Matt Woodward burst onto the poker scene during the Season 5 EPT Grand Final when he finished second to Pieter de Korver for $1.7 million. Ever since Woodward has made four World Series of Poker final tables, but he's still looking for a win to add to his poker resume.
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The number 14 and 24 of the Dutch all-time money list have been spotted in the first level of this event. Steven van Zadelhoff has been in Las Vegas for the duration of the summer, but he's not had any cashes yet.
Van Zadelhoff's biggest outright victory came in the 2009 Spanish Poker Tour for €100,000, and he just missed out on two big World Poker Tour final tables with a seventh-place finish in WPT Barcelona, and a 11th-place finish in Paris. The bearded Dutchman's career earnings total $1.2 million and today's he's aiming for a deep run at the M Resort.
One of Van Zadelhoff's good friends, Pim de Goede, had bigger success in the past at the World Series of Poker. In the summer of 2011 De Goede had a fourth-place finish in a $1,500 no-limit hold'em event for $168,334 after winning a side event at the European Poker Tour in Madrid for €200,000.
Two years ago, in the Season 1 Hollywood Poker Open Championship Event at the M Resort, De Goede finished in 22nd place.
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We've just spotted one of the most successful no-limit hold'em tournament players in today's field with Jonathan Little. Little has two World Poker Tour titles under his belt, both banked him over a million dollars, and on top of that he has a second, a fifth and a seventh in WPT events.
Two years ago Little came very close to winning a World Series of Poker event when he finished third in the $5,000 six-max for $238,833, and today he's aiming for success in the Hollywood Poker Open Championship Event.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
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20,000 |
Level: 1
Blinds: 50/100
Ante: 0
The Main Event kicked off a few minutes ago, and in order to survive Day 1 players will need to complete 11 one-hour levels. There will be a short 15-minute break after every second level, and a 75-minute dinner break at the completion of the sixth level.
After a few words from tournament director Bill Bruce the cards are now in the air for the Hollywood Poker Open Championship event at the M Resort in Las Vegas.
Welcome to the final event of Season 3 of the Hollywood Poker Open — the $500,000 guaranteed $2,500 Championship Event. The PokerNews Live Reporting team will be on hand for the next three days from the M Resort Casino Spa in Las Vegas to cover this spectacular event, but it's highly encouraged that you come down and play if you're in the area.
The past two season-ending events have attracted 631 and 692 entries in 2013 and 2014, respectively, and this year's field is hopeful of pushing past the 700-entry mark. It all kicks off today at 12 p.m. local time with the plan to play 11 one-hour levels. Players will begin with a 20,000-chip starting stack, and registration will remain open until the start of Day 2.
The defending champion is Simon Deadman, who earned the $351,097 top prize last summer. He'll likely be back in the mix this year and hoping to successfully defend the title.
Another player guaranteed to show up is 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Chris Moneymaker. Moneymaker is highly credited with igniting the poker boom after his fairytale win in 2003, and now he's an ambassador for the HPO. After having already won an HPO title in St. Louis last year, Moneymaker will be looking for number two here in the city that made him famous.
Main Event players will be able to utilize the popular MyStack App to update their hands and chip counts straight into the live blog. To learn more about the app, and to download for free on both iOS and Android devices, click here.
Outside of the $2,500 Championship Event, the HPO will be hosting three other tournaments over the weekend. On Saturday, a $555 Seniors' Championship will start at 1 p.m. and a $235 No-Limit Hold'em event will start at 6 p.m. On Sunday, a $235 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack event will start at 1 p.m. All times are local.
For those looking to stay involved with the action on social media, be sure to follow our reporters on the floor, Remko Rinkema and Mickey Doft, plus the official PokerNews and Hollywood Poker Open Twitter accounts. To get in on the conversation surrounding the event, use "#HPOS3" when posting.
$2,500 Championship Event
Day 1 Started
