The 2015/16 WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Southern Indiana $1,675 Main Event was completed last night. Russ Head from Lindale, Georgia topped its field to collect his second gold ring and the amount of $123,420. It is interesting to note that Russ was really close to winning last year’s WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Southern Indiana Main Event but eventually had to content with the runner-up finish. Clearly, the odds were in his favor this year.
The $1,675 Main Event attracted a total of 374 entries who generated a prize pool of $561,000. As mentioned above, Head scooped the biggest share of the money totaling $123,420. But apart from him, there were 44 other entries who got paid, with payouts starting from $2,536 for the person who finished 45th.
The Main Event featured two starting flights and it took a total of four days of play for the winner to be determined. Day 3 of the tournament, its final one, saw nine players returning to play the final table. Richard Bai started the day holding the majority of the chips in play. He had a stack of 1,556,000 in chips. Head was among the short stacks.
It took almost four levels of play before the heads-up match between Head and Abhishek Yerra was set. At its beginning, Yerra held two times more chips than his opponent. The heads-up play continued more than six hours and five levels, during which the chips went back and forth. Eventually, it was Head who emerged victorious.
As mentioned above, the player finished 2nd in last year’s Horseshoe Southern Indiana $1,675 Main Event. He played against Greg Johnson. Last night, Head told interviewers that he used the experience he managed to gain from his battle with Johnson. He said that last year he played fast and aggressive poker, a strategy that proved to be unsuccessful. This year, he played small ball, waited to see the flops, and did not get money until he knew that he had his heads-up opponent.
On what turned out to be the last hand in play, Head moved all in pre-flop and Yerra called. Head showed [Ac][9c] against his opponent’s [Kh][9d]. The board ran out [Ad][9h][5s][2c][Js], securing Head with pocket aces and pocket nines and the gold ring. As for Yerra, the player from Okemos, Michigan received $76,268 for his runner-up finish.
William Watson from Lexington, Kentucky finished 3rd for $55,730. Richard Bai from Schaumburg, Illinois took 4th place for a payout of $41,379. George Woody II from South Charleston, West Virginia received $31,203 for his 5th place in the Main Event.
Chad Eveslage from Ramsey, Indiana took 6th place to collect $23,882 for his efforts. John Mahler from Dallas, Texas finished 7th for $18,546. Lytle Allen from Nashville, Tennessee took 8th place to scoop $14,608 of the entire prize pool. Rounding out the final table, Kim Schinco finished 9th for $11,669.
As mentioned above, Head has previously won one more WSOP Circuit gold ring. That happened in 2013, when the player topped the field of a WSOP Circuit IP Casino Resort & Spa $365 No-Limit Hold’em event. Including last night’s cash, Head has collected a total of $318,894 from 12 Circuit events.
He told interviewers that he goes at Circuit stops with the intention to win gold rings and that he puts his heart and soul into this every time he appears at the table of a Circuit event.
