With two stages of play completed, 46 bounties claimed, and one money bubble popped, the remaining field for the 2007
Bay 101 Shooting Star entered day three 30 eliminations away from the final table, and a shot at the tournament's $1.1 million first-place prize.
The six-table short-handed play began at noon PDT with $2,000-$4,000 blinds and $500 antes. Twelve minutes later, chip leader Jeff Madsen provided the day's first casualty after his K-9 paired a king to top Rob Teppo's A-2 (35th place - $20,000).
A succession of eliminations soon followed, as Jeff Lipton (35th - $20,000), Ruben Valentine (34th - $20,000), David Ong (33rd - $20,000), Clint Baskin (32nd - $20,000), Lee Markholt (31st - $20,000), George Saca (30th - 30,000), Mark Micklich (28th - $30,000), and Chiwai Ng (26th - $30,000) headed to the rail in the opening hour.
The first 60 minutes of play also featured a pair of notable bustouts for Joe Sebok. Second on the leader board coming into action, Sebok added over $900,000 to his stack in an elimination hand against Joe Pelton. On a Q
J
4
flop, Sebok moved all in and Pelton, holding pocket kings, called. Sebok showed the Q
J
, and made Pelton the 29th place finisher ($30,000) with a jacks full of queens boat (J
turn).
After fortifying his stack, Sebok fortified his bankroll by busting Erik Seidel, (27th - $30,000), and collecting the $5,000 "Shooting Star" bounty, when his A-10 held against Seidel's K-10.
Two of the top pros from the Great North (aka Canada) exited in consecutive eliminations.
For Kyle Wilson, demise came in the form of a reluctant all-in call. The action started when Wilson reraised on a 6
5
2
flop. His opponent, Amir Shayesteh called, then moved all in on the Q
turn. Wilson mumbled, "Why did you have to do that?," before calling all in. Behind with the A
8
against pocket fours, Wilson finished in 18th place ($55,000) when the 6
river failed to improve his hand.
Following a break, Nenad Medic, Wilson's fellow countryman, joined him at the rail. Medic finished in 17th place ($55,000) after his all-in move with pocket treys collided with J.J. Liu's pocket queens.
While the Medic bust shortened the field, Liu's next elimination netted her $5,000. A "Shooting Star" herself, Liu sent fellow bounty David Williams home as the 12th-place finisher ($70,000), courtesy of pocket eights holding up against pocket fives.
Ten minutes before the dinner break, Sebok denied Danny Smith his second-consecutive
Bay 101 Shooting Star final table appearance. Last year's third-place finisher, Smith fell in 10th place ($70,000) after Sebok (A
Q
) spiked an ace to crack Smith's pocket kings.
At one point in control of over 25 percent of the chips in play, Sebok and Madsen each slid down the leader board in post-dinner break action.
Madsen dropped below the $800,000 mark in a big loss against a Liu full house, and, at 8:11 p.m., the two-time
World Series of Poker bracelet winner moved all in with A
10
and Shayesteh, holding A
6
, called. Madsen appeared to be in good shape to double up, but a three-club board gave Shayesteh the flush. The chip leader coming into play, Madsen exited the 2007
BSS in eighth place ($100,000).
With the elimination of Madsen, seven players consolidated to the 2007
Bay 101 Shooting Star's final table.
Seating and chip counts were as follows:
1. Amir Shayesteh - $2,192,000 (seat No. 5)
2. Ted Forrest - $1,967,000 (seat No. 1)
3. Vincent Shaw - $1,571,000 (seat No. 4)
4. James Van Alstyne - $1,085,000 (seat No. 2)
5. J.J. Liu - $1,009,000 (seat No. 3)
6. Bill Edler - $641,000 (seat No. 7)
7. Joe Sebok - $480,000 (seat No. 6)
While Madsen's decline included a number of hits delivered by various opponents, Sebok suffered the majority of his losses in hands against Ted Forrest. Following a double-through, Forrest, showing Q-2 on a queen-high board, netted over $240,000 after Sebok mucked to his opponent's top pair.
Ten minutes into final table play, Sebok's slide, and day three of the 2007
BSS, came to an end. On a K
Q
3
flop, Sebok reraised all in over the top of a Shayesteh bet. Shayesteh called, and took the lead with the K
Q
against Sebok's K
9
. The A
turn and J
river brought no help, and Sebok busted on the
WPT television bubble in seventh place ($130,000).
The chip counts for the remaining six players are as follows:
1. Amir Shayesteh - $2,731,000
2. Ted Forrest - $2,006,000
3. Vince Shaw - $1,518,000
4. James Van Alstyne - $1,139,000
5. J.J. Liu - $966,000
6. Bill Elder - $638,000
The 2007
Bay 101 Shooting Star's final table begins at 5 p.m. PDT on Friday and will conclude with the crowning of a new
WPT champion.
Stay tuned to
CardPlayer.com for live updates, chip counts, photos, videos, and daily recaps.
