Justin Boggs advances to Day 2, ready to defend his Main Event title. Top 45 finishers will earn a WSOP cash.
October 7, 2018 (Elizabeth, Ind.) -- With the conclusion of Day 1B, the Horseshoe Southern Indiana Main Event has wrapped up its second, and final, starting flight.
Friday's Day 1A flight drew 166 entries while Flight B added another 223 to the mix. All in all, the Main Event attracted a totaled 389 entrants, which generated a prizepool of $589,335. The payout sum will award a World Series of Poker cash to the top 45 finishers, from a $2,663 min-cash to the grand prize of $129,954 for first place.
Flight A saw 31 players survive the day, led by James Hill with 343,000 in chips. Flight B finished off with another 43 survivors, combining for a group of 74 players advancing to Day 2. Michael Shanahan finished as the Flight B chip lead with 374,500 and will begin Day 2 as the overall chip leader.
The big story of Flight B was Justin Boggs, the defending Main Event Champion at Horseshoe Southern Indiana. Last season, Boggs scooped a massive pot at the end of Day 1B to become the overall chip leader. From there, the Ohio native ran it all the way to the winner’s circle, earning himself $139,920 and a debut Circuit gold ring. This time around, Boggs enters Day 2 ranked in the top-15 with 255,500, ready to defend his title.
Some other notables advancing to Day 2 are as follows: Gold bracelet winners, Alan Percal (213,000) and Jessica Dawley (50,500), as well as gold ring owners Neil Scott (235,500), Russell Sullivan (229,000), Corey Bierria (211,000), Michael Lech (177,000), John Richards (174,000), TK Miles (170,000), Ari Engel (134,000), and more.
Here are the top-five chip stacks going into Day 2:
1st: Michael Shanahan - 374,500
2nd: Melih “Turk” Birdal - 356,000
3rd: James Hill - 343,000
4th: James Osborne - 340,500
5th: Kevin Iacofano - 334,000
Day 2 chip counts | Day 2 seat draw
The 74 players remaining are just 29 spots from the money. Play resumes at 1:00 p.m. with Level 16: Blinds 2,000/4,000 with a 500 ante and is scheduled to play through ten, one-hour levels, by which time a final table will likely be reached.