Cavaliere Leads Into Day 2 of HPO Charles Town
Yesterday, the Hollywood Poker Open kicked off the fifth stop in this six-event second season, as the HPO Charles Town Regional Championship in West Virginia kicked off. After setting a season high in terms of turnout at the last stop in St. Louis with 67 entries, HPO officials were cautiously confident that a new record would be set here, and midway through Day 1 a reentry ticket was purchased to push the count over the previous record. When it was all said and done, 72 combined entries and reentries were recorded during the first seven levels of play, generating a prize pool of $114,428 with a $37,256 payout awaiting for today’s eventual winner. Seven players will make the money today, with the minimum cash representing a $5,846.
After a grueling day of action on the felt, the field of 72 was culled to leave just 22 survivors. Along the way, 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event champion and HPO Ambassador Chris Moneymaker made a run at his second consecutive HPO Regional Championship — and third final table in five events this season. Despite surging to over 100,000 in chips early in the day, though, the champ hit a rough patch later on and ultimately shipped the majority of his stack to young semi-pro Joseph Stiers.
Another player who has experienced the bright lights of the WSOP Main Event final table stage, Lee Childs — who reached poker’s ultimate summit in 2007 — managed to avoid a similar fate, navigating the minefield with a short stack for much of the day. Proving his mettle, Childs managed to chip up and grind his way to a 50,000-chip stack by the time bagging and tagging began.
Childs will have a bit of work to do if he hopes to catch the Day 1 chip leader Brian Cavaliere, who managed to accumulate a staggering 181,600 to put himself 60,000 clear of his closest competitor Paul McCaffrey (121,600). Other players who bagged big stacks by the end of play include Mike Summers (106,300), David Lackey (96,500), James Boyd (95,500), Joseph Stiers (77,100) and Timothy Little (71,700).
Keep it here throughout the day as PokerNews proudly provides live continuous coverage of the HPO Charles Town Regional Championship, as the final 22 players head round the final bend and sprint toward the finish line.