Lytle Allen Wins WSOPC Horseshoe Tunica Main Event For $144,313; Aaron Gamino Crowned Casino Winner

Lytle Allen Wins WSOPC Horseshoe Tunica Main Event For $144,313; Aaron Gamino Crowned Casino Winner
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  • RUPAM THAKUR January 29, 2020
  • 2 Minutes Read

The 2019-20 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit came visiting the Horseshoe Casino in Tunica, Mississippi, on January 16 and ran all the way through January 27. The series gave away 13 WSOP Circuit rings, with the headline event being the $1,700 Horseshoe Tunica Main Event. It was Lytle Allen (cover image) who ultimately came out on top of the 491-strong field (Day 1A – 150, and Day 1B – 341) in the Main Event to win his first WSOP Circuit Ring, along with $144,313 as first-prize, and a seat into the 2020 Global Casino Championship.

On the other hand, a 31-year-old economics professor, Aaron Gamino, claimed the WSOPC Horseshoe Tunica Casino Champion title with four cashes in the series, including three final table finishes and a victory in Event #4: $400 NLHE that fetched him $26,879 in prize money. Gamino accumulated a total of 107.5 points to win himself a seat into the 2020 Global Casino Championship.

Complete List of Winners

EventWinnerPrize
#1: $400 NLH Double StackChris Nunnally$23,984
#2: $400 NLH (One-Day)Blake Whittington$19,786
#3: $400 NLH Multi-FlightMichael Lech$53,320
#4: $400 NLH One-DayAaron Gamino$16,194
#5: $400 NLH 6-HandedBryan Salerno$18,438
#6: $400 Pot-Limit OmahaGrant Hart$11,209
#7: $400 Monster StackWalker Miskelly$43,209
#8: $600 NLHSam Washburn$28,101
#9: $250 NLH One-DayNeil Patel$13,354
#10: $1,700 Main EventLytle Allen$144,313
#11: $400 NLH One-DayBrandon Smith$16,971
#12: $400 NLH One-DayJenneth Norman$14,925
#13: $400 Double StackBrian Green$18,945

Last year, it was Kyle Cartwright who had championed the Main Event at Horseshoe Tunica after outlasting a field of 639 runners to take home close to $200K. It was Cartwright`s fourth career WSOP Circuit Main Event title to add to his WSOP bracelet. This time around, the Main Event logged in 208 fewer entries than the last time and hence could only manage a prize pool worth $743,865.

Speaking after the tournament, Allen said: “It means a lot to me. I’ve been working hard to get to this point, and to beat the field that I was playing with in the final six, they were tough, really good players, so I feel really good about it.”

Commenting on his strategy on Day 3, Allen added, “My strategy was to come in and just play my game. I figured I was the underdog so I just wanted to get it in with some good cards and they held up. Everything just worked out for me. Everything just went my way.”

This was Allen’s second-largest score after a third-place finish in the WSOP Circuit Hammond Main Event back in 2015 for over $161,000. He plans to continue playing professional poker but intends to stay in the mid-west area for the most part. “Definitely going to be in Vegas for the summer but I’ll try to stay in this area where I can drive to events.”

The two starting flights played down to a minimum of 16% of the field, and so 79 players (Day 1A – 24, and Day 1B – 55) returned to play Day 2 of the event.

Ryan Enis, Hun Lee, and Parker Drew were some of the players who went home empty-handed.

Todd Bartlett went out on the money bubble, bringing the remaining 74 players into the money!

Chad Smith (12th for $11,055), Blake Whittington (18th for $7,536), Jacob Corda (19th for $6,359), Kevin Davis (27th for $4,737), start-of-day chip leader Christopher Miller (32nd for $3,752), Hamid Izadi (34th for $3,419), Warren Sheaves (40th place), Tim Burt (43rd for $3,167), Marshall White (50th for $2,981), Timothy Miles (52nd for $2,981), Will Berry (57th for $2,853), Charlie Dawson (63rd for $2,853), Yousef Saleh (66th for $2,777), and Brian Green (73rd for $2,777) were among the notables that made it across the money line but fell out before the final table was formed.

Matthew Higgins entered the ten-handed final table as the chip leader with a stack of 3,220,000, followed by Kyle Cartwright in second place with 2,405,000. The eventual champion, Lytle Allen, was placed fourth in chips with 2,195,000.

Blake Barousse (7th for $21,849), Greg Jennings (8th for $17,170), Hyun Lee (9th for $13,681), and Walker Miskelly (10th for $11,055) were the last of the eliminations on Day 2.

Creating quite the media frenzy was defending champion Kyle Cartwright who bagged the overnight chip lead heading into Day 3 with a whopping 4,285,000 in chips. Matthew Higgins was placed second with 2,900,000 chips. Lytle Allen (1,615,000), and former bracelet winner Bryan Piccioli (1,580,000) was sporting the shortest two stacks at the start of the final day`s play.

 

Final Day Chip Counts

  1. Kyle Cartwright – 4,285,000
  2. Matthew Higgins – 2,900,000
  3. James Todd Osborne – 2,190,000
  4. Scott Stewart – 2,165,000
  5. Lytle Allen – 1,615,000
  6. Bryan Piccioli – 1,580,000

 

Final Day Recap

Scott Stewart was the first casualty on the last day. After losing multiple pots, Stewart pushed his 9 BB stack in the middle with , but he could not get past Kyle Cartwright’s .

James Todd Osborne was the next one to fall. He three-bet shoved with , and Matthew Higgins made the call with . The latter flopped a pair to eliminate Osborne in fifth place.

The string of eliminations continued, and this time it was Matthew Higgins, who fell out in fourth place. His got snapped by Lytle Allen , and that marked the end of his deep run.

Defending champion Kyle Cartwright ended up hitting the rail in third place. On his last hand of the tournament, Cartwright moved all-in with only to see Lytle Allen waking up with once again to win the pot.

The short heads-up play saw Bryan Piccioli becoming Lytle Allen’s final victim. Piccioli moved all-in with , but unfortunately for him, Allen woke up with pocket kings and with no ace on the rundown, the latter was declared the champion!

Lytle Allen
Lytle Allen

 

Final Table Results

  1. Lytle Allen – $144,313
  2. Bryan Piccioli – $89,191
  3. Kyle Cartwright – $65,574
  4. Matthew Higgins – $48,840
  5. James Todd Osborne – $36,857
  6. Scott Stewart – $28,187
  7. Blake Barousse – $21,849
  8. Greg Jennings – $17,170
  9. Hyun Lee – $13,681
  10. Walker Miskelly – $11,055

 

Aaron Gamino Claims Casino Champion Title

A 31-year-old economics professor, Aaron Gamino, claimed the WSOPC Horseshoe Tunica Casino Champion title with four ITM finishes in the series that included an impressive three final table finishes and the Event#4 $400 NLHE title – all amounting to $26,879 in prize money. Gamino accumulated a total of 107.5 points for his consistency, enough to win himself a seat into the 2020 Global Casino Championship.

Lytle Allen
Lytle Allen

 

Speaking to reporters after winning his second gold ring in the $400 NLHE, Gamino said, “It’s nice. I think I’ve cashed like half of the tournaments I’ve played recently, and I’ve final tabled the fourth of them.’’

Content and Image Courtesy: WSOP & PokerNews

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