Yesterday, the Hollywood Poker Open kicked off the fifth stop in this six-event second season, as the HPO Charles Town Regional Championship in West Virginia kicked off. After setting a season high in terms of turnout at the last stop in St. Louis with 67 entries, HPO officials were cautiously confident that a new record would be set here, and midway through Day 1 a reentry ticket was purchased to push the count over the previous record. When it was all said and done, 72 combined entries and reentries were recorded during the first seven levels of play, generating a prize pool of $114,428 with a $37,256 payout awaiting for today’s eventual winner. Seven players will make the money today, with the minimum cash representing a $5,846.
After a grueling day of action on the felt, the field of 72 was culled to leave just 22 survivors. Along the way, 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event champion and HPO Ambassador Chris Moneymaker made a run at his second consecutive HPO Regional Championship — and third final table in five events this season. Despite surging to over 100,000 in chips early in the day, though, the champ hit a rough patch later on and ultimately shipped the majority of his stack to young semi-pro Joseph Stiers.
Another player who has experienced the bright lights of the WSOP Main Event final table stage, Lee Childs — who reached poker’s ultimate summit in 2007 — managed to avoid a similar fate, navigating the minefield with a short stack for much of the day. Proving his mettle, Childs managed to chip up and grind his way to a 50,000-chip stack by the time bagging and tagging began.
Childs will have a bit of work to do if he hopes to catch the Day 1 chip leader Brian Cavaliere, who managed to accumulate a staggering 181,600 to put himself 60,000 clear of his closest competitor Paul McCaffrey (121,600). Other players who bagged big stacks by the end of play include Mike Summers (106,300), David Lackey (96,500), James Boyd (95,500), Joseph Stiers (77,100) and Timothy Little (71,700).
Keep it here throughout the day as PokerNews proudly provides live continuous coverage of the HPO Charles Town Regional Championship, as the final 22 players head round the final bend and sprint toward the finish line.
With this Day 2 now underway and an orbit or two already in the books, Tim Bryan's stack remains a jumbled pile of chips arranged in front of his empty seat.
With a $39,756 payday awaiting today's eventual victor, Bryan's absence could prove to be a costly oversight, but with inclement weather outside there's a good possibility he's simply stuck in the snow.
We'll be sure to let you know if and when Bryan makes his way here, or if the steady erosion of the blinds and antes leaves him with no chips to work with.
The first elimination of Day 2 just went down, and the deed was done by Joseph Stiers, who dispatched the short-stacked Frank Cullen with a pocket pair.
According to Stiers, his was well out in front of Cullen's when the chips went in, and the flop of kept him in the lead.
A peeled off on the turn to provide Cullen with a backdoor flush draw, but the river blanked off to send the pot to Stiers. The accomplished semi-pro has already bagged a score of $300,000+ in his brief career, and now armed with a 100,000+ chip stack, he will be a force to be reckoned with from here on out.
Jim Boyd Just Sent Luther Carroll Home With an Early Exit
Luther Carroll found the and opened for 4,000, only to see Jim Boyd three-bet to 13,000. Carroll elected to make his stand with an all-in four-bet, making itjust over 40,000 to play, and Boyd snapped him off with .
A clean runout left the aces out in front, and Carrol out in the cold. Boyd, meanwhile, chipped up nicely with the win and now sits with one of the largest stacks in the room.
After entering the day with just 19,300 chips to work with - good for the second-shortest stack in play - Eddie Bohrer just doubled through David Lackey to keep chugging along.
Bohrer's last 13,900 went into the middle before the flop and Lackey quickly called with , only find himself dominated by the held by Bohrer.
The final board ran out to keep Bohrer in the lead with ace-queen high, and with the double up he has a bit of breathing room.
Guy Sloane's tournament life just ended at the hands of David Lackey, who now holds more than 140,000 for one of the biggest stacks in play.
Sloane's last 11,600 was open-shipped when he found the , but Lackey could afford the call with to put the short stack at risk.
Ahead before flop with ace-high, Sloane saw a semi-safe flop of hit the board. Although he was still out in front, Sloane was now dodging the deck as Lackey added an up-and-down straight draw to his arsenal of outs.
Turn:
Just like that, Lackey turned the nuts with a Broadway straight, and Sloane was sent to the rail.
Timothy Little opened to 4,500 and saw two players flat the raise, before Eddie Bohrer moved all in over the top for his last 9,300.
Little heaped a stack of orange T1000 chips forward for the isolation reraise, and the flatters folded to oblige.
Showdown:
Little:
Bohrer:
Bohrer was dominated by Little's queen kicker, and he was looking for jacks or some kind of straight to stay alive. When the flop came jack-high, Bohrer found his gin card, and the turn and river failed to change anything. Bohrer doubled through Little to keep himself in contention, while Little dipped a bit below the 100,000 chip mark.
Tim Bryan's last 16,000 or so was committed on the flop and Paul McCaffrey looked him up with for overcards and a flush draw.
Bryan held the for a made hand at the moment, but he was fading kings, queens and clubs to survive. The turn card came to keep Bryan in the lead, but the fell on the river to end his tournament with a 15th place finish.
![[user253757]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
when the chips went in, and the flop of 
kept him in the lead.
peeled off on the turn to provide Cullen with a backdoor flush draw, but the river blanked off to send the pot to Stiers. The accomplished semi-pro has already bagged a score of $300,000+ in his brief career, and now armed with a 100,000+ chip stack, he will be a force to be reckoned with from here on out.
, only find himself dominated by the 
held by Bohrer.
to keep Bohrer in the lead with ace-queen high, and with the double up he has a bit of breathing room.
, but Lackey could afford the call with 
hit the board. Although he was still out in front, Sloane was now dodging the deck as Lackey added an up-and-down straight draw to his arsenal of outs.
flop and Paul McCaffrey looked him up with 
for overcards and a flush draw.
for a made hand at the moment, but he was fading kings, queens and clubs to survive. The turn card came 
to keep Bryan in the lead, but the