Hollywood Poker Open Columbus Regional $1,115 Main Event to Kick Off This Weekend
For the past week, the Hollywood Poker Open (HPO) has been hosting their latest stop – the last before June's season-ending $2,500 Championship Event at M Resort Casino Spa in Las Vegas — at the Hollywood Casino in Columbus, Ohio. On Saturday, HPO Columbus will culminate with its $1,115 buy-in Regional Main Event, which will feature a $100,000 guarantee.
The Main Event is the capstone event on the 32-event schedule, 10 of which were designated as HPO-sanctioned "featured" events. The Main Event will be live reported by the PokerNews Live Reporting Team, and the tournament will see 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event champ and HPO ambassador Chris Moneymaker take his shot at winning another HPO title.
"HPO Columbus is the last regional stop of the season," said PokerNews Editor in Chief Donnie Peters. "With a chance to qualify for the Championship Event in Las Vegas, a $100,000 guaranteed prize pool on the Regional Main Event, and the possibility of playing alongside 2003 WSOP Main Event champion Chris Moneymaker, what else could you ask for?"
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.
The stop has already proven a hit among local players, many of who will take a shot at poker glory in the Main Event.
Taking the next step toward a dream. Playing in the @hwpokeropen main event this Saturday and hopefully Monday. #♤♡♢♧ #MYTIME
— John Zander (@zander1979)
@CMONEYMAKER @Hollywood_Poker @hwpokeropen I am playing main event Chris see you Saturday!
— Shawn Cunix (@CunixShawn)
Last year, Joey Couden overcame a 7-1 chip disadvantage to win the HPO Columbus for $60,827. That tournament attracted 126 entrants – an HPO record at the time – and created a prize pool of $202,754. Back then the Main Event was an $1,800 buy-in, so with Season 3's more affordable $1,115 price tag there's a good chance the field will grow even bigger.
The Columbus stop continues what has been a tremendously successful Season 3. Last November, Jesse McEuen kicked things off when he took down the HPO Lawrenceburg for $49,676, and in early February Charles Maxcy took down the HPO Toledo for $37,465 after a chop.
From there, Donald McArthur won the HPO Tunica for $17,100, Steven Gurney-Goldman took down the HPO Grantville Regional for $29,342, and Linda Lieder defeated Kyle Cartwright in heads-up play to win the 2015 HPO St. Louis Regional Main Event for $48,440. Most recently car dealer Loukas Michael won the HPO Charles Town for $35,803.
"These HPO tournament fields are such a great mix of traveling poker professionals and local promotion winners which makes the tournaments really attractive to all levels of poker players," said Bill Bruce, who has served as the HPO tournament director since the tour's inception.
Here's a look at the remaining HPO Columbus schedule (HPO Featured Events denoted w/ *):
| Day | Date/Time | Event | Buy-In |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu | 5/21 - 12:15pm | 18 - Satellite (GTD seat to Event #19) | $70 |
| Thu | 5/21 - 3:15pm | 19 - Seniors No Limit 2 (age 50 & older) | $235 |
| Thu | 5/21 - 7:15pm | 20 - No-Limit Hold'em | $125 |
| Thu | 5/21- 10:15pm | 21 - Turbo Satellite (to Main Event, GTD seat) | $125 |
| *Fri | 5/22 - 1:15pm | 22 - NL Hold'em Deepstack | $235 |
| Fri | 5/22 - 4:15pm | 23 - Mega Satellite (to Main Event, GTD seat) | $235 |
| Fri | 5/22 - 7:15pm | 24 - Mega Satellite (to Main Event, GTD seat) | $235 |
| Fri | 5/22 - 10:15pm | 25 - Turbo Satellite (to Main Event, GTD seat) | $125 |
| Sat | 5/23 - 10:15am | 26 - Turbo Satellite (to Main Event, GTD seat) | $125 |
| *Sat | 5/23 - 12:15pm | 27a - HPO REGIONAL MAIN EVENT ($100,000 Guaranteed) | $1,115 |
| Sat | 5/23 - 2:15pm | 28 - Turbo Satellite (to Main Event, GTD seat) | $235 |
| Sat | 5/23 - 7:15pm | 29 - Mega Satellite (to Main Event, GTD seat) | $235 |
| Sun | 5/24 - 10:15am | 30 - Turbo Satellite (to Main Event, GTD seat) | $125 |
| *Sun | 5/24 - 12:15pm | 27b - HPO REGIONAL MAIN EVENT ($100,000 Guaranteed) | $1,115 |
| *Sun | 5/24 - 3:15pm | 31 - NL Hold'em Deepstack | $235 |
| Mon | 5/25 - 12:15pm | Main Event Restart | - |
| *Mon | 5/25 - 2:15pm | 32 - NL Hold'em Deepstack | $450 |
For more on Season 3 of the Hollywood Poker Open, visit HollywoodPokerOpen.com. Also, check out this HPO video featuring Moneymaker:
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