WPT Brought Bay 101 Shooting Star Back to San Jose
The stop marked its first back-to-back year on tour after an eight-year absence, with a $5,300 championship and $2,500 Shooting Star bounties.
The World Poker Tour brought the Bay 101 Shooting Star festival back to Bay 101 Casino in San Jose, California, running from Oct. 16 through Nov. 1. The $5,300 championship was slated for Oct. 23-27.
According to PokerTube, the main event kept the Shooting Star bounty format, with select players at each starting table carrying $2,500 bounties. WPT staff picked those players before the tournament, usually leaning toward well-known names or players with some personality, and knocking out a Shooting Star paid the bounty on top of the prize pool. The final six players advanced to a televised final table, and the winner received the Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup.
WPT CEO Adam Pliska said, “Few tournaments carry the tradition and prestige of the Bay 101 Shooting Star Championship.” The tour also said it was producing its 24th televised season and broadcasting in more than 150 countries and territories. PokerTube added that WPT had awarded more than $1.5 billion in prize money since its 2002 launch, with tournaments in 48 countries and more than 400,000 total entries.
The stop had been off the WPT schedule for eight years before returning last season, and this was the first time it had come back in consecutive years. Last season’s field included Chance Kornuth, who ran deep and finished sixth, while Kharlin Sued eliminated him on the way to a career-best $480,700 first prize.
Bay 101 has been part of the tour since Season II. WPT’s history page said the Bay 101 Shooting Star Main Event opened as a $5,200 buy-in in Season II, rose to $10,250 in Season III, then sat at $10,000 through Season XI before settling at $7,500, a level the tour said worked well with the satellite structure.
The event has also produced several big fields and big paydays. In Season II, it drew 243 entries and built a $1.24 million prize pool, with Phil Gordon beating Chris Moneymaker heads-up for $360,000. Season IV drew 518 entrants and more than $4.7 million in prize money, with Nam Le winning $1.2 million, while Season XI set a record with 643 entries and a $1.138 million first prize. Season XIV reached 753 entries, more than $5.3 million in prize money, and a $1.298 million winner’s score.
Heading into Season XV, the WPT history page said the tournament had awarded more than $52 million in prize money and had given out at least a $1 million first-place prize 10 times in 13 previous WPT appearances.
PokerNews also listed a slate of Shooting Stars for the event that included Lily Kiletto, Xuan Liu, Kenna James, Erick Lindgren, Chance Kornuth, Nikki Limo, Greg “FBT” Mueller, Adam Hendrix, Matt Salsberg, David “ODB” Baker, Jeff Platt and Jesse Yaginuma.
