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'Woo-hoo! And a little bit of yee-haw!' a jubliant Thomas Alcorn said after taking down the 2019 World Series of Poker Circuit Horseshoe Southern Indiana Main Event for $117,322 after besting a field of 357 entrants over the four-day event. Along with the cash, Alcorn received a beautiful WSOPC gold ring and an entry into the 2020 WSOPC Global Championship.

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Alcorn, a native of Winder, Georgia with family back in Peewee Valley, Kentucky that was rooting him on all tournament, said his unorthodox style of play was the key to victory. 'I play with the old style of poker that they had back in the 2000s. I do way less bluffs than all the players nowadays, and because all the players are used to each other doing that, I'm gonna get calls by weak hands when I'm betting a monster.'

Alcorn has been on a tear on the WSOPC as of late, finishing in third place last month at the WSOPC Harrah's Cherokee Main Event for $126,188. Last week, he finished 11th at the WSOPC Seminole Coconut Creek Main Event for $14,537, and along with a 26th place at WSOPC Ameristar St. Charles Main Event for $4,006, Alcorn is four-for-four in cashing WSOPC Main Events in the last month, and now has his first WSOPC championship ring as the icing on the cash-laden cake.

Alcorn's journey to this moment almost didn't happen, as Alcorn retired from playing poker in 2003.

'I was just playing little side games once every few months, and Cherokee. I decided to get into the World Series there, and after I came in third, I took $20,000 of that money and said I was gonna follow the Circuit around. I promised my mom I wouldn't dig into my winnings, just the $20,000.'

Final Table Results

Final Table Action

The final nine players all hung around during the first level of play, despite a third of the field beginning with under twelve big blinds at the start of play. Robert James saw his chip lead evaporate after losing a few pots to Nick Pupillo, before doubling up Alcorn when Alcorn's king-jack flopped a king-high straight at the same time James's ace-queen found top pair, top kicker on the flop. It would be Level 27 (25,000/50,000/50,000) where more than half of the final table would hit the rail in quick succession.

First, WSOP Bracelet winner Brett Apter, who was coming off a seventh-place performance at the WSOPC Potawatomi Hotel and Casino Main Event, jammed his last nine-and-a-half big blinds with a suited ace-seven, and Alcorn called out of the big blind with a suited queen-ten. A ten on the turn ended Apter's hunt for a second ring, and Alcorn took the chip lead for the first time at the final table.

David Winrich, who couldn't get much going, jammed for six big blinds with pocket fours a short time later, and WSOP Bracelet winner Alan Percal three-bet jammed for seventeen big blinds with Big Slick. John Gallaher was waiting right behind them with kings, however, and Gallaher's cowboys held up, sending Winrich home in eighth, while Percal was left with under a single big blind, which he lost to James the very next hand.

One hand later, Pupillo raised on the button, and Jesse Carter, who earlier in the level lost a big hand to James when his queen-nine was outkicked by James's king-queen on a queen-high board, three-bet shoved for his last few big blinds with pocket threes. Kenneth Ware called in the big blind, and Pupillo came along as well. Ware's pocket nines found middle set on the flop and shoved for eleven big blind, and Pupillo, who flopped an open-ended straight draw with his king-ten, called, and drilled the straight on the turn to send both Carter and Ware to the rail in sixth and fifth place, respectively.

Even with the double knockout, it would be Pupillo, ranked 10th in the Global Poker Index and fresh off of winning his third WSOPC ring two weeks ago at WSOPC Potawatomi, that would exit in fourth. Pupillo bled down to his last ten big blinds and jammed over an open from James, who called with jack-ten of clubs. Pupillo's pocket fives got a huge sweat on a flop that gave James flush and straight draws to go with his overs, and James found a ten to deny Pupillo his fourth WSOPC ring. Pupillo now sits just $41,215 away from crossing the seven-figure threshold in lifetime WSOP tournament earnings.

Gallaher ground a short stack for some time three-handed, but finally succumbed after calling a raise in the big blind from James, then jamming the flop with ace-high and a gutshot. Unfortunately for him, James had aces, and ended up with a set, busting Gallaher, who also has three WSOPC rings, two spots shy of his fourth.

The Duel

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James and Alcorn started heads-up play with similar stacks of over sixty big blinds, and the duo played a methodical, small-ball style that caused the match to extend to over five hours. James maintained a lead for much of the early levels, having him beat 2:1 in chips at one point in Level 30 (50,000/100,000/100,000), but by the end of the Level, the stacks were nearly square. The same process repeated itself in Level 31 (60,000/120,000/120,000); James pulled out to a lead, then Alcorn clawed back and evened things up by level's end.

Alcorn finally flipped the script in Level 32 (80,000/160,000/160,000) when he turned two pair with ten-four and won a nearly 5.5 million chip pot off of James, who had flopped nines-up. James was left with just under three million, but once again, by the time the level came to a close, the duo was separated by just a few big blinds. Alcorn got his last 3.5 million in preflop with deuces in Level 33 (100,000/200,000/200,000), and James called with queens, looking primed to win his second WSOPC ring, but the deuce on the river flipped the chip counts and kept the battle rolling.

The final two hands of the WSOPC Horseshoe Southern Indiana Main Event were all Alcorn, first flopping the nut straight and getting paid by James, who was trying to bluff catch with ace-high. The very next hand, James jammed for 1.93 million with pocket fives, and Alcorn called with ace-four suited. An ace in the window was all she wrote for James, and Alcorn earned his first WSOPC ring after a hard-fought, lengthy battle.

Alcorn had one last reason to smile after his victory today; a little bragging rights with Maurice Hawkins, the all-time leader in WSOPC rings with 13.

'The big reason I'm happy, though, Maurice Hawkins and I used to play at the Seminole Hard Rock all the time. We wound up making final tables a lot, but he remembered me, and he came up to me in one of the tournaments, and I said, 'Well, I'm gonna beat you today,' and he said, '13 rings!' So next time I see him, I'm going to go up to him with one of these and go, ha!'

Charlie Dawson Casino Champ

Real estate investor Charlie Dawson of Owensboro, Kentucky finished as the WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Southern Indiana Casino Champ with 105 points. That was thanks to four cashes, three final table appearances, and a pair of runner-up finishes in Event #6: $400 Monster Stack for $20,965 and Event #5: $600 PLO for $6,538. All told, Dawson won $33,387 at the stop.

WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Southern Indiana Ring Winners

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Day 1a of the 2019 World Series of Poker Circuit Horseshoe Southern Indiana $1,700 Main Event saw 158 entrants battle it out, and after fifteen levels of play, just 30 managed to survive the day with Robert James and his 414,500 chip stack leading a talented pack of players.

James was active early and often, as evidenced by this early hand that saw James runner-runner a full house on an unlucky foe who flopped a straight and turned a flush. James, who won a $250 Monster Stack event at Horseshoe Southern Indiana in April during the Midwest Regional Poker Championship, will be looking to use his big chip stack to add to his $55,583 in Hendon Mob reported tournament earnings.

Top 10 Day 1a Chip Counts

Rounding out the top three stacks are Alexander Fininzio (364,500) and Richard Langdon (296,000). Others that managed to find a bag in today's flight include WSOP Bracelet winners Kyle Cartwright (180,000) and Alan Percal (172,000), Daniel Sepiol (155,000), Jake Bazeley (130,500), and Jerod Smith (106,500).

Tim Garles managed to earn his first career WSOPC ring on Friday in Event #9: $400 No-Limit Hold'em but was unable to make it through today's Main Event flight and go for his second. Likewise, WSOP Bracelet winners Brett Apter and Alex Ziskin were unable to survive, and Nick Pupillo and Ravi Raghavan were also unable to make it to the end of the day's play.

Saturday marks the final time players will be able to attempt to fire the Main Event, as Day 1b kicks off at 11 a.m. local time. Players will again play fifteen levels, with a fifteen-minute break after every three levels and a sixty-minute dinner break after Level 9. Registration remains open through the beginning of Level 13, or approximately 8:45 p.m. local time.

Be sure to stay tuned right here to PokerNews to follow all the action as we get one step closer towards crowning our latest WSOPC Main Event ring winner here in Elizabeth, Indiana at the Horseshoe Southern Indiana Casino and Hotel!

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