Cody Stanford was already having one of the craziest low-to-mid-stakes runs we’ve ever seen to kickstart his 2025 campaign.
Over the weekend, Stanford continued his blistering start, collecting his fifth win in the first 10-and-a-half weeks of the year, taking down the $600 RunGood Poker Series Tunica Main Event.
The RGPS Ambassador topped the 546-entry field, collecting $53,988 for his efforts, in addition to his eighth-career RGPS ring.
“It always feels great to win any poker tournament, especially a Main Event,” Stanford told PokerNews.
“But to do it with my wife and friends here, at my home casino, it means a lot.
“Having that support on your rail helps a lot. I took a two-outer three-handed and was the short stack at times during three- and four-handed play, so having them there definitely kept me composed and believing.”
After 12 hours of final day play, Stanford defeated Michael Johns in a brief heads-up battle after going in as a huge seven-to-one favorite. Johns took home a career-best $36,126.
Stanford, who is nearing $2 million in career live tournament earnings, started 2025 in spectacular fashion, shipping the 2,525-entry $500 Beau Rivage Heater Triple Stack for a career-high $181,487 on January 5th.
He then went on an unprecedented run at the WSOP Circuit, also in Tunica, Mississippi, one of the top WSOP Circuit destinations. Stanford won three Circuit rings in less than a week, his fifth, sixth, and seventh-career WSOP Circuit rings.
While Stanford’s seven rings are extremely impressive, they fail in comparison to Ari Engel, who retook the WSOPC ring lead with his 19th win just last week.
Despite usually staying away from huge buy-ins, Stanford was #1 in the 2025 GPI Player of the Year race for a handful of weeks before the high rollers caught up to him.
Prior to this latest win, Stanford ranked 33rd in the rankings and will likely catapult back into the top-10. Nick Schulman and 2024 Women in Poker Hall of Fame inductee Kristen Foxen currently lead the standings.