HPO Charles Town Regional Championship Day 1 | 2014 Hollywood Poker Open Charles Town Regional Event

03-29-2014 20:30 UTC-4

Moneymaker the Multitasker

[user253757]

Level 7 : 250/500, 50 ante

Chris Moneymaker is Playing the Game Within the Game

After a torrid start to the day saw Chris Moneymaker surge above the 100,000-chip plateau early on, the 2003 WSOP Main Event champion experienced a bit of a reversal, as evidenced by the following tweet:

Chris Moneymaker @CMONEYMAKER

From 100k to 40k last 2 levels. Need to tighten up. @hwpokeropenMarch 29, 2014

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Follow @CMONEYMAKER

After vowing to tighten up after the dinner break concluded, Moneymaker took down a pot early in Level 7 to keep climbing.

The board read by the turn and Moneymaker had a 2,000 bet in front of him. After a brief tank, his opponent decided to see the river and he flatted to see the rain down.

Moneymaker never took his gaze from the Clash of Clans game he was feverishly playing throughout the hand, using one hand to send his virtual minions into battle, while using the other to fire out a 4,100 bet.

The other player quickly surrendered, just as Moneymaker pushed his forces through the gates of his online enemy, and without moving his eyes from the screen, the champ collected another pot without a showdown.

Player	Chips	Progress
Chris Moneymaker	49,000 5,500	5,500

Tags: Chris Moneymaker

03-29-2014 20:09 UTC-4

Current Chip Counts

[user253757]

Level 7 : 250/500, 50 ante

Curtis Erhgott is the Chip Leader Heading Back From Dinner Break

Here are a few updated counts as the tournament recommences after dinner break.

Player	Chips	Progress
Curtis Erhgott	82,500 82,500	82,500
Mike Anderson	53,000 -29,000	-29,000
Timothy Little	51,900 400	400
Chris Moneymaker	43,500 -9,500	-9,500

Michaelann Moser	39,000 2,000	2,000
Lee Childs	33,100 9,600	9,600
Bill Kridle	23,400 -18,600	-18,600
Valerie Novak	17,500 -2,500	-2,500

03-29-2014 18:41 UTC-4

Little Big Man

[user253757]

Level 6 : 200/400, 50 ante

After two players limped in before him, Timothy Little opted to raise the action holding the button. Next to act, Chris Moneymaker decided to three-bet and put the pressure back on Little and his suspected squeeze play.

Little decided to flat with and the flop came down to give him an open-ended straight draw. Moneymaker c-bet the flop and Little flatted once more to take a trip down fourth street.

Turn:

With that, Little's gin card had arrived as he made the nut straight. Moneymaker moved a pile of chips into the middle to effectively force Little all in if he called, and call he did with the stone cold nuts.

Moneymaker tabled , but despite holding the best preflop hand in Hold'em, he was drawing dead heading to the river.
With the loss, Moneymaker's previously chip-leading stack dropped back down to the average mark, while Little chipped up to put himself in position for another deep run here at the HPO Charles Town stop.

Player	Chips	Progress
Chris Moneymaker	53,000 -18,000	-18,000

Timothy Little	51,500 22,000	22,000

Tags: Chris Moneymaker Timothy Little

03-29-2014 18:12 UTC-4

Bravado and Braggadocio

[user253757]

Level 6 : 200/400, 50 ante

We noticed Chris Moneymaker's previous stack of 105,000 had been dented just a bit, as the 2003 WSOP Main Event Champion currently sits with just over 70,000 chips.

Hearing the booming voice of Mike Anderson one table over, we took a look and discovered the old maxim about players talking more when they're winning to be true.

Anderson was adding a sizable pot to his stack - which now holds more than 80,000 to give him top honors thus far - and after interrogating him as to the source of his windfall, we found out just how he earned his winnings.

"I'm the best player here... write that down," said Anderson, his tongue planted firmly in cheek. "Best player at the table, hell, best in the room!"

Having pushed ahead of Moneymaker on the leaderboard, Anderson's boast may not be entirely accurate, but at the moment nobody can convince him otherwise.

Player	Chips	Progress
Mike Anderson	82,000 35,000	35,000
Chris Moneymaker	71,000 -34,000	-34,000

Tags: Chris Moneymaker Mike Anderson

03-29-2014 17:59 UTC-4

Charles Town Tops the Turnout List

[user253757]

Level 6 : 200/400, 50 ante

The Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races Has Surpassed the Previous Season High for Main Event Turnout

With the latest re-entry recorded here on Day 1, the field has swelled to 69 total entries, meaning the HPO Charles Town Main Event has officially become the top draw in terms of turnout this season.

When 67 entries were compiled at the last HPO stop in St. Louis, the number represented a major milestone for the up-and-coming tour, marking the most successful series stop to date. The positive momentum has carried over from the Gateway to the West to West Virginia, and today mark's the highest turnout so far at an HPO Regional Championship Main Event.

03-29-2014 17:53 UTC-4

Chris Makes a Boatload of Money

[user253757]

Level 5 : 150/300, 25 ante

We noticed Chris Moneymaker adding another pile to his chip leading stack, and after a bit of inquiry we discovered the former World Champion had came out on the right end of brutal cooler.

Apparently, Moneymaker woke up with in the hole, and when the flop rained down , his big slick became the biggest boat on the block.

Unfortunately for Valerie Novak, however, the flop was a pretty good fit for her as well. Even though the pot was played slowly by both players through fifth street, each trying to trap one another, all of the chips were pushed in when the river blanked off.

Moneymaker's unbeatable full house gave him the win, sending Novak to the rail for a re-entry ticket, and pushing the champ's stack over the 100,000 plateau.

Player	Chips	Progress
Chris Moneymaker	105,000 38,000	38,000

Valerie Novak	20,000 -21,000	-21,000

Tags: Chris Moneymaker Valerie Novak

03-29-2014 17:24 UTC-4

Brian Cavaliere Extracts a Bit of Value

[user253757]

Level 5 : 150/300, 25 ante

On the flop we saw Brian Cavaliere lead out for 1,500 from the big blind. Undeterred, his opponent tossed out raise to 5,100 and stared Cavaliere down from across the table.

Cavaliere assessed the situation for a moment before flatting the bet, taking the on the turn. Tapping the table for a check, Cavaliere watched his opponent do the same, bringing the to the board on river.

After a 7,000 wager by Cavaliere, his opponent agonized over his decision and talked himself through the hand. Eventually though, he slid seven orange T1000 chips into the middle, only to muck immediately when Cavaliere revealed the for a turned flush.

With the win, Cavaliere moved above double the starting stack, putting himself in comfortable position midway through Day 1 of this HPO Charles Town Main Event.

Player	Chips	Progress
Brian Cavaliere	41,000 41,000	41,000

Tags: Brian Cavaliere

03-29-2014 17:04 UTC-4

Updated Chip Counts as Level 5 Begins

[user253757]

Level 5 : 150/300, 25 ante

Lee Childs is Slightly Above the Starting Stack Midway Through Day 1

With the fifth level of play now underway, here are a few updated counts for the notable names in the field.

Player	Chips	Progress
Chris Moneymaker	67,000 -14,000	-14,000

Michaelann Moser	37,000 -5,000	-5,000
Timothy Little	29,500 7,100	7,100
Lee Childs	23,500 -800	-800
Todd Echols	16,500

03-29-2014 16:36 UTC-4

Nearing a Season-High in Terms of Turnout

[user253757]

Level 4 : 100/200, 25 ante

The Hollywood Poker Open Charles Town Stop May Just be the Most Well-Attended of the Season

With 64 entries recorded midway through the late registration period, the HPO Charles Town Main Event is nearing the season high of 67, which was recorded two weeks ago at the St. Louis stop.

Players who bust out can opt to fire another bullet before the beginning of Level 7, and latecomers who prefer to skip the early levels can take their seat anytime before then. With that in mind, we expect to set a new season record for turnout here at the fifth of six stops on the Hollywood Poker Open's second season.

03-29-2014 16:31 UTC-4

The Ambassador on the Attack

[user253757]

Level 4 : 100/200, 25 ante

Chris Moneymaker Has Assumed His Usual Spot on the Top of the Leaderboard Here at Another HPO Charles Town Regional Main Event

We've hovered around Chris Moneymaker's table for minute after minute, hoping to catch the 2003 WSOP Main Event champ playing for a monster pot.

Instead, all we've seen is a steady surge to the top of the chip counts, as Moneymaker wins two or three pots per orbit. None of the hauls have been huge on their own, but strung together in succession these wins have catapulted Moneymaker to more than quadruple the starting stack.

Recently, after losing a small pot to the champ, an unidentified player looked across the table and told the dealer jokingly "you keep pushing the pot to him!"

Moneymaker quietly stacked his chips and added them to his castle, but when the opponent asked him "you can't hit every flop can you?," the Hollywood Poker Open's Ambassador lived up to his title.

"Well, sure I can..." offered Moneymaker, before the conversation turned his book Moneymaker, written in 2005 during the heyday of the Moneymaker Boom.

"I read in your book that players kept trying to take you on after you took down the Main," said the man, clearly quite pleased with the chance to play with and talk to a World Champion. "Is that still a good thing ten years later?"

"You bet it is..." replied Moneymaker in his distinctive drawl, a sly grin spreading across his face. "Although not always in tournaments, but yeah, its not a bad problem to have."

Apparently not, as most of the players who have tried taking Moneymaker on here today have slid a slice of their stack in his direction.