Lytle Allen Wins 2020 World Series of Poker Circuit Horseshoe Tunica Main Event

The 2020 World Series of Poker Circuit Horseshoe Tunica $1,700 no-limit hold’em main event drew a total of 491 entries to create a $743,865 prize pool. In the end, 45-year-old poker pro Lytle Allen emerged victorious with the title. The Nashville, Tennessee resident earned $144,31 and his first WSOPC gold ring as the champion.

“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 against in the final six, they were tough, really good players, so I feel really good about it,” Allen told WSOP reporters after securing the title.

Allen did indeed overcome a tough final table that included two WSOP bracelet winners in defending champion of this event Kyle Cartwright and Bryan Piccioli. Five-time ring winner Scott Stewart and Piccioli were both at their second consecutive WSOPC main event final tables, having finished fourth and ninth respectively in the WSOPC Thunder Valley main event just a week earlier.

The final day began with Allen tied for the shortest stack among the six remaining players. He got off to a fantastic start, though, picking up pocket aces and finding a double up right off the bat. Scott Stewart was the first to hit the rail. He got all-in with A9 up against the AK of Cartwright, who made a full house on the turn to leave Stewart drawing dead. He ultimately took home $28,187 as the sixth-place finisher.

Allen then flopped a set of deuces against Cartwright’s overpair of KK to win a massive pot that gave him a commanding lead with five remaining. James Osborne was the next to hit the rail when his K8 failed to hold up against the K7 of Matthew Higgins. A seven on the flop gave Higgins a lead that he never relinquished and Osborne left with $36,857 for his strong showing in this event.

Higgins was unable to hit the seven he needed twice in a row. He got his last chips in with A7 and found himself at risk against the AQ of Allen. Neither player improved and Allen’s superior kicker was enough to knock Higgins out in fourth place ($48,840).

With that Allen surged past the 10 million chip mark. He extended his lead even further by busting Cartwright in third place. The 2019 champion of this event three-bet shoved from the big blind following a button raise from Allen and a call from Bryan Piccioli in the small blind. Allen called with AQ, which had Cartwright’s A4 dominated. The board came down KJ105 and Allen made a straight to end Cartwright’s attempt to defend this title. Cartwright earned $65,574 as the third-place finisher.

Allen took more than a 7.5:1 chip lead into heads-up play against Piccioli, who was also looking for his first WSOPC gold ring. It took just one hand for Allen to seal the deal. Piccioli got his last 17 big blinds in preflop with A8, only to find out that Allen had been dealt the KK. The J8396 runout secured the pot and the title for Allen. Piccioli took home $89,191 as the runner-up finisher.

Allen was awarded 720 Card Player Player of the Year points as the champion of this event. This was his first POY-qualified score of the year, but it alone was enough to see him climb into 38th place in the 2020 POY race standings sponsored by Global Poker.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:

Winner photo credit: WSOP.

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