Donald McArthur Wins Hollywood Poker Open Tunica Regional Main Event ($17,100)!
Donald McArthur came into Day 2 of Hollywood Poker Open Tunica Regional Main Event as the big chip leader with 370,000, nearly double second-place Mark Kehrees. He put that stack to good use, making short work of his remaining competitors to wrap up the tournament in less than three hours. For his win, McArthur claimed $17,100 in prize money and a voucher worth a $2,500 seat in the HPO season finale in Las Vegas this summer.
McArthur, a postal worker, said the win ends years of final table frustrations.
"I've come down here and made a bunch of final tables," said McArthur, who came in with just $1,571 in recorded tournament cashes. "One time, I had more chips than the other nine combined, and I was still the first one out."
This time, luck seemed to be in his favor, right from the first elimination as action folded to him in the small blind, giving him the pot and the last of Chris Trotter's blinded-off stack. Sadly, Trotter left on Day 1 with a massive stack after experiencing health issues, ultimately blinding off in sixth place on the money bubble.
Nancy Regan bowed out shortly thereafter in fifth when she put in her last thee big blinds with 
and was unable to improve against Scott Mauer's 
.
McArthur held about half of the chips in play four handed, but had slipped down a bit when a key pot unfolded between he and Mauer. A limped pot and three flop checks led to a 
board on fourth street, which is when Kehrees bet out the minimum of 4,000 from the small blind. Mauer made it 14,000, and McArthur cold-called, while Kehrees folded. Mauer bet 26,000 more on the 
river, and McArthur shoved for about 85,000 more. Mauer quickly called with 
for a straight, but it was no good as McArthur held 
for tens full.
McArthur then picked up kings on the button and called Kehrees' three-bet shove, holding against the 
. The kings held, and that set up a heads-up match with James McCauley, who had about 170,000 to McArthur's 730,000 as the blinds moved up to 2,500/5,000/500. Twenty minutes later, it was all over, as McCauley jammed his last 54,000 with 
, and McArthur called with 
. Live cards improved to a straight draw as 
hit the flop, and there was no stopping McArthur today as he binked the 
for a winning straight on the turn. McCauley took home $11,250.
"I was hitting everything today," McArthur said with a smile. "It made up for all those other final tables."
Next up for the HPO will be a stop in Grantville, Pennsylvania, starting March 26 and running through April 5. The PokerNews Live Reporting team will be there for the Regional Main Event April 4-5, and we hope to see you there. For complete schedule information on that event, please click here.