Paul Volpe Makes 2013 Bay 101 Main Event Final For Back-To-Back World Poker Tour Final TablesErik Seidel, Joe Kuether Join Volpe At Stacked Final Table |
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Just over a week after finishing runner-up in the World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic main event, Paul Volpe has made yet another WPT final table. The current sixth-ranked Card Player Player of the Year contender will enter the final day of the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star main event as the chip leader with 5,525,000 in chips. Joining Volpe at the televised final table are Poker Hall of Famer Erik Seidel, rising tournament star Joe Kuether and WeiKai Chang.
Seidel, who currently sits in fourth place on the all-time tournament earnings list, is guaranteed to overtake Phil Hellmuth for third place as a result of making this final table.
Also of note is that Paul Klann, who defeated Volpe heads up last week to win the LAPC, fell just short of also making back-to-back final tables, finishing 11th for $48,890.
A total of 643 entries were made in this year’s event, the largest in the event’s history. As a result, the final prize pool grew to $4,597,450 with a first-place prize of $1,138,350 going to the eventual champion. There should be plenty of interesting hands that arise at this final table, with plenty of top tournament talent and an average stack size of roughly 106 big blinds.
Here is a look at the chip counts and big blinds heading into the final table:
| Rank | Player | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
| 1 | Paul Volpe | 5,525,000 | 184 |
| 2 | Erik Seidel | 3,435,000 | 114 |
| 3 | Joe Kuether | 2,830,000 | 94 |
| 4 | Chris Johnson | 2,740,000 | 91 |
| 5 | WeiKai Chang | 2,540,000 | 86 |
| 6 | Joe Nguyen | 2,175,000 | 72 |
The Bay 101 Shooting Star has long been the most unique stop on the World Poker Tour, with a number of singular features. First of all, it is the only WPT main event to have bounties, but it is not in the normal sense of the phrase a “bounty tournament”. Each table starts with at least one “Shooting Star,” a famous professional poker player with a bounty on their head. If someone busts a Shooting Star, they are rewarded with $2,500, an autographed bounty t-shirt and a medal to commemorate their accomplishment. Also unique to this event is the $10,000 bonus paid to the end-of-day chip leaders on the first two starting days.
In addition to this unusual prize pool distribution, the structure is also noteworthy. Play begins with one-hour levels on Day 1 and then increases to 90-minute levels deeper in the tournament. When only 36 players remain, play switches from the standard nine-handed to six-handed, and remains that way for the duration of the event.
With these distinct features, and the enthusiastic crowd of local poker fans that attend, the event is undoubtedly one of the most colorful on the World Poker Tour.
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