McArthur Leads on Bubble in Tunica
After fourteen grueling Day 1 levels at Hollywood Poker Open Tunica Regional Main Event, six players remain and five will be paid. Donald McArthur leads the way, having amassed 370,000 through the course of play. That puts him well in front of second-place Mark Kehrees' 191,000.
Unfortunately, there will likely be little drama as to who will be the unfortunate bubble victim. Scott Mauer (175,000), James McCauley (123,500), Nancy Regan (31,000), and Chris Trotter (9,500) also survived with chips, with the latter having blinded down for the last four hours of the tournament. Trotter, a fixture in tournaments around the Tunica area with more than $80,000 in career cashes, left the venue during Level 10 (500/1,000/100) with one of the biggest stacks in the room after complaining of difficulty breathing. Hopefully, all turns out well for him, as good health takes precedence over a good score any day.
Trotter did score the signature elimination of the day when he flatted a 2,100 raise during Level 9 (400/800/75) on the button and saw HPO ambassador and former Main Event champ Chris Moneymaker shove all in from the big blind for about 12,000. Trotter called after the opener folded, holding with 
against 
as the board ran out 
.
As for McArthur, he was nearly eliminated during the previous level when he four-bet all in for about 13,000 over Trotter's 3,600 three-bet preflop. Trotter held 
, dominating McArthur's 
, but McArthur found a king on the flop to survive. Later, he made some huge hands, including flopping a set of twos to cripple Zach Kauffman a little before the final table as Kauffman was unable to get away from top pair on a 
flop.
Some other notable runners who threw their hats into the 45-player field but failed to make it through the day included former Borgata Winter Poker Open winner Josh Mancuso, WSOPC Tunica Main Event winner Johnny Landreth, five-time WSOPC ring and 2014 bracelet winner Kyle Cartwright, regional points leader Barry Schultz, and Ken Ervin, who trails Schultz by just 13 points.
The remaining six players reconvene Sunday at noon local time here in Tunica, and hopefully Trotter will be back in action.