WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star, Day 1A Recap

By BJ Nemeth

In the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star tournament, every table is guaranteed to have at least one notable player who has been named as a "Shooting Star." Any player who eliminates a Shooting Star will receive a $5,000 bounty, along with an autographed bounty t-shirt.

The Shooting Stars for Day 1A are (front row, left to right): Mike Matusow, Gavin Smith, Kathy Liebert, Will Failla, Sam Stein, Jonathan Duhamel, Liv Boeree, Maria Ho, Joe Hachem, Daniel Negreanu, (back row, left to right): Christian Harder, Joe Tehan, Erik Seidel, Andy Frankenberger, Vanessa Selbst, Phil Hellmuth, Dwyte Pilgrim, Faraz Jaka, and Tournament Director Matt Savage.

Every player who eliminates a Shooting Star receives a customized bounty t-shirt with that Shooting Star’s picture on it. It’s tradition for the Shooting Star to sign the t-shirt after their elimination.

WPT Commentator Vince Van Patten (center) prepares to do the "Shuffle Up and Deal," flanked by WPT Anchor Marianela Pereyra (filling in for a pregnant-and-due-any-day-now Kimberly Lansing), WPT Raw Deal Host Tony Dunst, and Royal Flush Girls Ivy Teves, Tugba Ercan, Angelique Velez, and Jeannie Duffy.

Shooting Star Mike Matusow (left) pumps his fist in the air after doubling up with [JdJs] against his opponent’s [10h10s].

On a board of [Js9s8sQhQs], Shooting Star Vanessa Selbst folded the [QdJh] — top full house. Why would she do that? Fellow Shooting Star Daniel Negreanu thinks she made the right play, because before she showed her cards, Negreanu said (out of earshot), "If I’ve ever been more sure of something, it is that she has four queens and he has a straight flush."

Selbst’s opponent never showed his cards, but he took the pot.

Shooting Star Phil Hellmuth (standing, right) arrived late, as he traditionally does, and chatted with fellow Shooting Star Erik Seidel (standing, center) before he took his seat.

During one of the breaks, Royal Flush Girl Ivy Teves interviews Shooting Star Daniel Negreanu.

Shooting Star Dwyte Pilgrim (right) flopped a set of fours against the set of kings of Dzung Nguyen (left), and they got it all in on the river when both players made full houses. That’s how Pilgrim became the first Shooting Star to be eliminated.

Shooting Star Phil Hellmuth (second from left) explains how he doubled up with pocket aces to fellow Shooting Star Daniel Negreanu (center, standing).

Tournament Director Matt Savage reverses roles with WPT reporter Jessica Welman, and interviews her during one of the breaks.

After doubling up his short stack, Shooting Star Will Failla (left) asks the crowd why they didn’t applaud for him. Perhaps it wasn’t dramatic enough for the crowd, because Failla was all in after the flop with top pair and the nut flush draw against a lower flush draw.

Shooting Star Joe Hachem (right) smiles as he wins with a flush to triple up against fellow Shooting Star Christian Harder (left) and Randal Flowers (not pictured).

Shannon Shorr (pictured) eliminated two short stacks in one hand, including Shooting Star Andy Frankenberger. Shorr took the pot with [7s5h], all in preflop against Frankenberger’s [9d9s] and the other player’s [AcKs] — Shorr flopped trip fives.

This pot moved Shorr into the chip lead, and he would continue to contend for the top of the leaderboard for the rest of the day.

Shooting Star Phil Hellmuth (center) signs the bounty t-shirt after he was eliminated by Mark Violetti (right). Hellmuth was short-stacked and all in preflop with [AhJd], and never improved against Violetti’s [AdKd].

Shooting Star Daniel Negreanu (standing, left) sweats the board as fellow Shooting Star Maria Ho (left) was all in against Jonathan Little (center). Ho was ahead preflop with [10h10s] to Little’s [Js10c], but a jack on the flop ended her day.

After eliminating Maria Ho, Jonathan Little received $5,000, an autographed Shooting Star bounty t-shirt, and a hug.

After a flop of [Qd9c7d], Shooting Star Daniel Negreanu (right) was all in with [AcQc] (top pair) against the [7c7h] (set of sevens) of Leland Neal (center). Negreanu never improved, and he was eliminated.

Shooting Star Liv Boeree (right) poses with the player who eliminated her, Paul McCaffrey. Boeree went out on a bad beat, all in preflop with [QcQd] against McCaffrey’s [6c6d] — McCaffrey flopped a set of sixes.

Shooting Star Will Failla poses with the t-shirt he autographed for Neil Blumenfield. Failla wrote, "U OWN MY FAT ASS! The Thrill!"

ClubWPT.com qualifier John Davies (right) had a successful start to the tournament, surviving to Day 2 and picking up a $5,000 bounty along the way by eliminating Shooting Star Joe Tehan (left).

In the last level of the day, Mark Violetti (foreground, right) tried to become the first player to collect two bounties. He eliminated Phil Hellmuth earlier, and then had Vanessa Selbst (center) all in preflop. But Selbst had aces to Violetti’s pocket kings, and the best hand won to give Selbst the double up.

Selbst finished the day with 125,400, the highest chip count among the surviving Shooting Stars.

Shooting Star Erik Seidel (right) was all in preflop with [Ad9s], but failed to improve against the [7c7h] of Bryce Yockey (center). Yockey collected the bounty on Seidel, and moved closer to the top of the the leaderboard in the final half hour of the day.

In the final minutes of the day, Shooting Star Faraz Jaka (left) was eliminated by Brandon Wong. Jaka seems somewhat resentful.

At the end of the day, Tournament Director Matt Savage (right) verifies the counts of the chipleaders before awarding the $10,000 end-of-day-chipleader bonus.

After confirming the count, Savage announces to the crowd that the chipleader is Bryce Yockey (left), with 245,300. After eliminating Seidel, Yockey won a big pot with quad sixes to become the only player to cross the 200,000 mark.

Day 1A came to an end after ten levels with about 54 players remaining from a starting field of 142. Here is an unofficial look at the top of the leaderboard:

1.  Bryce Yockey  –  245,300
2.  Brandon Wong  –  195,600
3.  Amir Khaziri  –  187,700
4.  Shannon Shorr  –  183,400
5.  David Peters  –  142,100

Day 1B begins Tuesday at 10:45 am PT, when a fresh batch of players will try to collect bounties on a fresh batch of Shooting Stars. Return to WPT.com for continuing live coverage throughout the day.