straight on the turn to double up against Chatham's two opponents. Arnwine then went all-in on the button with two 2s, and Chen called with A-9 for 2,500,000. Chen flopped trips, poised to double up and take most of Arnwine's chips, but Arnwine hit another 2 on the turn to make a full house, eliminating Chen in third place.

Chatham started heads-up with a 10,000,000 to 6,400,000 chip lead, but the game completely tilted in Arnwine's favor. Arnwine quickly called Chatham's 1,000,000 bet on the river with two pair, regaining the chip lead. He then instantly called 1,700,000 on the river with a pair of Aces, while Chatham could only show a flawed straight draw. An unfortunate mishap left Chatham with only 1,100,000 chips, and he went all-in with A-7 against Arnwine's two eights. Arnwine's pair maintained the lead, and the championship was his again.

Arnwine's preparations for another championship begin at home.

It was a long and tough day at MGM National Harbor. The final table itself took over six hours, past midnight. Arnwine was fully prepared for the ordeal. "I really forced myself to get eight hours of sleep in case this happened. My wife was a huge help too. She made sure the baby was asleep and the whole house was quiet so I could get eight hours of sleep. Then I woke up, had breakfast, and got here on time. I was just ready to pull through," he said.

Arnwine's life outside the poker table is a little different now. He and his wife, Caiyen, have a seven-month-old daughter, forcing Arnwine to balance his poker career and fatherhood responsibilities. He's prepared for this by writing a guide to prepare for the challenges ahead. "It's funny. My wife is loading that book right now. It's not on the market yet, but it'll be released by the end of the year. I wrote a whole book, about three weeks before she was born, about how we're going to raise her. Just so I don't get lost. She and I, we work together to make sure we stay on this path, to make sure our daughter has an extraordinary life," he said.

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