With one big buy-in tournament after another, it is sometimes hard to distinguish one from another. However, one tournament on the World Poker Tour stands out as a unique event for players and fans alike.
Bay 101's Shooting Star tournament is unlike any other on the circuit. Fifty of poker's top players have $5,000 bounties on their heads, and each player fortunate enough to eliminate a bounty gets $5,000 cash, paid right at the table. In addition, the chip leader at the end of each first-day flight earns $10,000 cash.
Tournament Director Matt Savage keeps the players and fans in the action by taking the time to announce each all in involving a bounty. He then provides play-by-play commentary as the hand progresses. Any player knocking out a bounty player was also presented with a commemorative t-shirt with a picture of the eliminated bounty player on it. Most of the "Shooting Star" players were gracious enough to pose for a picture after they were knocked out.
Bay 101 usually attracts more fans for this event than most WPT events do. From day one until the final table, railbirds were lined up three- and four-people deep to catch a glimpse of the action. No-limit hold'em is not offered at Bay 101 on a regular basis, so local players came out in droves to watch the big bet action.
Day One-A: The Bounty Hunt Begins
The tournament was split into two first days, and 25 of the bounty players began each day. The bounties on their heads provided a double-edged sword. They were almost guaranteed action each time they put chips in the middle; however, it limited their ability to get other players off their hands. One player who took advantage of this was the legendary Doyle Brunson.
Brunson was very active early. He raised often and got paid off when he picked up premium hands. Within just a few hours of play, he had tripled up. He carried that momentum throughout the day and finished the day with $30,500. Besides Brunson, the only other bounties who were able to survive were Gus Hansen, David Williams, J.J. Liu, and Allen Cunningham.
Phil Hellmuth looked as if he was going to take advantage of the bounty on his head. He built his stack up to near $60,000 before getting derailed. During play, he got into a verbal argument with another player at his table concerning what Hellmuth considered to be a slow roll. The argument escalated to the point that Matt Savage had to be called to the table. After the fireworks subsided, Hellmuth lost a few large pots before being eliminated by Chip Reese.
The eliminations were not limited to just the bounty players, though. More than 250 players started the day, but only 60 were able to move on to day two.
Day One-B: A Mirror Image of Day One-A
The second flight of day one was almost an instant replay of the first flight. Of the 250 players plus alternates who began the day, 59 moved on to day two.
As for the 25 bounties in each flight, five moved on from the first flight while six from the second flight came back for another day of action. The six bounties who survived in the second flight were actress Jennifer Tilly, Layne Flack, Carlos Mortensen, Dan Harrington, Sam Batshon, and "Miami" John Cernuto.
One player who fell victim to the bounty hunt was actress Shannon Elizabeth. She moved all in preflop with pocket aces. However, her opponent saw a chance to knock out a bounty and earn an extra $5,000, and called with the Q
10. Elizabeth was looking good to double up until the flop came Q-Q-2. The turn and river did not help her, and she was eliminated from the tournament.
The remaining players would return on the official day two and would continue play until there were 36 left. The 11 "Shooting Stars" continued to have bounties on their heads as long as they remained in the tournament. While all players would take $5,000, they had their eyes on the first-place prize of $1,172,800.
Day Two: A Quick Day Leads to the Money
The overall play on day two was incredibly fast. In less than nine hours of play, the field of 119 players had been reduced to 35. Some of the players who were eliminated in day-two action included Doyle Brunson, Gus Hansen, Isabelle Mercier, Jennifer Tilly, and Allen Cunningham. David Williams survived the day and also managed to knock out his third bounty player, earning himself an additional $15,000.
With only the top 45 spots receiving prize money, Layne Flack was the unfortunate player who was eliminated on the bubble. A short-stacked Flack moved all in with the Q
10 and was called by Brad Booth with the A 5
. The board came 8 6 4 4 2
and Flack was knocked out in 46th place.
Play was scheduled to stop at 36 players; however, both Kirk Morrison and Chris Grigorian were eliminated on the last hand of the day at different tables. They officially finished in a tie for 36th place and each received $20,000. The remaining 35 players were set to return on day three to play until the final six were determined for the World Poker Tour final table.
Day Three: Only One Bounty Gets to the Final Table
On day three, the players started play at sixhanded tables instead of the normal ninehanded. It took less than 10 hours to whittle the field down to the final six players.
At the start of the day, only three bounties remained: Dan Harrington, Sam Batshon, and David Williams. Harrington was knocked out by Jeff Kimber in 22nd place. The next bounty to fall was Batshon. He was taken out by Nam Le. That left Williams as the only bounty remaining.
Williams entered day three in 24th chip position with only $81,000. However, he played aggressively the entire day and quickly built up his chip stack. Halfway through the day, he took the chip lead. He played classic big-stack poker and still had the chip lead when there were seven players left. At that point, the players were combined to form one sevenhanded table until one more player was eliminated.
It didn't take long at the sevenhanded table for Williams to give up his chip lead. Shortly after play began, Nam Le took control of the table. Le built his stack and ended the day as the commanding chip leader.
Tony Sin was the last player eliminated, in seventh place, before the TV final table was set. After Fabrice Soulier had raised to $35,000, Sin moved all in for his last $188,000. Soulier called with the J J and Sin flipped over the 9 9. To make matters worse for Sin, Williams stated that he had folded A-9. The board came K 6 3 8 2, Sin was gone, and the final six were heading to the final table.
The chip counts going to the final table were as follows:
1. Nam Le $1,309,000
2. Ravi Udayakumar $1,024,000
3. Danny Smith $805,000
4. Fabrice Soulier $703,000
5. David Williams $668,000
6. Chad Brown $652,000
Day Four: Nam Le Makes a Name for Himself
The final table was loaded with talent, and some of the toughest young poker players in the world. Chip Leader Nam Le had been best known for being the cousin of two-time WPT champion Tuan Le. Nam was looking to break away from his cousin's shadow and gain a WPT victory of his own.
Chad Brown came to the final table last in chips, and was not able to improve much during the course of play. With the blinds at $8,000-$16,000 and $2,000 antes, Brown raised preflop to $40,000 and was called by Ravi Udayakumar. The flop came A K 8, Brown bet out $45,000, and Udayakumar called immediately. The turn was the 7. Brown bet out $100,000 and Udayakumar raised to $200,000. Brown moved all in and was called by Udayakumar. Brown showed the A 3, but Udayakumar flipped over the A J. The river was the J and Brown was eliminated. For his play, Chad Brown earned $200,000.
At the L.A. Poker Classic, Fabrice Soulier was the chip leader going into the third day. However, late in day three, he was eliminated from the tournament in 46th place. This made him the "bubble boy," as only the top 45 places were paid. Soulier had no intention of playing at Bay 101, but after his finish in L.A., he decided to head to San Jose and give it another try. He fought with a short stack for quite a while before building up his chips and earning a spot at the final table.
Soulier came to the final table in fourth chip position. He was never able to increase his chip count, and lost a good portion of his stack to Udayakumar. Udayakumar raised to $60,000 preflop with the blinds at $12,000-$24,000, and Soulier reraised to $207,000, nearly half of his stack. Udayakumar then reraised all in. Soulier went into the tank for several minutes before mucking his cards. Just moments later, Williams raised preflop to $70,000 and Soulier moved all in for his last $219,000. Williams called and showed the J 10. Soulier turned over the 2 2. The board came 9 7 4 8 9. Williams' straight eliminated Soulier from the tournament. He was rewarded with $240,000 for his fifth-place finish.
Shortly thereafter, Danny Smith found himself short-stacked. The blinds had increased to $20,000-$40,000 with $5,000 antes and Smith moved all in preflop with the K 10. Williams called with the A 6 and the board came K 8 7 K Q. Smith had doubled up and Williams was left crippled with less than $150,000.
On the very next hand, Williams moved all in from the button. Both Udayakumar and Le called. The flop came 9 9 5 and both players checked. The turn was the 2 and both players checked again. The river brought the K and it was once again checked down. Le flipped over the K 6 and both Udayakumar and Williams mucked their cards. Le collected the $5,000 bounty on the last remaining Shooting Star, and Williams was eliminated from the tournament. For his fourth-place finish, he received $280,000.
With only three players remaining, Smith was the short stack. Just 10 minutes after Williams' elimination, Udayakumar and Le both limped in for $40,000. From the big blind, Smith raised to $190,000. Udayakumar reraised to $590,000, and Le folded. Smith took a few minutes before he moved all in for $310,000 more. Udayakumar called and showed the K Q . Smith flipped over pocket sixes and was a slight favorite. However, the board came Q 10 5 9 7, and Smith was knocked out of the tournament. He took home $340,000 for his third-place finish.
The final two players were local favorite Ravi Udayakumar and young poker star Nam Le. Udayakumar held a 2-to-1 chip lead on Le when they started heads-up play. However, it took Le less than five minutes to regain the chip lead.
Udayakumar limped in for an additional $20,000, and Le checked. The flop came J 10 7 and Le checked. Udayakumar bet $100,000 and Le called. The turn was the 10 and Le again checked. Udayakumar bet $200,000 and Le raised to $500,000. Udayakumar called, and the river was the Q. Le bet out $500,000 and Udayakumar thought for a moment before calling. Le showed the 9 8 for the straight, and Udayakumar mucked. Le raked in a pot of more than $2.2 million and took a huge chip lead.
Moments later, Le limped in and Udayakumar raised $120,000 to $160,000 total. Le called, and the flop came Q 7 4. Udayakumar bet out $200,000 and Le called. The turn was the 3 and Udayakumar bet $250,000. Le again called, and the river was the A. Udayakumar bet $400,000 and Le went into the tank. After a few minutes, Le raised to $1.2 million. Udayakumar called all in and Le showed the A 7 for two pair. Udayakumar mucked his hand, and Le won the pot and the Bay 101 Shooting Star tournament. Udayakumar took home $629,500 for his runner-up finish.
Nam Le had outlasted a field of 518 players to capture the title, $1,172,800, and the $25,000 entry into the WPT Championship.
Le had excellent finishes in tournaments prior to Bay 101, including a sixth-place finish in the 2004 Five-Diamond World Poker Classic ($152,468) and a victory in the 2005 $1,500 no-limit hold'em event in Bellagio's Festa Al Lago IV ($147,925). However, with a WPT title under his belt, he can now stand tall beside his cousin Tuan as a WPT champion.
