Photo Recap: Day 1b of WPT Bay 101

By BJ Nemeth

Over two starting days, the total field is 415 players, generating a prizepool of $3,942,500. The top 45 will get paid, with $1,039,000 for first place. There are 170 players remaining at the start of Day 2, including 19 Shooting Star bounties worth $5,000 and an autographed t-shirt to whoever busts them.

Levels are longer today (90 minutes), now that the stakes have increased and the field approaches the money bubble. When the field reaches 36, they will switch to six-handed tables, and play short-handed the rest of the way. Action will continue until the field reaches the final 24 players, though TD Matt Savage reserves the right to stop play if it goes deep into the night.

And now, a photographic look back at Day 1b of the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star:

There were 25 players designated as “Shooting Stars” for Day 1a, and they posed for a group photo during the first break of the day.

Names marked with an asterisk (*) are not Shooting Stars. Seated, from left to right: Nam Le, Chau Giang, Todd Brunson, Jennifer Harman, Kathy Liebert, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Laak, Jennifer Tilly, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Dan Cates. Standing, from left to right: Mike Sexton, Marko Trapani Jr.*, Chris Trapani*, Howard Lederer, Allen Cunningham, Chris Ferguson, McLean Karr, David Williams, Vanessa Selbst, Michael Mizrachi, Eric Baldwin, Faraz Jaka, Erick Lindgren, Barry Greenstein, Miami John Cernuto, Scotty Nguyen, J.C. Tran, WPT Anchor Kimberly Lansing*, and Tournament Director Matt Savage*.

Bluff Magazine recently polled a select group of people in the poker industry to come up with their annual list of the most powerful people in poker — the Bluff Power 20. Topping the list? Howard Lederer, who is also a Shooting Star on Day 1b.

Special decks of cards were made that included all 44 of the Shooting Stars along with a few VIPs. Kathy Liebert, who found herself on the [7d], wanted to know who selected which players were printed on which cards. Someone told her it was random, but Liebert said the fact that top players were chosen as aces proves there was no coincidence. “Phil Ivey is the ace of spades. Okay, that’s fine. But the rest are all wrong.” Another ace, Michael Mizrachi (who himself was the [Ac], holds up Ivey’s card as he reads the bio printed on it.

Steve Burkholder (left) photo bombs Shooting Star J.C. Tran early on Day 1b, illustrating the fun atmosphere that distinguishes the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star from most other tournaments.

Shooting Star Jennifer Tilly is the only player in the field who is truly a star whether she’s at a poker table or not. An Academy Award-nominated actress with an impressive resume of film and TV credits, Tilly has become a legitimate poker player, often saying she prefers the green felt of a poker table to the red carpets of Hollywood.

Shooting Star Andy Frankenberger, who already has a WPT victory and two WPT final tables under his belt this year, leads the WPT Player of the Year race.

Nobody was surprised that Phil Ivey was the last player to show up, and the “I Busted Phil Ivey” t-shirt was placed at the featured table to let everyone know where he would eventually be seated. There were several other notables at this table, including (from left to right) Adam Levy, WPT L.A. Poker Classic champion Gregory Brooks, and Shane Schleger.

A large crowd gathers behind TD Matt Savage (standing, center) as he announces the elimination hand for Shooting Star Antonio Esfandiari. Fellow Shooting Stars McLean Karr (who won this event last year) and Jennifer Tilly are among those waiting to see Esfandiari’s fate.

Shooting Star Jennifer Harman is one of the few women regularly listed among the best players in the world, having reached great success in both tournaments and high-stakes cash games.

Shooting Star Allen Cunningham (right) is nearly untiltable, always keeping his emotions in check at the poker table. But he jokingly expresses his rage after being eliminated by Justin Young.

Shooting Star Phil Laak signs the back of his bounty t-shirt for Peter Tran, the player who eliminated him. Laak wrote: “Young man, Young man, Why you take me out? Huh? Why you hurt me like that??!?”

Shooting Star Jennifer Tilly (left) was eliminated shortly after her boyfriend Phil Laak was eliminated on the other side of the tournament room. Tilly was eliminated by David “Doc” Sands, who received a $5,000 cash bounty and the “I Busted Jennifer Tilly” t-shirt. Though Sands said the sweetest prize may have been the fact that he got his photo taken with Tilly.

Right before the last break of the day, Roger Teska won the biggest pot of the tournament so far, worth 234,000. After a flop of [Jd3s2d], Teska got it all in against Tyson Marks and Ty Reiman — Teska had the best of it with a set of deuces against the flush draws of Marks and Reiman, and it held up.

Shooting Star Chris Ferguson poses for a photo with a fan during one of the breaks on Day 1b.

Shooting Star Todd Brunson (left) poses for a photo with Jordan Young, the player who eliminated him. We’ll let you read for yourself the message that Brunson wrote on the “I Busted Todd Brunson” t-shirt.

After he had aces cracked by deuces to cripple his stack, Phil Ivey (seated, left) moves all in a few hands later, quickly attracting a crowd to the table.

Shooting STar Barry Greenstein (center) signs his bounty t-shirt after he was eliminated by Steven Kelly (foreground, right). Kelly and Shooting Star Jennifer Harman (foreground, right) read what Greenstein wrote in his personal bounty, a copy of his book, “Ace on the River.”

Shooting Star Erick Lindgren (center) poses with Chris Trapani (left) and Marko Trapani Jr. after Chris eliminated him with pocket kings over pocket kings. When he signed the shirt, Lindgren wrote, “I think Marko saw that one,” referring to their father Marko Trapani, who died last year.

WPT Anchor Kimberly Lansing awards the RISE Player of the Day to chipleader Chris Trapani, who finished with 197,900. Trapani explains that his late father, Marko, who created this Shooting Star tournament back in 1997, had an office with a window that overlooked the room, and he would often keep an eye on the poker action.

Day 2 begins Wednesday at 10:00 am PT. Return to WorldPokerTour.com for continuing live coverage, including hand updates, frequent chip counts, video interviews with Kimberly Lansing, and another episode of The Jess & BJ Show.