WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star Day 1a: 12 of 29 Bounties Survive; Medici Leads

March 11, 2014

Chad Holloway PR & Media Manager

On Monday, the Season XII World Poker Tour (WPT) Bay 101 Shooting Star kicked off as 312 players entered the Day 1a field. After 10 levels of play, 117 of them remained with Giorgio Medici and his stack of 254,600 leading the way. For finishing with the top stack in the room, Medici was awarded a $10,000 prize.

The first of two starting flights featured 29 Shooting Stars, each with a $2,500 bounty on his or her head. By the end of the night, 17 had hit the rail, meaning just 12 made it through to Day 2 including David Chiu (174,000) and Jason Koon (149,600), and both finished in the top 10.

Place	Player	Count
1	Giorgio Medici	254,600
2	Hai Tran	253,500
3	David Forster	225,200
4	Bryan Campanello	210,000
5	Mukul Pahuja	189,100
6	David Chiu	174,000
7	Isaac Baron	160,600
8	Jason Koon	149,600
9	Chad Eveslage	137,400
10	Allan Le	130,000

According to the WPT Live Blog, the atmosphere was jovial as amateurs had the chance to play with the pros, but before long things turned serious. In Level 3 (75/150/25), Scott Seiver faced a big decision on a flop of K♠2♦2♠ with around 9,000 in the pot. Seiver’s opponent had raised all in and Seiver, who had about 12,000 behind, tanked for a bit before calling off with the J♣J♥. Unfortunately for him, his opponent held the A♠K♣. Neither the 10♣ turn nor 5♥ river helped Seiver, and he was among the first eliminations.

WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star Day 1a: 12 of 29 Bounties Survive; Medici Leads 101 — Paul Volpe

In Level 5 (150/300/50), Kunal Patel opened for 1,000 from early position and Mike McClain called from the cutoff. Paul Volpe then three-bet all in for 5,500 from the button, Medici called from the big blind, and Patel came along. McClain then isolated with a four-bet to 50,000 and drove the other two players out of the hand.

McClain: Q♣Q♦
Volpe: A♣10♦

Volpe was in need of some help, and he found some when the A♥A♦6♦ flop gave him trips. The J♣ turn meant McClain needed a queen on the river to collect the $2,500 bounty, and that’s exactly what he found when the Q♥ peeled off.

Others to fall on Day 1a were Mike Matusow, Micah Raskin, Mike Sexton, Matt Marafioti, Matt Affleck, Shannon Shorr, Tony Dunst, Scotty Nguyen, Noah Schwartz, Phil Laak, Daniel Negreanu, John Juanda, Erik Seidel, and Phil Hellmuth.

WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star Day 1a: 12 of 29 Bounties Survive; Medici Leads 102 — Phil Hellmuth

Hellmuth fell in Level 7 (250/500/75) when he got his stack all in from the button holding the 6♣6♠. The 13-time World Series of Poker gold bracelet winner was in dire straits against the K♦K♥ of an unknown opponent. The 9♣5♣2♥ flop wasn’t much help to Hellmuth, but the 7♣ turn was as it gave him a gutshot straight draw and a flush draw. Unfortunately for the “Poker Brat,” the J♥ blanked on the river and he was eliminated from the tournament, though he will no doubt reenter on Day 1b.

Likewise, Sexton will no doubt be back after meeting his demise in Level 8 (300/600/75). It happened when he got his last 18,000 all in from the cutoff with the A♠J♥ only to run into the A♣Q♥ of Koon. The board ran out 9♥8♣5♠10♣A♦ and Sexton autographed the traditional t-shirt before heading for the exit.

While many fell, a long list of notables advanced to Day 2 including Dominik Nitsche (128,000), Darren Elias (122,700), Matt Salsberg (109,200), Jonathan Duhamel (106,700), Shawn Buchanan (104,000), Marvin Rettenmaier (103,400), Antonio Esfandiari (85,000), Sorel Mizzi (59,700), and Faraz Jaka (59,200).