$1,700 Main Event
Day 1a Started
2019 World Series of Poker Circuit Horseshoe Southern Indiana
$1,700 Main Event
Day: 1a
Welcome to Day 1a of the 2019 World Series of Poker Circuit Horseshoe Southern Indiana Main Event!
The Horseshoe Southern Indiana Casino and Hotel has been hosting the World Series of Poker Circuit for the past two weeks, and the $1,700 Main Event with a $500,000 Guarantee is set to kick off today at 11 a.m. with the first of two starting flights.
Day 1a will see the field play fifteen forty-minute levels, with a break every three levels. A one-hour dinner break will be given to players after Level 9, and registration for the day, including a single re-entry option, is open until the start of Level 13, or approximately 8:45 p.m. local time. Players who are unable to make it through today's starting flight will have one more chance to advance, as a second flight will kick off on Saturday, October 5th at 11 a.m. local time. The survivors from both flights will reconvene on Sunday, October 6th at Noon and play nine one-hour levels, and those left standing after Day 2 will return on Monday, October 7th at Noon to play down to a champion.
In last year's Main Event, Heather Alcorn won $129,654 for navigating a field of 389 players, including beating Kevin Iacofono heads-up to deny him his second WSOPC ring. In 2017's Main Event, Justin Boggs earned $139,920 after defeating Wendy Freedman, who he had tangled with multiple times throughout the tournament, in heads-up play.
Owensboro, Kentucky's Charlie Dawson, who already has three final tables and four cashes during this year's Circuit Event, is expected to be in action, and he'll be looking to add to his lead in the WSOPC Casino Championship race. John Gallaher, fresh off of winning his third WSOPC ring at the WSOPC Potawatomi stop in Event #8: $1,125 No-Limit Hold'em and a third-place finish in Event #6: $400 No-Limit Hold'em Monster Stack here at Horseshoe Southern Indiana, is also expected to be in attendance, as is Jerod Smith, who boasts a staggering fifteen cashes in WSOPC events in the last five weeks.
Be sure to stay tuned right here to PokerNews as we begin the journey to crown the latest WSOPC Main Event champ here in Elizabeth, Indiana!
Level: 1
Blinds: 100/100
Ante: 0
Shuffle Up and Deal!
Level 1
: 100/100, 0 ante
Cards are in the air for Day 1a of the 2019 World Series of Poker Circuit Horseshoe Southern Indiana Main Event!
Update Your Stack With MyStack!
Level 1
: 100/100, 0 ante
PokerNews has activated the MyStack App for this event, allowing you to directly adjust your chip counts in our live reporting blog using your iPhone or Android phone.
You can download the app for iPhone or Android now to get started. Then, create a new PokerNews account or update your current one to start updating your status immediately. Your followers can see all the live action that you're involved in.
Click here to download the My Stack app for iPhone, or click here to download the My Stack app for Android.
Whittinghill Trips Up Early
Level 1
: 100/100, 0 ante
Wayne Whittinghill checked a 
board from the small blind, and his opponent on the button bet 1,200 into a pot of around 2,000. Whittinghill sprung a check-raise to 3,400, and the button called.
The 
fell on the river, and Whittinghill bet 7,000. His opponent folded, and Whittinghill paused for a moment, before turning over the 
as he mucked.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
35,000 |
Welcome To The Party!
Level 1
: 100/100, 0 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 |
Terry Finds a Flush
Level 1
: 100/100, 0 ante
Martin Ryan raised to 400 from the cutoff, and Jason Terry three-bet to 1,100 from the button. The big blind called, as did Ryan.
Action checked to Terry on a 
flop, and he bet 1,500. Both of his opponents called.
The 
turn was checked through to the river, and action checked to Terry again. He bet 2,000, and the big blind quickly called, while Ryan folded. Terry tabled 
for a rivered flush, and the big blind mucked.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
32,000 | 32,000 |
|
29,000 | 29,000 |
William Watson Captures Third Gold Ring in Opening Event Win
Level 1
: 100/100, 0 ante
The PokerNews Live Reporting Team is at the Horseshoe Southern Indiana in the Louisville area to live report the $1,700 Main Event; however, that is just one of more than a dozen gold ring events that have taken place over the past week. As such, we thought we’d profile some of the preliminary tournaments and those who struck it big.
In Event #1: $400 No-Limit Hold’em, 192 runners created a $63,360 prize pool that was paid out to the top 29 players including Mark Beard (13th - $890), Kevin Davis (20th = $682), and Mark “Pegasus” Smith (27th - $582), just to name a few.
In the end, 30-year-old William Watson of Lexington, Kentucky bested John Hatfield in heads-up play to win the title and $15,776 first-place prize. It also marked his third career gold ring.
The win gave him the early lead in the race for Casino Champion, which he planned to pursue.
“I am going to play everything,” Watson explained, “I am a normal Circuit grinder.”
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | William Watson | Lexington, Kentucky | $15,776 |
| 2 | John Hatfield | Dunlap, Tennessee | $9,749 |
| 3 | David Mchenry | Centennial, Colorado | $6,832 |
| 4 | Robbie Goldsberry | Bedford, Indiana | $4,891 |
| 5 | Seth Schikler | Louisville, Kentucky | $3,578 |
| 6 | Leonard Ferguson | Lake Lure, North Carolina | $2,676 |
| 7 | Michael Esquivel | Clarendon Hills, Illinois | $2,047 |
| 8 | Jerry Zehr | Plainfield, Kentucky | $1,603 |
| 9 | Michael Lutz | Louisville, Kentucky | $1,286 |
Level: 2
Blinds: 100/100
Ante: 100