$1,700 Main Event
Day 1a Completed
2020 World Series of Poker Circuit Horseshoe Tunica
$1,700 Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1a
2020 World Series of Poker Circuit Horseshoe Tunica
Buy-in
$1,700
Prize Pool
$743,865
Entries
491
Level
30
Blinds
50,000 / 100,000
Ante
100,000
Entries
150
Players Left
24
Jennings Makes Late Surge in Day 1a of the $1,700 Main Event, Cartwright Looking to Defend Title
Level 16
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
It was a jam-packed tournament room at the Horseshoe Casino in Tunica, Mississippi for Day 1a of the World Series of Poker Circuit $1,700 Main Event. A total of 150 entries were recorded for the opening flight and after a full 16 levels of poker, only 24 players bagged up chips to move on to Day 2.
Leading the way with a staggering 379,000 chips was Lytle Allen. In the 14th level of the day, Allen had a big decision to make for his tournament life with a raise and an all-in in front of him. Allen put the pieces together and decided to go with his pocket kings on a ten-high board which paid off against his opponent's straight draw. Heading into the last few hands of the night, Allen was among the contenders and won a coin flip with ace-king against pocket tens, spiking two aces on the board, to vault him into the chip lead.
Another late rally came from Greg Jennings who was sitting on the same table as Allen. Jennings came out victorious in a massive three-way all-in with pocket queens against pocket jacks and ace-queen. Jennings finished the day second in chips with 326,000, more than enough to position himself for a deep run. Jennings is a regular on the WSOP Circuit but is still looking to capture his first WSOP ring.
Things got underway bright and early at 11 a.m. local time with around 50 players in their seats. That number quickly grew through the opening levels but plateaued as the day went on. It was a slow pace in the early going as a starting stack represented 300 big blinds for the first two levels of play.
The first major collision of the day occurred moments after the second break when Jody Stanfill turned the nut-straight against his opponent's top two pair. All of the chips went in the middle to create nearly a 300 big blind pot and Stanfill held on to sit atop of the leaderboard. Stanfill continued to trend upward for most of the day but lost a couple of late pots, still finishing with 273,000 chips.
Another big pot went the way of the defending champion Kyle Cartwright. Already on his second bullet of the day, Cartwright elected to make a move on the turn in a five-way pot with a gut-shot straight draw. The river made Cartwright's straight which was the perfect card as his opponent river top two pair. Cartwright doubled up in that hand and soared towards the top of the counts, bagging an impressive 204,000 for Day 2.
Some other big stacks to make note of include Timothy Miles (315,000), Shanmukha Meruga (277,000), Brandon Newsome (261,000), Chico Pho (253,000), and Warren Sheaves (224,000). There were also many players who fell short of bagging chips. Jake Bazeley, Heather Alcorn, Vincent Moscati, Adam Lamphere, Irene Carey, Brett Apter, and Hank Sitton are among those that will be forced to play Day 1b if they want a shot at winning the title.
The PokerNews team will also be back tomorrow to bring you all of the live updates from the tournament floor for another 16 levels of poker.
End of Day Chip Counts (full)
Level 16
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
379,000 | 149,000 |
|
326,000 | 16,000 |
|
315,000 | 210,000 |
|
277,000 | -25,000 |
|
273,000 | -25,000 |
|
261,000 | |
|
253,000 | 17,000 |
|
228,000 | 228,000 |
|
224,000 | 90,500 |
|
204,000 | -81,000 |
|
198,000 | 198,000 |
|
192,000 | -66,000 |
|
|
175,000 | 13,000 |
|
149,000 | 149,000 |
|
149,000 | 78,000 |
|
134,000 | 134,000 |
|
133,000 | 60,000 |
|
127,000 | 127,000 |
|
118,000 | 118,000 |
|
|
94,000 | 94,000 |
|
|
92,000 | 62,000 |
|
|
81,000 | 81,000 |
|
|
78,000 | 78,000 |
|
63,000 | 63,000 |
Last Four Hands of the Night
Level 16
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
The tournament clock has been paused with just 10 minutes remaining and there will be four more hands at each table before the players bag up their chips for the night.
Jennings Collects a Big Pot Near the End of the Night
Level 16
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
There was a big pot on Table 77 with three players getting all of their chips in the middle preflop. The short stack was all in for around 55,000 while Greg Jennings found himself at risk for 130,000. Asaf Benshushan was the other player who had both of his opponents covered.
Greg Jennings: 
Asaf Benshushan: 
Opponent: 
The board ran out ten-high and Jennings' pocket queens held for a massive double up to move near the top of the counts at the end of the night.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
310,000 | 195,000 |
|
45,000 | 45,000 |
Allison Wins a Flip
Level 16
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
There was an all in for 46,000 in middle position and Anthony Allison asked for a count from the small blind. Allison eventually made the call and the two players were off to the races.
Anthony Allison: 
Opponent: 
It was a coin flip and the flop of 
left Allison still searching for cards. The turn was the 
and Allison took the lead with a larger two pair and the 
on the river secured him the win.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
145,000 | 20,500 |
Huge Shove from Meruga
Level 16
: 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Marshall White raised it up from middle position and was called by Shanmukha Meruga on the button and Anthony Allison in the big blind. The flop came 
and Allison checked to White who continued for 24,000. Meruga called and Allison got out of the way.
The turn brought the 
which scared White enough that he opted to check. Meruga went into the tank for about three minutes before finally announcing all in. It was a huge over-shove for 214,000 and White raised his eyebrows as he dipped into the tank as well.
After a couple of minute, White finally let his cards go. "Show the jack of spades. I know you have it." Meruga neglected to show any of his cards and claimed the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
302,000 | 69,000 |
|
|
258,000 | 45,000 |
Level: 16
Blinds: 2,000/4,000
Ante: 4,000
Last Break of the Night
Level 15
: 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
The remaining 32 players are heading on their last 15-minute break of the night. When they return, they will play one more 60-minute level or until just 24 players remain.
Neil Patel Captures Second Career WSOPC Gold Ring
Level 15
: 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
PokerNews is in town to live report the $1,700 Main Event here at the World Series of Poker Circuit at Horseshoe Tunica, but that is just one of the gold ring events that will have played out by the end of the series.
In Event #9: $250 NLH One-Day, 303 runners created a $60,600 prize pool that was paid out to the top 46 players including Tim Burt (6th - $2,400), Steve Karp (7th - $1,843), Jesse Lott (13th - $773), Chris Hughes (19th - $564), Michael Sanders (24th - $497), Juli Black (32nd - $387), and Michael Lech (40th - $366).
Coming out on top was Neil Patel, who not only claimed a $13,354 top prize but also his second career gold ring.
“It feels great, I’ve been working for this. Today was that tournament for me,” he said after his win. “I got my second ring in my pocket, cause I was like, I’m winning this thing. That was the goal, to come here, and win my second ring, and maybe third. Today was that day, and it feels great.”
The 38-year-old added: “It was average most of the time, but when I had big hands I would raise and somebody would re-raise and then try to bluff me 90% me of the time, for massive pots.”
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Neil Patel | St. Louis, Missouri | $13,354 |
| 2 | Charles White | N/A | $8,254 |
| 3 | Robert Keeling | Portland, Missouri | $5,905 |
| 4 | Zocarlo Benologa | Manhattan, Kansas | $4,297 |
| 5 | Richard Hughes | Jackson, Tennessee | $3,183 |
| 6 | Tim Burt | Biloxi, Mississippi | $2,400 |
| 7 | Steve Karp | North Miami Beach, Florida | $1,843 |
| 8 | Austin Reilly | Gulf Shores, Alabama | $1,441 |
| 9 | Joshua Reeves | Murfreesboro, Tennessee | $1,149 |