On March 16, during the opening rounds of the NCAA's "Big Dance," only two televisions in the Bay 101 Casino broadcasted basketball games. The rest of the flat-screens, the ones with row after row of fans crowded around, played the final table of the 2007
Bay 101 Shooting Star's main event.
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)
In front of a packed studio audience, play began at 5:20 p.m. PDT with $5,000-$10,000 blinds and $1,000 antes.
Despite being guaranteed his third consecutive
WPT cash (13th place in the
Borgata Winter Poker Open and seventh in the
L.A. Poker Classic), Bill Edler expressed dissatisfaction with his recent performances.
"The only reason I play tournament poker is to compete, and win a title," Edler told
Card Player prior to the
Bay 101 final table.
Coming into play as the short stack, Elder battled for over an hour, but eventually fell short in his bid for a
WPT crown.
In a five-player limped pot, Amir Shayesteh bet $50,000 on a Q
10
6
flop, and received calls from both Edler and J.J. Liu. When the turn brought the 8
, Shayesteh bet $100,000 and Elder pushed all in for his last $425,000. Following Liu's fold, Edler showed A
Q
only to have Shayesteh turn over the Q
10
. The two pair held, and Elder exited as the
Bay 101 Shooting Star''s sixth-place finisher ($160,000).
One of three local players participating at the final table (along with Shayesteh and Liu), 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 over the top of a Ted Forrest raise on a J
8
6
9
board. While Forrest folded, Shayesteh called, and took the lead with J
4
against Shaw's K
9
. The 10
river gave Shayesteh his second consecutive elimination, and sent Shaw to the rail with a fifth-place finish ($200,000).
After spending the majority of the final table near the bottom of the field, James Van Alstyne doubled through Forrest courtesy of a flopped set of sevens. Despite the win, Van Alstyne remained unable to drag any more significant pots.
On the 124th hand of play, the tournament veteran pushed all in for his last $425,000, and Shayesteh and Forrest both called. Forrest bet $250,000 on the K
Q
4
flop, then pushed Shayesteh off the hand with a $500,000 bet on the J
turn. Van Alstyne turned over pocket tens, but finished in fourth place ($250,000) when Forrest's A-K top pair held on the 7
river.
Even without a
Bay 101 title win, Van Alstyne's finish still moved him into first place on the 2007
Card Player Player of the Year leader board.
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 led with 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 play in third place ($314,000).
Following the customary money presentation, the final two participants squared off for the $1.1 million dollar first-place prize, and
WPT title.
The chip counts going into heads up play were as follows:
1. J.J. Liu - $5,305,000
2. Ted Forrest - $3,695,000
Mirroring recent pro-vs.-pro finals (Daniel Negreanu/Mike Sexton, Chip Reese/Andy Bloch), 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., and 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 the pot, which bumped Forrest up to $8,200,000 and dropped Liu to $800,000, tournament director Matt Savage announced that the 2007
Bay 101 Shooting Star event had just set the record for most hands played at a
WPT final table.
Liu, four months pregnant and in clear discomfort playing under the lights of the televised stage, battled back to $3 million, 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 held on the Q
5
4
4
7
board.
The second-place 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 about his heads-up opponent.
Forrest, making his fourth
World Poker Tour televised final table (fifth place in the 2003
WPT Championship, fourth place in the 2005
L.A. Poker Classic, and second place in the 2005
Mirage Poker Showdown), earned his first event title, a $1,125,000 prize cash prize, and a $25,000 entry into the
World Poker Tour Championship.
"Well, I don't really care too much about money," Forrest smiled, "so I guess the title means more to me."
