The last regional stop before the championship event for the second season of the Hollywood Poker Open took place Saturday as 126 entrants tested their poker ability at the Hollywood Casino in Columbus, Ohio.
After 11 levels of play completed, 29 of the original 126 made it through to Day 2 where they will still have plenty of work in front of them before they make the money as only 13 will get paid. With 126 entrants, it was a record turnout for an HPO Regional Main Event, smashing the previous best of 72 set at the Charlestown, West Virginia stop. The HPO continues to make strides and is proving that it is not just another poker tour.
Of the remaining 29 survivors, Scott Dehm bagged the most chips with an impressive 270,200 next to his name. He was followed closely by John Michalak (215,200) and Nick Guagenti (207,200). Other notable chip stacks included the likes of Ryan Pochedly (148,700), Joseph Couden (134,100), and Trevor Renner (131,500).
2003 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Chris Moneymaker attempted to win his second HPO Regional Main Event of 2014, but he would be eliminated and decided not to fire a second bullet. Local poker pro Shawn Cunix battled for position throughout the day, with his family watching for a majority of the time, and ended with 76,200 in chips.
Check back with PokerNews Sunday afternoon at 12 p.m. local time as the remaining players look to make the money and the final table. We will crown a winner before the night is over and that sole survivor will take home an impressive first place prize of $60,827.
Scott Dehm is continuing to accumulate chips. He added another chunk recently when he flopped a set of Jacks on a board and received some action when he bet 7,000 on the turn and 12,000 on the river. His opponent check-called both bets and mucked his hand after seeing Dehm's .
At another table, Ross Gottlieb was able to get back some of the chips he had lost recently. He opened the action to 1,700 from the button and was three-bet by the small blind to 4,300. The big blind four-bet it to 9,000. Gottlieb wasn't going anywhere, however, and he five-bet to 21,000. The small blind got out of the way leaving the action on the player in the big blind. He sat there, a Houston Rockets cap perched backwards on his head.
"How much you got left?" he asked.
"Roughly 60," answered Gottlieb.
Both players sat there shuffling chips, Gottlieb in his left hand while his opponent used his right hand. Gottlieb's foe looked back at his cards and gnawed gently on his left thumb. He took another look back at his cards and reluctantly tossed them towards the dealer. Gottlieb was back near the 100,000 chip mark after the hand.
With 5,000 in the pot and the board showing , Andrew Jeffrey checked to his opponent who made a bet of 2,700. Jeffrey had his opponent covered and moved all in. To his opponent's credit, he didn't instantly call, but ultimately decided after a minute of thought that he couldn't fold for a flopped set. Jeffrey had him crushed, however, as he had . The table let out a few moans of appreciation for Jeffrey and just as many groans of frustration for his opponent.
"Nothing you could do there," said Jeffrey quietly.
The turn was the and only the case four could change the outcome of the hand. The river was a case card, but it was the case Ace, the to give Jeffrey quads and move his stack to one of the biggest in the room at this point. Jeffrey finished 2nd at a Borgata tournament last September for $66,914 and is hoping to add to that total this weekend.
There are an abundance of poker tournaments and tours taking part across the world currently. If you want to play tournament poker, there is probably one (or more) tournaments taking place on any given day. The Hollywood Poker Open ("HPO") is emerging as one of the best poker tours out there.
"We've really made progress in our second season," tournament director Bill Bruce told PokerNews earlier. "We've brought on Chris Moneymaker as our spokesman, brought in PokerNews to provide coverage for our Championship Events, and we have some of the best structures out there, especially for our Championship Events."
Bruce went on to add "the Hollywood Casino is rapidly growing and along with it so will the Hollywood Poker Open. We want to stand out from the other poker tours and establish ourselves as a place where poker players want to play."
The Championship Event for the 2nd season of the HPO will take place in Las Vegas at the beautiful M Resort. This $500,000 Guaranteed tournament will start on June 27th and is open to any one willing to put up the $2,500 entry fee or who has qualified at an HPO event. For more information on that event and everything else related to the HPO, check out their website.
While many players here are looking to make their first big splash on the poker tournament scene, we have countless players with impressive poker resumes. Here are just a few of the names that are taking part in the poker action here today:
Ryan Austin, Westerville, OH - $330,077 in live earnings. His highlights include 6 WSOP cashes and a win in a $1,600 NLHE tournament in 2012 that was good for $74,282 - a career best for Austin.
Shawn Cunix, Delaware, OH - $1,363,482 in live earnings. Cunix is fresh off a win four days ago here for $7,741. He's looking to add to an impressive resume that includes a WPT title which was good for an impressive $426,100. He also has three other six figure scores to his name.
Joseph Couden, Blacklick, OH - $461,446 in live earnings. Couden has been around the tournament scene since 2008 and has 13 WSOP cashes to his name. His best result is a 4th place finish in the 2012 WSOP 8 Game Tournament for $76,841.
Nick Guagenti, Columbus, OH - $644,330 in live earnings. Guagenti has been around a while with his first reported tournament cash coming back in 2006. He has 12 WSOP cashes including a deep run in last years Main Event. He is fresh off his biggest score ever, a win at the 2014 Queen City Classic Main Even in Cincinnati for $153,548.
Chris Moneymaker, Memphis, TN - $3,572,591 in live earnings. One of the most recognized faces in poker and largely thought to be responsible for the start of the poker boom, Moneymaker has had a long career at the tables. Of course his most notable victory was for $2.5 million at the 2003 WSOP Main Event but he's not faded quietly into the night since then. Just two months ago he won the Hollywood Poker Open Main Event in St. Louis taking home $36,259 for his efforts.
In less than 20 minutes, the final Hollywood Poker Open Regional Championship Event of Season 2 will start right here at the Hollywood Casino in Columbus, Ohio. This $1,800 buy-in tournament wraps up a 16-event series that has seen the likes of Sean Cunix take down a trophy.
The winner of this $100,000 guaranteed tournament will not only receive the cash and the trophy, but also a seat in the HPO Championship Event at the M Resort Casino & Spa in Las Vegas in June.
For more information on the HPO series in Columbus, including the blind structures for each event, head over to the HPO website. This Championship Event features one-hour long levels and 20,000 in starting chips and has a great structure including a 250/500 blind level.
PokerNews will be here from start to finish of this Championship Event providing you with photos, updates, and chip counts. Follow along all the exciting action!
![[user272102]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
board and received some action when he bet 7,000 on the 
turn and 12,000 on the 
river. His opponent check-called both bets and mucked his hand after seeing Dehm's 
.
, Andrew Jeffrey checked to his opponent who made a bet of 2,700. Jeffrey had his opponent covered and moved all in. To his opponent's credit, he didn't instantly call, but ultimately decided after a minute of thought that he couldn't fold 
for a flopped set. Jeffrey had him crushed, however, as he had 
. The table let out a few moans of appreciation for Jeffrey and just as many groans of frustration for his opponent.
and only the case four could change the outcome of the hand. The river was a case card, but it was the case Ace, the 
to give Jeffrey quads and move his stack to one of the biggest in the room at this point. Jeffrey finished 2nd at a Borgata tournament last September for $66,914 and is hoping to add to that total this weekend.
