"Star light, star bright, if I bust you, I receive five grand tonight."
The above "Mother-Goose-As-Poker-Player" nursery rhyme basically sums up the 2007 Bay 101 Shooting Star championship: bust one of the tournament's designated "Shooting Star" players, and collect a $5,000 bounty; no "I wish I may, I wish I might" required.
In mid-March, a total of 449 players, including 50 Shooting Stars, participated in the
World Poker Tour's lone Northern California stop. While the $5,000 bounties provided excitement, the true wish-fulfillment for the poker-hungry San Jose fans came at the final table, which featured a marathon heads-up match, and the setting of two new
WPT records.
Who says wishes don't come true?
Day One (A and B) - Starry Nights (And Days)
No two poker tournaments are exactly alike: Music and geysers blast at the Bellagio events, the Borgata Babes make frequent appearances at both Borgata Opens, and Niagara Falls rushes only minutes away from the
North American Poker Championship.
At the 2007 Bay 101
Shooting Star, the two characteristics wholly unique to this tournament awaited the day one-A (209) and day one-B (240) fields - hordes of opportunistic autograph hounds, and boxes of white "I Busted [Insert Name of Shooting Star]" T-shirts.
Tournament officials split the field of "marked" players evenly between day one-A and day one-B, and each of the flights' 25 tables started with one Shooting Star bounty (located in the No. 5 seat).
While John Hennigan's elimination during level two (day one-A) popped the $5,000 prize/commemorative T-shirt bubble, and Liz Lieu became the first bounty to earn a bounty, the highlight of the first flights (other than Phil Hellmuth walking out before the flop of his bust-out hand) occurred late on day one-B when, following a table break, Gus Hansen, "Miami" John Cernuto, Amir Vahedi, Jen Harman, and Chip Reese set the Bay 101 record for most Shooting Stars seated at the same table.
Along with the $5,000 bounties, Bay 101 also upped the side action by awarding $10,000 to both the day one-A and day one-B chip leader. David Williams (A) and Clint Baskin (B) each earned the $10,000 prize.
Day Two - Star Wars: The Young Guns Strike Back
Out of 50 Shooting Stars, only 14 survived the first flights. The dearth of available $5,000 bounties meant that for the returning field of 139, day two was all about the tournament's other "b" word - the bubble.
Continuing his debut as a Shooting Star, Jeff Madsen made the transition from $5,000 bounty to legitimate threat. Passing David Williams on the leader board, Madsen became the first player to cross the $500,000 mark. The two-time
World Series of Poker bracelet winner scored several notable victories, including a bust-out of the 2006 Bay 101
Shooting Star champ, Nam Le.
While Madsen cruised to the chip lead, Joe Sebok endured a volatile ride. In three hands against Robert Williamson III, Sebok suffered a crippling loss to quad fives, received a 10-minute penalty for accidentally exposing his holecards (pocket aces), and rivered a flush to avoid elimination and cripple Williamson.
Half an hour after the dinner break, 46 players remained in contention, and the action, on the tournament money bubble, switched to hand-for-hand.
While players often tighten up right outside the money, Ed Pellegrini's play attracted attention from both fellow participants and fans. In an effort to cash, Pellegrini folded pocket aces preflop twice, playing the hand (and winning) only after being dealt rockets for the third time.
At 9 p.m., David Daneshgar's "inability" to fold pocket queens preflop led to his 46th-place elimination, and the money bubble for the 2007 Bay 101
Shooting Star burst.
Ten bust-outs later (the final two provided by Bill Edler), play concluded. Madsen and Sebok ended day two first and second, respectively, on the Bay 101 leader board.
Day Three - And Then There Was One … Shooting Star
While the $5,000 bounties added a twist to the opening rounds, by day three, the focus of the players, and the fans, centered on the $1.1 million first-place cash prize.
The shorthanded, six-table play (another unique Bay 101 feature) opened with a series of eliminations as 10 players dropped out in the first hour.
Sebok notched two of the more notable bust-outs. He added $900,000 to his stack after he flopped two pair to crack Joe Pelton's pocket kings (29th - $30,000), then added $5,000 to his wallet with his A-10 over K-10 win against Shooting Star Erik Seidel (27th - $30,000).
Making appearances at last year's Bay 101 final table, David Williams and Danny Smith both busted out on day three. A short-stacked Williams (fourth place in 2006) exited in 12th place ($70,000) when his pocket fives collided with fellow Shooting Star J.J. Liu's pocket eights. Following the elimination of Ed Pellegrini (11th - $70,000), and a crippling loss to Ted Forrest, Smith (third in 2006) fell in 10th place ($70,000) after Sebok (A
Q
) rivered an ace to crack Smith's pocket kings.
Minutes after racking up more than $240,000 from Sebok (who mucked to top pair), Forrest used a flopped set of nines to make Frank Selldorf (K
K
) the ninth-place finisher ($70,000).
As a crowd of fans packed around the remaining field, local favorites Liu and Amir Shayesteh delivered the hits to eliminate Madsen. Liu dropped Madsen below the $800,000 mark with a turned full house, then Shayesteh (A
6♣) caught a three-club board to bust the 21-year-old pro (A
10
).
Madsen's elimination left Liu as the last remaining Shooting Star.
At 8:24 p.m., with the seven remaining players consolidated to the final table, Shayesteh called an all-in move by Sebok on a K
Q
3
flop. Sebok's K
9♦ gave him top pair, but Shayesteh ended day three when he showed the K
Q
.
At one point in control of more than 25 percent of the chips in play, Madsen and Sebok finished in eighth place ($100,000) and seventh place ($130,000), respectively.
Final Table
On March 16, only two televisions in the Bay 101 casino broadcasted the opening-round games of the NCAA's "Big Dance." The rest of the flat-screens, the ones with row after row of fans crowded around them, played the final-table action of the 2007 Bay 101
Shooting Star.
Sorry, "March Madness."
The chip counts and seating were as follows:
1. Amir Shayesteh - $2,731,000 (seat No. 5)
2. Ted Forrest - $2,006,000 (seat No. 1)
3. Vince Shaw - $1,518,000 (seat No. 4)
4. James Van Alstyne - $1,139,000 (seat No. 2)
5. J.J. Liu - $966,000 (seat No. 3)
6. Bill Edler - $638,000 (seat No. 6)
Bill Edler Takes Sixth Place
Making three consecutive
WPT cashes might be a major accomplishment for some players, but not Bill Edler. The 13th-place finisher at the Borgata
Winter Poker Open, and the seventh-place finisher at the
L.A. Poker Classic, Edler entered the Bay 101 final table focused on one goal - a
WPT crown.
"The only reason I play tournament poker is to compete, and win a title," Edler admitted.
After battling for an hour on the short stack, however, Edler's Bay 101 run came to an end. In a five-player pot, Shayesteh bet $50,000 on a Q
10
6
flop, and received calls from both Edler and Liu. When the turn brought the 8
, Shayesteh bet $100,000 and Edler pushed for his last $425,000. Following Liu's fold, Edler showed the A
Q
, only to have Shayesteh turn over the Q
10
. The two pair held up, making Edler the sixth-place finisher ($160,000).
Vince Shaw Places Fifth
One of three local players at the final table, Vince Shaw saw his stack dwindle in the 70 hands following Edler's elimination. The steady decline ended when Shaw used his last $144,000 to push all in on a J
8
6
9
board. In a battle of NorCal fan favorites, Shayesteh called, and had the lead with the J
4
against Shaw's K
9
. The 10
river gave Shayesteh his second consecutive elimination, and Shaw, an amateur player making his first
WPT final table, exited in fifth place ($200,000).
James Van Alstyne: Fourth at Bay 101, First in Player of the Year Race
Spending the majority of play near the middle of the leader board, James Van Alstyne's final two significant hands came against Ted Forrest. First, Van Alsytne doubled through Forrest courtesy of a flopped set of sevens. In the second battle, however, Forrest eliminated a short-stacked Van Alstyne when his paired king bested the two-time
WPT final-table finisher's pocket tens.
The fourth-place performance ($250,000) moved Van Alstyne into first place on the 2007
Card Player Player of the Year leader board.
Amir Shayesteh Finishes Third
The lone amateur remaining in the field, Shayesteh soon fell behind his more experienced opponents. Liu delivered a crippling blow ($500,000) when her $600,000 bet on a Q
5
3
10
4
board elicited a fold from the former chip leader.
Five hands later, and down to $425,000, Shayesteh moved all in preflop, and Forrest called. Shayesteh's lead with the K
K
lasted until the flop, when Forrest's A
8
paired an ace. With no help coming on the final two cards, Shayesteh finished in third place ($314,000).
Heads Up - Ted Forrest vs. J.J. Liu
Following the customary money presentation, the final two participants squared off for the $1.1 million first-place prize, and
WPT title.
The chip counts were as follows:
1. J.J. Liu - $5,305,000
2. Ted Forrest - $3,695,000
Mirroring recent pro-vs.-pro finales, Forrest and Liu attacked each other's stacks in small- to medium-sized pots, many of which never moved beyond the flop. At 1:54 a.m., with the gap closed to within $1 million, Forrest scored the first major victory.
Liu started the action with a $480,000 bet. Following a checked A
K
7
flop, Forrest bet $300,000 on the 10
turn. Liu stayed in the hand, then called when Forrest pushed all in on the 2
river. The players showed down, and Forrest scored a nut-flush-over-nut-straight win with his K
5
against Liu's Q-J.
Shortly after that pot, which bumped Forrest to $8,200,000 and dropped Liu to $800,000, Tournament Director Matt Savage announced that the 2007 Bay 101
Shooting Star championship had set the record for most hands played at a
WPT final table.
Liu battled back to the $3 million mark, but at 2:10 a.m., the 2007 Bay 101
Shooting Star came to an end.
On the 263rd hand of play, Forrest moved all in and Liu called. His 7
7
put Forrest ahead of Liu's A
8
, and the pocket pair turned into a full house on the Q
5
4
4
7
board.
The runner-up finish, a
WPT record for a female player, netted Liu $600,000.
"I have a lot of respect for J.J. Liu. She was in physical pain and played really tough," Forrest said of his heads-up opponent.
Forrest, making his fourth
World Poker Tour televised final table (fifth place -
WPT Championship, fourth place - 2005
L.A. Poker Classic, and second place - 2005
Mirage Poker Showdown), earned his first
WPT championship title, Liu's $5,000 Shooting Star bounty, and a $1,125,000 prize cash prize.
"Well, I don't really care too much about money," Forrest smiled, "so I guess the title means more to me."
