After battling through one of the longer final tables in WPT history, local player Moon Kim emerged as the champion of the World Poker Tour’s Bay 101 Shooting Stars event.
The final six men convened at the Bay 101 Casino in San Jose Friday afternoon, with World Series of Poker bracelet holder Erik Cajelais holding a sizeable lead over Ubaid Habib and Kim. All three of these men were over the two million chip mark (Cajelais held 3.64 million, almost a third of the chips in play), making it difficult for the three men underneath them – Joe Elpayaa, Joe Serock and Andrew Badecker – to take on the big stacks with their one million-or-less arsenals.
From the start of the final table, the seriousness of capturing the latest WPT championship was evident in all of the players’ moves. The sextet played for almost five hours before the first player was eliminated from the proceedings. The 113 hands played in that timespan set a record for the longest opening of a WPT event without a player being eliminated.
It was actually a few hands before that which set up for the first elimination. After Serock doubled through Elpayaa, the Illinois pro was forced into “push or fold” mode, which he did for two consecutive hands with his short stack. On Hand #112, that bit Elpayaa as, after he moved all in from under the gun, Badecker looked him up in the big blind. Badecker had caught Elpayaa in a push, with his pocket Kings crushing Elpayaa’s Q-J off suit, and the board brought no salvation for Elpayaa. Crippled down to only 35K, Joe Elpayaa was eliminated on the next hand by Badecker in sixth place.
Kim and Cajelais were neck and neck for the chip lead at this time and continued to joust for the lead over the next hour, with Habib attempting to hang with them. Kim would separate himself from the pack when, after a raise from Badecker, he moved all in and was called by Badecker. It was a classic race situation – Badecker’s Big Slick against Kim’s pocket fours – and the flop brought an Ace to put Badecker in the lead. Unfortunately for Badecker, it also brought a five and a deuce, giving Kim outs to the straight. That straight hit on the turn with a trey, leaving Andrew Badecker drawing dead and out of the tournament in fifth place.
At this point, Kim had captured nearly half the chips in play and he continually applied the pressure to his lesser-stacked opponents. Serock found a key double up to push former chip leader Cajelais down to the short stack, while Habib maintained a steady pace. As the players reached the seven hour mark of the tournament, the end would come for one of the combatants.
After Habib made a raise, Cajelais decided to make a stand and was called by both Habib and Kim (in the big blind). The board, K-K-7-5-Q, was checked down by Habib and Kim and, after Kim showed an A-8 for Kings with an A-Q-8 completion, Cajelais only showed an Ace and mucked his cards, conceding defeat. Habib had made two pair on the river with his Q-9, but the mysterious mucking by Erik Cajelais saw the former chip leader eliminated in fourth place.
Serock battled admirably throughout the final table after coming in as the second shortest stack, but he couldn’t battle against Habib and Kim’s rapidly growing chip mountains. As the clock approached the witching hour, Serock moved all in over the bet of Kim and was called, with Kim tabling a suited K-Q against Serock’s pocket nines. The eight high flop kept Serock in the lead, but the King on the turn switched the fates. Once a nine failed to appear on the river, Joe Serock was eliminated in third place.
After eight hours of play and 182 hands, Kim held a 2.6 million chip lead over Habib, but the duo weren’t through fighting yet. Although he was able to draw even on several occasions, Habib could never get over the mountain to assume the chip lead. After 35 hands of play over an hour, the end would come in dramatic fashion.
Kim made a minimum raise from the button and was met with a call by Habib. On a seemingly innocuous 9-4-2 (two diamond) flop, Habib checked to Kim, who bet out 300K. Habib decided it was time to make a stand, check-raising Kim to 900K. Kim didn’t back down from the big bet, declaring all in and putting Habib to a decision. After some deliberation, Habib made the call and the duo turned up their cards.
Habib was ahead on the flop with his Q-9, but Kim’s J-7 of diamonds had twelve outs twice to victory. An Ace on the turn wasn’t what he was looking for, but the thunderbolt of an eight of diamonds delivered the hand – and the Bay 101 Shooting Stars championship – to Kim in completing his flush.
1. Moon Kim, $960,900
2. Ubaid Habib, $570,200
3. Joe Serock, $320,400
4. Erik Cajelais, $256,300
5. Andrew Badecker, $192,300
6. Joseph Elpayaa, $128,200
Kim, a recreational player at the Bay 101, achieved something that all local grinders look to do – step up to the “big leagues” and make a name for themselves. With the victory at the Shooting Stars, Moon Kim now etches his name onto the WPT Champions Cup and will be in attendance at the Season X WPT Championship.
