WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star, Day 3 Recap

By BJ Nemeth

Day 3 began with 20 players, which meant four 6-handed tables. It didn’t take long for the first two bustouts, when the field combined to the final three tables pictured above.

This hand was probably generated the biggest roller coaster of emotions on Day 3. Steven Michaelis (center) was all in preflop with [AsKh], a dominant favorite against the [AdQh] of Moon Kim (right). But Kim flopped a queen to take the lead, and Michaelis was facing probably elimination.

But the turn card was a king, putting Michaelis back out in front, and he stood up and pumped his fists as you can see above. Michaelis was in great shape — until another queen hit the river. Moon Kim won the pot, and Steven Michaelis was the first elimination of the day in 20th place.

If the previous photo represented the most emotional hand of the day, this one may have been the most impactful, at least in the early levels. On a board of [Js9s4c9cJd], WPT Champions Club member Taylor Von Kriegenbergh (left) check-called every street against Erik Cajelais (foreground, right) in a pot that grew to more than 1.2 million in chips.

Cajelais showed [KsJc] to win the pot with a full house, jacks full of nines, and von Kriegenbergh could only flash the [9d] for a smaller full house. This pot propelled Cajelais to the chip lead, and left von Kriegenbergh as the short stack, eliminated in 19th place just a few minutes later.

Shooting Star J.C. Tran (left) moved all in after a flop of [9c6h4c], but even the prospect of a $5,000 bounty couldn’t get a call from Danny Le (right). Le talked to Tran for about a minute, trying to coax some information, but he showed the [Kc] as he forfeited the pot.

Joe Serock (left) moved all in on the river with the board showing [9c9h2h10hKs], and Mike McClain (right) tanked for a couple of minutes before calling. Serock would show [Ac9s] to win the pot and double up.

Shooting Star J.C. Tran (right) was all in preflop with [Ad8h] against the [4c4s] of Mike McClain (left). Tran never improved, and McClain collected the $5,000 bounty and the autographed Shooting Star bounty t-shirt. Tran’s elimination in 16th place left Jonathan Duhamel as the last remaining Shooting Star in the field.

Marko Trapani, Jr. (right) stares down Ubaid Habib (foreground, left) after moving all in preflop. Trapani entered the day with a short stack, and was treading water in dangerous territory for several hours. Habib would eventually fold, giving Trapani a few more chips to work with.

Shooting Star Jonathan Duahmel (center) shakes hands with Ubaid Habib after being eliminated in 13th place. Duhamel had been all in preflop with [Ah6s], dominated by the [Ac10h] of Habib.

Shooting Star Jonathan Duhamel signs his bounty t-shirt over to Ubaid Habib. This will be the first WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star final table without a Shooting Star.

This is the third bounty photo that Jonathan Duhamel (left) has appeared in, but up until now, he has been the hunter rather than the hunted. Earlier in the tournament, Duhamel collected the bounties on Elky Grospellier and Jason Mercier. This was the first and only bounty for Ubaid Habib (right), and he wore the t-shirt for the rest of the day.

With the board showing [AsKc5c3h2d] on the river, Amir Khaziri (right) moved all in against Joseph Elpayaa (left). Elpayaa tanked for several minutes before he called, and Khaziri won the pot with [Ah5h] — two pair, aces and fives. Elpayaa mucked without showing.

Marko Trapani, Jr. (left) was all in preflop with [QcJh] against Ubaid Habib’s [As10h]. Trapani never improved, and he was eliminated in 10th place, earning $41,600.

Ubaid Habib (right) watches as Marko Trapani, Jr. (left) receives a congratulatory hug from his brother Chris after busting in 10th place. It was an emotional moment for the two brothers, as their late father was the one who created this Shooting Star tournament. Last year, Chris finished 12th in this event, the first one held after their father’s death in the summer of 2010.

The Trapani brothers (Chris and Marko, Jr.) talk to WPT Producer George Sylak (center left) after Marko’s elimination in 10th place. They talked about their father, Marko Trapani, Sr., a co-owner of the Bay 101 Casino who was beloved by the players.

Ubaid Habib (background, center) watches from the rail while the dealer counts the stack of Moon Kim (right), who had just doubled up thru Amir Khaziri.

Erik Cajelais (left) eliminated Scott Baumstein in eighth place, and it was time for the final seven players to redraw for a single table. Cajelais was the chipleader at that point, in good spirits as he racked his chips alongside Joseph Elpayaa (right).

The final seven players, clockwise from the dealer: (1) Joseph Elpayaa, (2) Amir Khaziri, (3) Joe Serock, (4) Moon Kim, (5) Ubaid Habib, (6) Erik Cajelais, and (7) Andrew Badecker.

Moon Kim (foreground left) raised preflop, Erik Cajelais (center left) reraised, and Andrew Badecker (right) moved all in. Kim tanked for a while, saying he wished Cajelais hadn’t raised behind him. Kim eventually folded, and Cajelais quickly folded [AdJh] behind him. Kim said, "Oh, I should have called!" as Badecker took the pot.

In the 100th hand of seven-handed play, Amir Khaziri (left) was all in preflop with [AdKd] against the [9c9d] of Moon Kim (standing, right). The board came [10h8s4s6d6s], and Kim won the pot with his pocket pair to eliminate Khaziri on the TV bubble.

Seventh place may have been the most painful position in the tournament. Not only did Khaziri miss the televised WPT Final Table, but the $64,000 he won, is only half of what sixth place is worth — $128,200.

Seventh-place finisher Amir Khaziri (seated, top center) was still gathering his things as the other six players celebrated making the final table and began the process of verifying their chip counts and filling out their WPT bio sheets.

Here are the official chip counts for the televised WPT Final Table:

Seat 1.  Joseph Elpayaa  –  908,000  (95 BBs)
Seat 2.  Joe Serock  –  952,000  (98 BBs)
Seat 3.  Moon Kim  –  2,098,000  (105 BBs)
Seat 4.  Ubaid Habib  –  2,274,000  (114 BBs)
Seat 5.  Erik Cajelais  –  3,640,000  (182 BBs)
Seat 6.  Andrew Badecker  –  1,040,000  (52 BBs)

The televised WPT Final Table begins Friday at 4:00 pm PT, and the WPT Live Stream will begin on a 30-minute delay at 4:30 pm, with commentary by WPT Raw Deal Analyst Tony Dunst and Dan O’Brien. You can find the WPT Live Stream, along with our usual hand-for-hand updates, right here on WPT.com.