After a bit of controversy, the final table has been determined in the World Poker Tour’s Bay 101 Shooting Star event, with Mukul Pahuja holding down the top slot on the leaderboard and a former Bay 101 champion looking to win the event for the second time.
As Day 3 was getting ready to start, all that many in the poker community were talking about was a surprising decision on Day 2. After bringing in the largest field ever for the tournament (718 entries), WPT officials decided that Day 2 would play out with one hour levels instead of the 90-minute levels that was on the schedule. Several players were upset by the change, but it didn’t keep them away from trying to take down one of the more prestigious titles on the WPT.
Day 3 began with 36 runners on the tables and, for the first time ever, there were no more Shooting Stars (the bounties in the tournament) left in the event. Steve Sung held the lead but chasing him were a host of talented pros that included Bryce Yockey, David Paredes, Keven Stammen, Isaac Baron, Eric Hershler, Owen Crowe, former WPT Bay 101 champion Nam Le and Jonathan Little. With the plan to play down to the six-handed WPT final table, it looked as if it was going to be a long day at the Bay 101.
Little was the beneficiary of an early double up through Justin Young, Little’s A-8 finding an Ace on the turn against Young’s pocket eights, while Baron did the same against James Carroll when his A-J caught Carroll’s pocket Queens with an Ace on the turn. Stammen, however, went the other direction, heading out into the California sun after his gut shot straight flush draw failed to come home against Herbie Montalbano.
Le started off the day with a tough break against David Randall when, on a J-5-2-A-3 board, he had to muck his cards once Randall showed a 5-4 for the straight. He would get some of the chips back when he doubled up through Dylan Wilkerson, but most of them would come in a huge clash that sent one player home and crippled another.
After Thomas Lutz moved all in, Le would make the call from the button. In the big blind, Tai Nguyen had his own interest in the pot and pushed all in over Lutz’ bet. Le called off his final 440K in chips and the hands were turned up:
Nguyen: 10♦ 10♥
Le: K♣ K♠
Lutz: A♠ 4♣
A four would come on the Q-7-4 flop, but that would be the last help anyone would receive. Once the turn and river ran dry, Lutz was out of the tournament in 31st place, Nguyen was left with scraps (50K in chips) and Le rocketed up the leaderboard with over one million in chips in front of him.
Le would slowly improve on that stack throughout the remainder of the night, but the star of the evening would be Pahuja. He captured a big pot against Brian Park, with the board showing K-5-3-4-Q and Pahuja showing an A-2 for the wheel straight, to bust over the three million mark in chips. Pahuja’s stack cracked the four million level when he dismissed Yockey from the tournament in 11th place and eclipsed the five million barrier after a battle against Carroll. By the time the smoke had cleared and Montalbano was eliminated as the television “bubble boy,” Pahuja would end the night as the only player over the six million mark.
1. Mukul Pahuja, 6.47 million
2. Dylan Wilkerson, 5.85 million
3. Shaun Suller, 4.3 million
4. James Carroll, 2.075 million
5. Nam Le, 1.715 million
6. Garrett Greer, 1.235 million
Wilkerson, who won a massive pot against Steve Sung to drive up to the top of the leaderboard late in the evening, should have the potential to challenge Pahuja, but he will be playing most hands out of position to the chip leader (Wilkerson holds the four seat, Pahuja the six). Besides the million dollar first place prize, Pahuja, Suller, Wilkerson and Greer are going to add points to their WPT Player of the Year chances; regardless of where he finishes, Pahuja is expected to take over the lead from Jared Jaffee, while Suller, Wilkerson and Greer will push their names up the POY leaderboard with a win and could bypass Pahuja, depending on where he finishes.
The final table of the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star begins at 4PM (Pacific Time), but the action won’t stop with its conclusion. Players are already heading to the next stop on the tour, the WPT Rolling Thunder, which will begin tomorrow to complete the “California Swing” of the World Poker Tour.
