Nick Rigby & Chance Kornuth Among Favorites for Major Poker Title in California
Not since 2017 has the historic Bay 101 Shooting Star operated under the World Poker Tour banner, and it also marked the first time the festival has run since 2020. Its long-awaited return has been a hit, drawing 672 entries for the marquee $5,300 Bay 101 Shooting Star Championship.
The series has been underway at Bay 101 Casino in San Jose, California, since October 17 and will conclude on November 2. The Championship event reached its halfway point on Sunday, as Day 2 ended with the bursting of the money bubble. A total of 84 players remain in contention for the $480,700 top prize, which also includes a $10,400 seat to the season-ending WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas.
The tournament featured two starting flights, with 326 entries on Day 1A and another 310 on Day 1B. A further 36 players joined the action at the start of Day 2, bringing the final prize pool to $3,225,600. Of that, $187,500 was set aside for the bounty prize pool, with an additional $10,000 awarded in chip leader bonuses.
Poetra Leads Stacked Lineup
At the top of the chip counts sits Alfie Poetra, who ended Day 2 with 1,502,000 chips (150 big blinds).
The Indonesian player has made a habit of shining on the World Poker Tour stage, with three of his biggest career results coming in WPT events. Poetra finished 10th in December’s WPT Prime Championship for $114,000 before nearly securing his first WPT title a week later, placing third in the $3,000 Progressive Bounty event at the WPT World Championship for $55,328. He followed that up in April with another deep run at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown, bowing out in 12th for $65,000.
Those three results, totalling $234,328, make up a large portion of Poetra’s $752,139 in total live earnings, according to The Hendon Mob.
There are also two other standouts rounding out the top three — Nick Rigby (1,409,000 – 141 big blinds) and Chance Kornuth (1,148,000 – 115 big blinds) — and the pair have some pretty notable history with each other.
During the 2023 World Series of Poker Main Event, Rigby and Kornuth tangled in a massive 200 big blind pot on Day 5, which at the time was the largest of the tournament. Rigby, famous for his trademark “Dirty Diaper” antics, picked up pocket aces and sent the Chip Leader Coaching co-founder to the rail after Kornuth’s ace-king suited couldn’t catch up.
Rigby will be hoping for more of the same this time around, while Kornuth may have revenge on his mind, though the two will start Day 3 on different tables.
WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star Championship Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alfie Poetra | 1,502,000 | 150 |
| 2 | Nick Rigby | 1,409,000 | 141 |
| 3 | Chance Kornuth | 1,148,000 | 115 |
| 4 | Michael Berk | 1,024,000 | 102 |
| 5 | Evan Sandberg | 973,000 | 97 |
| 6 | Juan Ramirez Rivera | 898,000 | 90 |
| 7 | Roman Shainiuk | 880,000 | 88 |
| 8 | Moshe Gavrieli | 870,000 | 87 |
| 9 | Kharlin Sued | 827,000 | 83 |
| 10 | Noah Schwartz | 746,000 | 75 |
Full chip counts available on the WPT website.
Hellmuth Exits Just Before the Money
One notable name missing from the end-of-Day 2 chip counts was Poker Hall of Famer Phil Hellmuth. The 17-time WSOP bracelet winner began the day with what he described as “about an average stack,” but this time he couldn’t summon any of his trademark white magic and hit the rail in Level 14.
Hellmuth, one of 75 Shooting Star bounty players, moved all in for his last 22 big blinds holding pocket eights and was called by Anthony Ajlouny, who tabled ace-jack. An ace-high flop left Hellmuth on the ropes, and the turn and river brought no help, ending his run.
Ajlouny collected the $2,500 bounty and an autographed t-shirt as a memento for knocking out the ‘Poker Brat’.
A few hours later, the bubble burst, putting the field in the money. Xiaoyan Zheng was forced all-in from the big blind for her final T-1,000 chip. High roller Nick Petrangelo raised from early position and folded out the tables for the cards to go on their backs.
Petrangelo had 5♥5♣ and was ahead of A♣4♣. Zheng flopped a flush draw, which needed to hit after Petrangelo turned a set. The river gave the short stack a no-good pair of aces to end Day 2.
Day 3 Resumes on Monday
The WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star Championship picks up on Monday at 12 p.m. PDT, where the plan is to play down to the final three tables. The tournament is then set to play to six on Tuesday, for December's televised WPT Final Table, which will be filmed in Las Vegas.
You can follow the live updates on WPT.com
WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star Championship Payouts
*Includes a $10,400 seat to the season-ending WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas.
Remaining Schedule
While registration has closed for the marquee events like the $5,300 Championship and High Roller, there’s still plenty of action left on the calendar for those looking to get in on the fun.
The remaining open tournaments feature a mix of No-Limit Hold’em and Omaha formats, with buy-ins ranging from $600 to $2,200
| Date | Time | Event | Buy-in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | — |
All imagery courtesy of the World Poker Tour/Spenser Sembrat
