Andrew Rudnick Leads Day 1b Flight, Childs Short
Day 1b was put in the books for the 2016 Hollywood Poker Open Charles Town Regional Main Event, and there will be a new champion since last year’s winner, Loukas Michael, failed to make it through to Day 2.
Andrew Rudnick (188,700) finished as the Day 1b chip leader by a tiny bit over Mike Sites (184,600). Rudnick stormed to the lead after doubling through Jim Keating with 
over 
when the two got all in on the 
flop. The board brought no help for Keating and Rudnick soared.
Keating (111,900) had an interesting day himself. It seemed for a while that all he could do was double people up. However, he managed to work his stack back up, never dipping too low and being very active.
Lee Childs (14,600) finished the day as the short stack. He will start Day 2 with only seven big blinds, but any chips mean there's a chance, and that's what Childs has. He shoved once during the final minutes of play in an attempt to double up, but got no callers and added only the blinds and antes to his stack.
Mel Lyon stuck around the middle of the pack for most of the day after dipping early. Not many very exciting pots happened for him, but he did manage to pick up chips here and there, and will enter Day 2 81,700.
The 14 players that made it through Day 1b will join five players from Friday's Day 1a for action on Day 2. Play resumes at 12:15 p.m. local time on Sunday, and it will continue until a new HPO champion is crowned.