Hollywood Poker Open Season 3 St. Louis Regional Main Event

Regional Main Event
Day: 1
Event Info

Hollywood Poker Open Season 3 St. Louis Regional Main Event

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
98
Prize
$48,440
Event Info
Buy-in
$1,000
Prize Pool
$173,000
Entries
173
Level Info
Level
24
Blinds
12,000 / 24,000
Ante
4,000

Regional Main Event

Day 1 Completed

Day 1 Done at HPO St. Louis; Cartwright Kills it

Level 14 : 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
Kyle Cartwright
Kyle Cartwright

Day 1 of the Hollywood Poker Open Season 3 St. Louis Regional Main Event drew 173 entries to the Hollywood Casino in St. Louis, Missouri, on Saturday. But by the time 14 levels were through, just 25 remained.

Late in the day, 2014 World Series of Poker bracelet winner Kyle Cartwright grabbed the chip lead, stacking a player with a turned straight against rivered top two pair and never looked back. He kept his foot firmly on the gas through the last two levels of the night and by the time it was all said and done, he bagged a massive 532,000-chip stack.

The last time the HPO came to St. Louis, it was HPO ambassador and 2003 WSOP Main Event champ Chris Moneymaker who bested a field of 67 to take home the $36,259 first-place prize. Coming off a final table appearance at HPO Grantville, he showed up loaded for bear and flirted with the lead in the middling levels after firing a second bullet in defense of his title. A misstep with ace-king all in preflop against aces saw Moneymaker dip down under 100,000 in chips as the day moved on, but he managed to right the ship and bag 86,500, retaining a shot at it when play resumes Sunday.

St. Louis local and 2008 European Poker Tour Copenhagen champ Tim Vance made some noise as well, grabbing the chip lead at one point as the day wore on, but he lost a flip to come back down to Earth. He bagged 143,000 when play ended just after 2 a.m. local time.

The $173,000 prize pool will pay the top 15 spots and they should hit the money early Sunday. Those hunting the $48,440 first-place prize will have to stick around a while longer, however, but we doubt they'll be complaining about that.

Play begins at 12 p.m. local time with plans to play all the way down to a winner. As always, the PokerNews Live Reporting team will be on hand to capture all the action from start to finish, so stay tuned for more coverage from the Gateway to the West.

Tags: Chris MoneymakerKyle CartwrightTim Vance

End-of-Day Chip Counts (full)

Level 14 : 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
Player Chips Progress
Kyle Cartwright us
Kyle Cartwright
WSOP 1X Winner
532,000 82,000
Damian Radanov rs
Damian Radanov
318,000 42,000
Paul Fehlig us
Paul Fehlig
275,500 15,500
Josh Lozada
Josh Lozada
222,000 -8,000
James Basham us
James Basham
216,000 216,000
Nicholas Weber
Nicholas Weber
159,500 159,500
Linda Lieder us
Linda Lieder
157,000 -23,000
Woo Moore
Woo Moore
156,000 101,000
Tim Vance us
Tim Vance
143,000 -115,000
Garrett Riley us
Garrett Riley
141,000 -9,000
Vadim Kleydman
Vadim Kleydman
129,000 -11,000
Larry Meek
Larry Meek
124,000 124,000
Gary Tsui
Gary Tsui
104,000 104,000
Bob Stockton
Bob Stockton
95,000 -55,000
Kory Harbour
Kory Harbour
91,000 26,000
Chris Moneymaker us
Chris Moneymaker
WSOP Main Event Champion
WSOP 1X Winner
Poker Hall of Famer
86,500 -3,500
George Cepicky
George Cepicky
85,500 85,500
Barb Hunsel us
Barb Hunsel
82,000 -52,000
Alan Smith
Alan Smith
64,000 -21,000
Eric Nagel
Eric Nagel
50,000 50,000
Steve Green
Steve Green
49,500 49,500
Andy Ourth
Andy Ourth
47,000 47,000
Craig Welko us
Craig Welko
47,000 47,000
Ben Klein
Ben Klein
44,000 44,000
Derek Schroeder us
Derek Schroeder
35,000 35,000

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Lozada Misses

Level 14 : 1,200/2,400, 400 ante

Josh Lozada made it 5,000 to go and called when Linda Lieder bumped it to 15,000.

Lozada led for 10,000 on the {k-Diamonds}{j-Hearts}{8-Clubs} flop, but could not shake Lieder. He bet another 10,000 on the {3-Hearts} turn, but Lieder raised it up to 20,000. Lozado called and fired 20,000 after the {7-Spades} river, but Lieder called.

Lozado showed {A-Hearts}{10-Hearts} having missed his combo draw. Lieder took it down with {k-Clubs}{10-Clubs}.

Player Chips Progress
Josh Lozada
Josh Lozada
230,000 -120,000
Linda Lieder us
Linda Lieder
180,000 106,000

Cartwright Cruising

Level 14 : 1,200/2,400, 400 ante
Kyle Cartwright
Kyle Cartwright

Kyle Cartwright has the outright lead and is closing in on the half-million chip mark.

However, Josh Lozada is right next to him on the leaderboard, and on the table, following the redraw.

Cartwright led out for 5,000 in a recent hand and Lozado flatted. Alan Smith came along for the ride in the big blind and they went three-handed to an {8-Clubs}{7-Diamonds}{4-Diamonds} flop. Smith checked and a 9,500-chip bet from Cartwright was enough to force two folds.

Cartwright showed {10-Diamonds}{10-Hearts} and rolled on.

Player Chips Progress
Kyle Cartwright us
Kyle Cartwright
WSOP 1X Winner
450,000 171,000
Josh Lozada
Josh Lozada
350,000 135,000

Level: 14

Blinds: 1,200/2,400

Ante: 400

Fehlig's Aces

Level 13 : 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
Paul Fehlig
Paul Fehlig

Paul Fehlig got on the good side of a classic cooler with aces over queens to join the pack near the top of the chip counts closing in on 200,000.

A few hands later he got them again and had the good fortune of a player in front of him pushing all in for 60,000 with {A-Diamonds}{K-Clubs}.

This time his aces held on a {7-Spades}{9-Spades}{6-Hearts}{4-Clubs}{J-Clubs} run out and he's among the leaders on 260,000.

Now down to 27 players they are redrawing for seats at the final three tables

Player Chips Progress
Paul Fehlig us
Paul Fehlig
260,000 260,000

Bliven Busts

Level 13 : 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
Josh Lozada
Josh Lozada

With some 60,000 in the middle on an {8-Spades}{Q-Diamonds}{A-Spades}{J-Clubs} board, Jason Bliven pushed all in heads-up with Josh Lozada.

Lozada took his time about it, but made the call with {A-Hearts}{K-Clubs} and needed help against Bliven's {A-Clubs}{Q-Clubs} two pair.

Help is exactly what he got on the {10-Spades} river, making Broadway to bust Bliven and crest the 200,000-chip mark.

Player Chips Progress
Josh Lozada
Josh Lozada
215,000 155,000
Jason Bliven
Jason Bliven
Busted

Level: 13

Blinds: 1,000/2,000

Ante: 300