Horseshoe Southern Indiana is the host casino of the latest WSOP Circuit stop on the series’ 2018/2019 calendar. Poker festivities at the gambling facility kicked off on September 27 with a single-day $400 No-Limit Hold’em, the field of which was topped by Corey Hodgeman for his first-ever WSOP Circuit cash of $15,873 and a gold ring.
The second gold ring tournament on the schedule started on Friday at the host venue. The $400 buy-in event began with the first of two starting flights and drew as many as 278 tournament entrants. The second starting flight is slated to be played today from 11 am. It will provide a last chance for interested players to join the event’s field.
The total amount of $91,740 was generated on Day 1A and it will be added to the money generated during the second starting flight of the tournament to comprise together the overall prize pool. And the prize pool itself as well as the places paid and how much the winner will collect will be announced upon the beginning of Day 2 on Sunday.
Of the 278 participants who registered for the tournament on Day 1A, there were just 34 players left at the time organizers called it a day on Friday at Horseshoe Southern Indiana.
The Day 1A Chip Leader
The remaining 34 survivors will have a day off today, while the second starting flight is being played. They will resume play on Sunday when the fields of Day 1A and Day 1B will combine for the very first time to play down to a champion.
Nicholas Pupillo finished off Day 1A as the chip leader. The player bagged and tagged 389,500 in chips last night to top the temporary chip counts chart after a particularly good run throughout the day. Charles Dawson with 245,500 and Kendall Staggs with 229,000 were the other two players to make it top three of the Day 1A leaderboard.
It is interesting to note that Pupillo is eyeing his WSOP Circuit gold ring number three. He won his first piece from the series in 2015 when he bested the field of a $580 No-Limit Hold’em event. He also collected a cash prize of $15,600 for his triumph back then. Gold ring number two arrived last fall when he emerged victorious in the $1,675 Main Event at Thunder Valley Casino. His victory also secured him with a payout of $170,286.
Over the course of his career, Pupillo has cashed in 36 WSOP Circuit tournaments and seven WSOP ones and has collected cash prizes of more than $512,083 from the two major poker series. It is to be seen whether the player will manage to score his third WSOP Circuit victory.
Action at the host casino resumes at 11 am local time and Day 2 action will kick off on Sunday at 2 pm at Horseshoe Southern Indiana.
