January saw the Hollywood Casino attract 440 players to Ohio Poker Championship Main Event, an outstanding event hosted by 2003 world champ Chris Moneymaker.
The event chopped four ways with a $42K first prize going to Iverson “Cotton” Snuffer of Charleston, W.V., and $28.5K to Cleveland’s unstoppable Mark Wahba, a.k.a. the Egyptian, James Ross and Greg Van Horn.
RIVERS: The poker room hosts the Three Rivers Poker Challenge on Feb. 17-22, featuring a $1K main event on Feb. 22, thus, upping the ante for the region with another $1K buy-in event on the heels of the Poker Night in America’s $1K main event.
Hollywood Casino in Columbus and the Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh are planning spring events to help soften the blow felt by the region with the Horseshoe Cleveland’s second failed attempt at putting together a World Series of Poker Circuit event.
COOK FOR CHARITY: Horseshoe Cleveland floor supervisor Adam Cook is working hard on the charity front. On Jan. 11, he was given a national award for the efforts of Operation: S.T.A.T. and Heartbeat of a Teddy Bear organization. He is a tireless worker for the benefit of others despite having a tough year on the personal front with an injury. Cook surely makes the world a better place and is well-deserving of this national honor.
CASH GAMES: Things in the region remain largely the same as cash games dominate the regional scene with the biggest players being the Hollywood Casino in Columbus, the Horseshoe in Cleveland and the Rivers in Pittsburgh.
Horseshoe Cincinnati and Hollywood Toledo continue to post a good number of nightly cash games and tournaments, just at a slightly lesser volume. On a national scale, the number of cash games in the region is impressive and the action is good in terms of lower-stakes volume and cash on the tables. The good news is that cold weather means inside activities and what could be better than poker?
— Dan Harkenrider hosts the Division of Poker and Chris Moneymaker radio shows. Email him at anteupdan@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @DivisionofPoker.
