Hollywood Poker Open Grantville Main Event Begins on Saturday
Season 2 of the Hollywood Poker Open Regional Tournament Series rolls on this weekend at Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course in Grantville, Pennsylvania, and PokerNews will be on hand to cover the $1,800 Main Event.
"We want the players to have a sense of consistency at each venue," HPO Director Bill Bruce told PokerNews. "I think that goes along way. Even if you have never been to one of the regional casinos before you know what to expect because it will be the same crew you have seen at all the other locations."
Bruce and his staff were just in Tunica, Mississippi, where Toby Mathews won over $15,000 and a seat in the Hollywood Poker Open Championship at The M Resort Spa Casino Las Vegas in June. Tour ambassador and 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Chris Moneymaker will be in attendance, as will 2007 WSOP Main Event finalist Lee Childs. Childs spoke glowingly about both the tour and the staff.
"The first HPO events I played were in Charles Town, WV last year. At the time, I was living about an hour away from there and was excited to finally have some real tournaments with decent structures close to home," Childs said. "I didn’t realize until I got there that it was Bill Bruce’s crew that was running the events, so I was really happy when I walked in and saw those folks. It’s always nice to see familiar faces at events, but to have what I think is one of the best tournaments crews around running the event near home was awesome."
The inaugural Hollywood Poker Open Championship took place last June at the M Resort. The HPO held various qualifying events, sending over 200 players to Las Vegas with a seat into the Main Event. In the fist $2,500 HPO Championship Event ever held, it was Spain’s Ana Marquez who emerged victorious over the 631-player field. The event generated a total prize pool of $1,423,062, of which Marquez took home the top prize of $320,189.
PokerNews will provide coverage for all of the remaining Main Events:
| Regional Main Event | Date | Buy-in |
|---|---|---|
| Hollywood Casino St. Louis | March 15-16 | $1,800 |
| Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races | March 29-30 | $1,800 |
| Hollywood Casino Columbus | May 24-25 | $1,800 |
For more information on each stop of Season 2, check out hollywoodpokeropen.com, and be sure to follow the PokerNews Live-Reporting Page this weekend for updates from Grantville!
Photo courtesy of Penn Live
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