Yesterday, the Hollywood Poker Open kicked off their first stop of their 3rd season with the HPO Lawrenceburg Regional Main Event in Indiana taking place. The tournament would go on to set HPO Regional Main Event records for prize pool ($207,000) and number of entrants (207) and the winner will take home an impressive pay day of $49,676. All in all, 27 players will make the money today with a minimum cash being worth $2,277.
After a long 11 levels of play, the field was thinned down to 43 survivors with Tim Chocklett holding a commanding chip lead with 461,100 in chips. Rounding out the top five heading into play today are Jesse McEwen (271,800), John Moe (211,100), Sam Smith (208,200), and Libby Wilson (174,700).
2003 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Chris Moneymaker would attempt to win his 2nd HPO Championship Event of 2014 but would be eliminated shortly after the dinner break. Joining Moneymaker on the rail were notables like Scott Schwalich, Christopher Greaves, and Chad Eveslage.
Play will be getting underway in about an hour and we're expecting a long, grueling day of poker. PokerNews will be here until the very end with photos, hand updates, and chip counts. Tune in to find out who the next HPO Regional Main Event Champion will be!
In unseen action, Gregory Johnson was eliminated in 27th place for $2,277. They are taking an unscheduled 15-minute color up break. We'll be back with chip counts after the break.
A short-stacked Gary Dunn was all in and at risk holding against the of Chad Setser. The board ran out and Dunn was unable to improve. He was eliminated in 26th place for $2,277.
David Smith was all in pre-flop with and was up against John Moe who held . Moe's hand would prevail when the board ran out to eliminate Smith in 25th place for $2,277.
Joe Cacaro was crippled down to 6,500 when his was unable to improve against the of Edgar Kelley on a board of . Cacaro would move all in on the next hand after a James Hensley limp and Chris Hochscheid raised to 12,000. It was folded back to Hensley who called.
The flop came and both players checked. Hochscheid bet 10,000 on the turn after Hensley checked and was called. The river was the and Hensley check-folded to a 20,000 bet from Hochscheid who turned over for a flopped set of nines. Cacaro had flopped top pair with his but it was no good and he was eliminated in 24th place for $2,277.
A short-stacked Dustin Cooper was all in and at risk with and was facing Jamie Mills and her . The flop was a bad one for Cooper as it came . The turn was the to give Cooper a small sliver of hope as a ten would make a straight for him. The river, however, was the and Cooper was knocked out in 23rd place for $2,277.
Edgar Kelley would get the last of his chips all in on a flop of with but was way behind the flopped set of queens that James Hensley held. The turn and river would do nothing to change that and Kelley was eliminated in 22nd place for $2,277.
A short-stacked Aaron Wallace moved all in first to act from middle position and was quickly called by Libby Wilson. The rest of the table folded and Wallace's would need some help against Wilson and her .
The flop paired his nine as it came but the turn and river were not the cards Wallace was looking for. He was eliminated in 20th place for $2,277.
Jesse McEwen opened for 15,000 and Akihiko Ura moved all in for 76,000 total. McEwen made the call with and was facing Ura's . A queen would hit the flop and Ura would be eliminated in 19th place for $2,277.