Lance Howard topped 105 Day 1a entries, bagging 288,000 and a narrow chip lead over Dennis Hugelet (270,000) in the Hollywood Poker Open Toledo $1,115 Regional Main Event.

Howard skyrocketed to the chip lead in the second half of the day when he turned the nut flush and got paid off by John Nelson when he shoved on the river. Nelson had flopped a straight.

Hugelet had a strong day and a lot of it was highlighted by the friendly jabs he exchanged with Glen Poitinger (172,000) after almost every hand.

Justin Pimpedly (228,500), Michael Hahn (194,500), and HPO ambassador Chris Moneymaker (189,500) rounded out the top five.

After spending the first part of the day with a relatively stagnant stack, Moneymaker found a few spots and built his stack nicely. On one hand, he flopped trips and turned a boat against Denny Robinson. Robinson shoved all in on Moneymaker, who snap-called and doubled up. He didn't look back from there, adding to his stack throughout the day.

The 14 remaining players will return for Day 2 on Sunday at 12:15 p.m. local time. They will be joined by those that make it through Day 1b, which starts Saturday at 11:15 a.m. local time. Just as you found today, live updates will be right here on PokerNews, so stay tuned.

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