Lytle Allen is looking for redemption. After finishing runner-up in last month’s World Series of Poker Circuit IP Biloxi main event for $77,899, he leads the final 12 players in the WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Southern Indiana main event.
Allen, who finished eighth in this event last year, finished Day 2 with a sizable chip lead and has the inside track to his first career Circuit ring. He finished the day with 1,645,000 in chips and has a sizable chip lead over his closest competitor, Hank Sitton. Sitton is the only other player with a seven-figure chip count, finishing the penultimate day with 1,116,000 in chips.
Allen and Sitton are the only two players with seven figure chip counts, but there is some serious poker talent lurking just behind them in the chip counts. Ben Keeline, Robert Hankins, and Keven Stammen round out the top five chip counts. Keeline and Stammen have WSOP Bracelets to their poker resume and both have seven-figure career tournament earnings.
Hankins, came up just shy for a bracelet of his own this past summer and is the current leader in the Casino Champion race for this stop. He’s made three final tables and won his fifth ring in the $365 Pot-Limit Omaha event just a few days ago.
Day 2 of the three day event started at 1 p.m. with 130 players surviving the two starting flights from Friday and Saturday. Late registration and re-entry was open until cards got in the air on Sunday, and there were six players who took advantage of that option. That brought the total field size to 432 and 136 players to start the day.
The 432 player field set a new record for the property and is the biggest WSOP Circuit main event to ever be held at the Horseshoe Southern Indiana. It brought the total prizepool to $648,000 with the top 45 finishers earning a payday and the champion taking home $142,560.
The bubble burst near the halfway point of level 18, just after the second break of the day. Andrew Barfield flopped a set of fours against his opponent’s top pair top kicker and eliminated a player to ensure a cash of at least $2,929 for himself and the rest of the field.
Barfield earned a cash, but was unable to survive the whole day. He finished in 16th and cashed for $7,452. Other notables who took home some cash from Southern Indiana are T.M. Williams (15th), Benjamin Grise (18th), Jerry Payne (23rd), Charles “Woody” Moore (26th), David Cossio (31st), Jake Bazeley (33rd), Ryan Tepen (38th), former champion of this event Gregory Johnson (41st), and Chad Eveslage (43rd).
Not everybody was fortunate enough to make the money, however. Bracelet winner Alan Percal, eight-time ring winner Ari Engel, five-time ring winner Kurt Jewell, Neil Scott, Douglas Carli, Dean Schultz, last year’s champion of this event Russ Head, and four-time ring winner Scott Stewart were some of the casualties before the bubble burst.
The final 12 players will resume play on Monday afternoon at 1 p.m. to play down to a winner. Everybody is guaranteed a cash of at least $10,912, but they have their sights set on the ring, the first place money, and the seat into the Global Casino Championship.
Here is a look at the chip counts for the final day:
- Lytle Allen – 1,645,000
- Hank Sitton – 1,116,000
- Ben Keeline – 922,000
- Robert Hankins – 862,000
- Keven Stammen – 744,000
- Angela Shade – 732,000
- Karen Hodge – 634,000
- Gary Simms – 552,000
- Alan Wyse – 426,000
- BJ McBrayer – 424,000
- Al Hencheck – 364,000
- John Coffman – 222,000