Bay 101 Shooting Star Championship is Days Away from Long-Awaited Return to WPT
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One of the most iconic World Poker Tour (WPT) events in history is less than two weeks away from returning for the first time since COVID.
The $5,300 buy-in WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star Championship at Bay 101 Casino in San Jose, California, will kick off Oct. 24. Additional series events at the popular NorCal card room will start Oct. 17, beginning with the $600 Shooting Star Opener, a no-limit hold'em tournament with two Day 1 starting flights. But the highlight of the series is the event so many WPT grinders have been waiting for since the pre-COVID era.
WPT Back at Bay 101
The Bay 101 Shooting Star Championship is a unique event, in which each starting table will have at least one "Shooting Star," a player designated as a bounty. Knocking out a Shooting Star is worth $2,500, adding some incentive to a tournament that always attracts a large field.
World Poker Tour staff chooses the Shooting Stars before the tournament begins, and they seek out players who are well-known or have some personality.
This year's list of Shooting Stars includes Lily Kiletto, Xuan Liu, Kenna James, poker boom crusher Erick Lindgren, Chip Leader Coaching founder Chance Kornuth, content creator Nikki Limo, old-school grinder Greg "FBT" Mueller, 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event final tablist Adam Hendrix, WPT champions Matt Salsberg and David "ODB" Baker, PokerGO commentator Jeff Platt, the player responsible for the biggest controversy at the 2025 WSOP, Jesse Yaginuma, among others.
The list of bounties features some WPT Champions Club members, WSOP champions, high-stakes crushers, talented content creators, and some of the top pros in the early days of the World Poker Tour.
The WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star Championship was one of the circle-your-calendar major events on the WPT schedule each year before the pandemic. Phil Gordon, a retired poker pro who was a prominent figure on televised poker games in the 2000s, was the first Bay 101 Shooting Star champion in 2004. He won the tournament for $360,000, defeating Chris Moneymaker heads-up just months after Moneymaker famously won the 2003 WSOP Main Event.
Ted Forrest (2007), Brandon Cantu (2008), and Stefan Schillhabel (2016) are among the past champions.
Bay 101 Casino has hosted 15 WPT events, providing many memorable moments, with more to come later this month. This year's tournament runs from Oct. 24 to 28.
WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star Schedule
| Date | Time | Event | Buy-In |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri Oct 17 | 9:15 AM | Shooting Star Opener 1A | $600 |
| Fri Oct 17 | 5:15 PM | Shooting Star Satellite | $600 |
| Sat Oct 18 | 9:15 AM | Shooting Star Opener 1B | $600 |
| Sat Oct 18 | 5:15 PM | Shooting Star Satellite | $600 |
| Sun Oct 19 | 9:15 AM | Pot Limit Omaha | $600 |
| Sun Oct 19 | 11:15 AM | Shooting Star Opener Day 2 | — |
| Sun Oct 19 | 5:15 PM | Shooting Star Satellite | $600 |
| Mon Oct 20 | 9:15 AM | Omaha 8 | $600 |
| Mon Oct 20 | 1:15 PM | Shooting Star Satellite | $600 |
| Mon Oct 20 | 5:15 PM | Shooting Star Satellite | $600 |
| Tue Oct 21 | 9:15 AM | HORSE | $600 |
| Tue Oct 21 | 1:15 PM | Shooting Star Satellite | $600 |
| Tue Oct 21 | 5:15 PM | Shooting Star Satellite | $600 |
| Wed Oct 22 | 9:15 AM | No Limit | $2,200 |
| Wed Oct 22 | 5:15 PM | Shooting Star Satellite | $1,150 |
| Thu Oct 23 | 9:15 AM | No Limit | $1,100 |
| Thu Oct 23 | 11:15 AM | No Limit Day 2 | — |
| Thu Oct 23 | 5:15 PM | Shooting Star Satellite | $1,150 |
| Fri Oct 24 | 10:00 AM | Shooting Star Championship Day 1A | $5,300 |
| Fri Oct 24 | 5:15 PM | Shooting Star Satellite | $1,150 |
| Sat Oct 25 | 10:00 AM | Shooting Star Championship Day 1B | $5,300 |
| Sat Oct 25 | 11:15 AM | Shooting Star Championship Day 2 | — |
| Sun Oct 26 | 1:15 PM | High Roller Satellite | $2,650 |
| Sun Oct 26 | 5:15 PM | High Roller | $15,400 |
| Mon Oct 27 | 9:15 AM | Mystery Board Bounty | — |
| Mon Oct 27 | 11:15 AM | Shooting Star Championship Day 3 | — |
| Mon Oct 27 | 2:30 PM | High Roller Day 2 | — |
| Tue Oct 28 | 9:15 AM | 8 Handed No Limit | $2,200 |
| Tue Oct 28 | 12:00 PM | Shooting Star Championship Day 4 | — |
| Wed Oct 29 | 9:15 AM | Limit Hold’em | $1,100 |
| Wed Oct 29 | 11:15 AM | 8 Handed No Limit Day 2 | — |
| Wed Oct 29 | 1:15 PM | No Limit Lightning Stack | — |
| Thu Oct 30 | 9:15 AM | Pot Limit Omaha | $1,100 |
| Fri Oct 31 | 9:15 AM | Mystery Board Bounty Day 1A | $1,100 |
| Sat Nov 1 | 9:15 AM | Mystery Board Bounty Day 1B | $1,100 |
| Sun Nov 2 | 9:15 AM | Shooting Star Closer NL | $600 |
| Sun Nov 2 | 11:15 AM | Mystery Board Bounty Day 2 | — |
*Photos courtesy WPT
