Lytle Allen Wins WSOPC Horseshoe Tunica Main Event; Aaron Gamino Casino Champ

January 29, 2020

It only took less than four hours on the final day of the World Series of Poker Circuit Horseshoe Tunica $1,700 Main Event before a champion was crowned in the 491-entry field. Coming through one of the toughest final tables of the circuit, Lytle Allen captured his first-ever WSOP Circuit ring along with a payday of $144,313.

Allen came into the day as one of the shorter stacks but after a double up on the first hand of the day, Allen never relinquished the chip lead as he soared to a comfortable victory, topping some of the best players on the circuit. It only took one hand for Allen to defeat Bryan Piccioli heads-up who earned over $89,000 for his efforts. Coming into heads-up play with only 17 big blinds, Piccioli jammed all-in with ace-eight suited only to run into the pocket kings of Allen.

"I've been working hard to get to this point and to beat the field that I was playing with, they were tough. I feel really good about it."

Allen was asked what it meant to finally get his first WSOP Circuit ring and he was a little bit shocked, to be honest. "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, they were tough. I feel really good about it."

Allen had to battle his way through the likes of Scott Stewart, defending champion Kyle Cartwright, and a formidable heads-up opponent in Piccioli who all have a long list of accomplishments at the poker table. "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 will go down as Allen's second-largest score of his poker career after a third-place finish in the WSOP Circuit Hammond Main Event back in 2015 netted him over $161,000. Going forward, Allen said that he will continue playing professional poker but plans on staying 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."

Final Table Results

Day 3 Action

The action kicked off at 12 p.m. local time with the final six players returning to their seats and as mentioned above, the chips got in the middle in a hurry. Allen picked up pocket aces in the very first hand and James Todd Osborne was the unfortunate player to hold ace-king. Allen scored a double up into the chip lead which left Osborne on the short stack.

Osborne managed to battle back, including a couple of double-ups, one against Stewart. It turned out to be a tough day at the table for Stewart who struggled to win pots and eventually found himself below ten big blinds. He finally shoved all-in with ace-nine suited but Cartwright woke up with ace-king. A full house for Cartwright sent Stewart to the payout desk in sixth place.

Five-handed play continued for an hour before Osborne eventually saw his stack dissipate as well. With less than big blinds as well, Osborne moved the last of his chips in the middle with king-eight and found a call from Matthew Higgins with a weaker king. However, Higgins paired his kicker and Osborne was forced to settle for fifth place. It was a good comeback for Osborne who was sitting on just two big blinds during hand-for-hand on the money bubble yesterday.

With four players remaining, Allen continued to pad his lead while the other three jockeyed for position. As the other three players fell to around 20 big blinds, Allen started picking up premium holdings and went on a tear. His first victim was Higgins who jammed ace-seven suited only to be called by Allen's ace-queen. A clean board for Allen boosted his stack to over 10 million chips with just three players left.

Cartwright was looking to go back-to-back in the WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Tunica Main Event and his odds were looking good as the chip leader when the day began. One bad beat that saw Allen flop a set of deuces against Cartwright's pocket kings meant Cartwright had to battle from the short stack. He picked up a suited ace in the big blind but it was no match for Allen's ace-queen once again. Allen turned a straight and Cartwright bowed out in third place.

That left Allen to battle with Piccioli heads-up, a matchup that wouldn't last very long. Piccioli entered the final day as the shortest stack but managed to stay out of the way of Allen who was steamrolling the final table. Piccioli scored some key pay jumps but was ultimately a huge underdog entering heads-up play. Allen's hot streak continued when he picked up pocket kings in the first hand and eliminated Piccioli in second place.

Aaron Gamino Casino Champ

Aaron Gamino, a 31-year-old economics professor, claimed the WSOPC Horseshoe Tunica Casino Champion title with four cashes including three final tables and one victory, worth 107.5 points. That means he too will receive a seat into the 2020 Global Casino Championship.

“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,’’ Gamino said after his win in Event #4: $400 NLH One-Day, which was good for $16,194 and his second gold ring.

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