Chris Chapman Turns $125 into $34,720 and Wins HPO Charles Town Regional Main Event
Chris Chapman ran his $125 satellite entry into a Hollywood Poker Open title and $34,720. He bested a field of 112 entries, 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.
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 
, and both players checked. The turn was the 
, and Chapman checked. Lackey bet 45,000, and Chapman raised to 145,000. Lackey shoved all in, and Chapman called with the 
. Lackey had turned a straight, but was drawing dead with the 
.
The second flush was against Mike Sites at the start of the heads-up portion of the tournament. The board read 
, 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 
for middle pair and a diamond draw, but Chapman could outdraw him with the 
. The board ran out 
, then 
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 
. 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 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 
. Sites mucked 
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 
and paused for a second before he moved all in for 145,000. Sites snap-called with the 
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 David 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 
against the 
of Lackey. The board ran out 
and that spelled the end of the road for Lackey.
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 |
That concludes the final regional main event of Season 4 of the Hollywood Poker Open. Each regional main event and leaderboard winner will have a seat reserved in the HPO's $2,500 Championship Event at the M Resort in Las Vegas. That event will be June 23-26, and it should be another great one. The previous three HPO Championship Events in Las Vegas attracted average field sizes of nearly 700 entries with an average first-place prize of $340,000. Don't miss out!