Lance Howard topped 105 Day 1a entries, bagging 288,000 and a narrow chip lead over Dennis Hugelet (270,000) in the Hollywood Poker Open Toledo $1,115 Regional Main Event.
Howard skyrocketed to the chip lead in the second half of the day when he turned the nut flush and got paid off by John Nelson when he shoved on the river. Nelson had flopped a straight.
Hugelet had a strong day and a lot of it was highlighted by the friendly jabs he exchanged with Glen Poitinger (172,000) after almost every hand.
Justin Pimpedly (228,500), Michael Hahn (194,500), and HPO ambassador Chris Moneymaker (189,500) rounded out the top five.
After spending the first part of the day with a relatively stagnant stack, Moneymaker found a few spots and built his stack nicely. On one hand, he flopped trips and turned a boat against Denny Robinson. Robinson shoved all in on Moneymaker, who snap-called and doubled up. He didn't look back from there, adding to his stack throughout the day.
The 14 remaining players will return for Day 2 on Sunday at 12:15 p.m. local time. They will be joined by those that make it through Day 1b, which starts Saturday at 11:15 a.m. local time. Just as you found today, live updates will be right here on PokerNews, so stay tuned.
Lance Howard just won the biggest pot of the tournament, scooping in nearly 200,000.
The action started when Howard opened with a preflop raise to 3,500 and three players called. The flop came , and Mark Nienow was first to act. He shoved for his last 24,700. John Nelson was next to act, and after some consideration, he called. The action then fell to Lance Howard, who took a bit longer to decide, but eventually called, too. The other player in the hand had folded.
The turn was the , and Nelson checked to Howard. Howard took even longer this time, but eventually settled on a bet of 30,000. Nelson called.
The river was the , and Nelson checked again. Howard took a few moments and shoved all in for 85,000. Nelson had him covered and would be left with only about 12 big blinds if he called and lost the hand. Nelson called and saw the bad news when Howard turned over a flush. Nelson mucked his had, but because there was an all in, he had to show. He had flopped a straight with .
Nienow was in third place with and was eliminated.
Denny Robinson had a big stack for a good part of the day, but not anymore. He has been sitting to the left of Hollywood Poker Open ambassador Chris Moneymaker, and it appears that's where nearly all of his chips went.
Moneymaker has increased to 150,000 and into the chip lead, and, according to the table, Robinson told the dealer to blind him out while he went for a walk.
Moneymaker informed us that he was in the small blind with and he raised. Robinson called from the big blind, and the flop came . Moneymaker led for 2,000, Robinson raised to 4,000, and Moneymaker called.
The turn was a to give Moneymaker a full house, and he checked to Robinson. Robinson bet 5,000, and Moneymaker raised to 12,000. Robinson three-bet shoved for 54,000, and Moneymaker quickly called and won the pot with a full house. Robinson's hand was unknown.
Justin Pimpedly was sitting at just above 100,000 before this hand went down.
The player to his right raised to 2,000, and Pimpedly reraised to 4,000. The remaining players folded to move the action back to the original raiser. He shoved all in for 17,625. Pimpedly took a moment, then called.
Pimpedly had the , but he was behind the of his opponent. It was a flip and Pimpedly won it after the board ran out .
Day 1a of the Hollywood Poker Open Toledo Regional Main Event starts today at 11:15 a.m. local time. The $1,115 buy-in event is one of the last on the schedule for the Toledo stop, but it's certainly ready to deliver. On top of the prize money, each HPO Regional Main Event winner is awarded a $2,500 seat to the HPO Championship at the M Resort in Las Vegas.
Last year's HPO Toledo Main Event saw Charles Maxcy win $37,465 and the HPO Championship seat.
This is the second event of HPO Season 4. The first stop of the season was Lawrenceburg, IN, where Josh Lowing won $33,907, and the Championship event seat, after a six-way deal. Lowing defeated a field of 229 entries.
The HPO ambassador is none other than former World Series of Poker Main Event champion Chris Moneymaker. As an extra incentive for players attending HPO events, Moneymaker announced the top three players on the HPO leaderboard would also receive seats to the $2,500 Championship event. Currently, Gregory McCurry is on top with 41 points, and Shawn Bowen and Kurt Jewell round out the top three.
, and Mark Nienow was first to act. He shoved for his last 24,700. John Nelson was next to act, and after some consideration, he called. The action then fell to Lance Howard, who took a bit longer to decide, but eventually called, too. The other player in the hand had folded.
, and Nelson checked to Howard. Howard took even longer this time, but eventually settled on a bet of 30,000. Nelson called.
, and Nelson checked again. Howard took a few moments and shoved all in for 85,000. Nelson had him covered and would be left with only about 12 big blinds if he called and lost the hand. Nelson called and saw the bad news when Howard turned over a flush. Nelson mucked his had, but because there was an all in, he had to show. He had flopped a straight with 
.
, but he was behind the 
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