$125 To $34,720: Chris Chapman Parlays a Satellite Ticket To Winning HPO Charles Town
Chris Chapman ran his $125 satellite entry into a Hollywood Poker Open title and $34,720. He bested a field of 112 entries in the HPO Charles Town $1,115 Regional Main Event, including two big names in Chris Moneymaker and Lee Childs to take it all down. Now we'll see if Chapman can parlay his winnings into even more, as he earned a $2,500 seat into the HPO Championship Event at the M Resort in Las Vegas June 23-26.
HPO Charles Town Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Chapman | $34,720 |
| 2 | Mike Sites | $20,720 |
| 3 | David Lackey | $14,224 |
| 4 | Chris Moneymaker | $10,080 |
| 5 | Denny Grizzle | $7,672 |
| 6 | Dennis Summers | $6,440 |
| 7 | Mike Melkersen | $5,264 |
| 8 | David Jiang | $4,480 |
| 9 | Jim Keating | $3,360 |
| 10 | Anthony Vaughn | $2,800 |
| 11 | Mel Lyon | $2,240 |
For Chapman, diamond flushes might be listed in the keys to victory. He made two of them at the final table, both for huge pots at critical times.
The first flush was a flopped one against David Lackey during three-handed play. The two players saw a heads-up flop after a preflop raise. The flop came 8♦J♦9♦, and both players checked. The turn was the 10♣, and Chapman checked. Lackey bet 45,000, and Chapman raised to 145,000. Lackey shoved all in, and Chapman called with the Q♦4♦. Lackey had turned a straight, but was drawing dead with the Q♠8♣.
The second flush was against Mike Sites at the start of the heads-up portion of the tournament. The board read 8♦J♠A♦, and Sites bet 60,000. After that, a raising war went down quickly between the two and they got all in.
Sites was ahead with the J♦7♦ for middle pair and a diamond draw, but Chapman could outdraw him with the K♦3♦. The board ran out 9♣, then 10♦ and Chapman earned his draw to double up.
Chapman said he was a little nervous at the start of Day 2, but felt great as the day continued. He played with a cool demeanor and took his time for many of the decisions he made.
As the day wore on, Chapman managed to tiptoe along, never getting too involved until he was winning a huge pot. For the most part, he played it safe, but he was almost eliminated by Sites earlier at the final table.
The two players were heads up and on the turn, when Sites check-raised Chapman on a board that read J♣8♥K♦9♣. Sites had checked to Chapman, who bet 30,000. Sites then slid out a stack of 5,000 chips totaling 100,000. Chapman called. On the river, when the 7♦ hit, Sites shoved all in, putting the rest of Chapman's 185,000 at risk should he call. Chapman did call and showed a straight with 10x8x. Sites mucked 9x8x face up and lost the huge pot.
This became a thing throughout the day — if Chapman was all in, he was ahead and about to win a huge pot.
Chapman's rise to the top also benefitted from wo players at the final table who experienced big downswings, going from chip lead to bust.
Moneymaker was one of those, as the chip leader coming back from dinner break had turbulent level that put him into the danger zone. He was eventually busted in fourth place by Sites.
After action folded to him in the small blind, Moneymaker looked down at the A♠10♣ and paused for a second before he moved all in for 145,000. Sites snap-called with the A♥K♥ and had Moneymaker dominated. No help came for the 2003 WSOP Main Event champion, and he had to settled for $10,080 and no second HPO title.
The second surprise loss was Lackey, who finished third. He also went from chip leader to busted within a level. He doubled up Chapman in the hand discussed earlier where Chapman flopped a flush and Lackey turned a straight. He also doubled up Sites when both flopped top pair, but Lackey's kicker played.
Lackey was eventually eliminated by Chapman after both players got all in preflop. The two turned over their hands and Chapman was ahead with the A♠6♣ against the Q♠7♠ of Lackey. The board ran out A♣K♠A♣10♦A♦ and that spelled the end of the road for Lackey.
Don't Miss the HPO Championship in June
Although the HPO Charles Town Regional is the final regional stop of Season 4, the tour's biggest and baddest event will be coming to you in June at the M Resort in Las Vegas.
The HPO $2,500 Championship Event will take place June 23-26. The event will feature two starting flights and a big field that has averaged nearly 700 players over the first three editions and an average first-place prize of $340,000. If that's not a juicy tournament to get excited about, then we're not sure what is.
With satellite qualifiers coming from Hollywood Casino venues all over the US, this will once again be a can't-miss tournament during the summer.
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