Original Article: PokerNews UK by Matthew Pitt
The $7,500 buy-in World Poker Tour (WPT) Bay 101 Shooting Star is one of the most popular events on the WPT’s calendar thanks to the unique bounty format – the shooting star element. The 2015 edition has again proved popular with 708 players buying in and creating an impressive prize pool weighing in at $5,026,800.
Both starting flights and Day 2 are now in the bag and all that remain of the 708 hopefuls who began the event are 36 players who hope to still be in with a shot of the $1,214,200 first place prize once Day 3 comes to an end on Thursday night.
Among those final 36, each of whom is guaranteed a $24,030 payday, are three British grinders and they are nicely poised for an even deeper run than they have already made.
The best placed of the talented trio is Toby “810ofclubs” Lewis with 799,000 chips (average is 590,000). Lewis now has more than $2.5 million in live tournament winnings and if he can at least match his result in the partypoker WPT Merit Classic North Cyprus last September where he finished fourth for $102,820 we’re sure he’d be delighted.
Lewis does have a tough starting table when play resumes, but they are all difficult at this stage of such a prestigious tournament. The former European Poker Tour (EPT) Vilamoura winner goes into Day 3 having to contest with the likes of Faraz Jaka (864,000), Byron Kaverman (440,000) and a short-stacked David Miscikowski (118,000).
Seat | Player | Chips | Big blinds at start of play |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Mike McClain | 383,000 | 38 |
2 | Eric Werner | 1,060,000 | 106 |
3 | Faraz Jaka | 864,000 | 86 |
4 | Byron Kaverman | 440,000 | 44 |
5 | David Miscikowski | 118,000 | 11 |
6 | Toby Lewis | 799,000 | 79 |
Chris Moorman is the next best placed Brit with 560,000 chips at his disposal at the start of Day 3. Moorman is one of four shooting stars still in the tournament, meaning if anyone manages to bust him they will receive a $2,500 bounty and a scowling look from everyone back home railing Moorman from afar.
Moorman will be quietly confident about his chances of glory in this event, not least because it is in Los Angeles that he won his first major live title, the WPT L.A. Poker Classic for $1,015,460, plus his seat draw is the more favourable of our trio as you can see below.
Seat | Player | Chips | Big blinds at start of play |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Ted Bui | 416,000 | 41 |
2 | Steve Brecher | 171,000 | 17 |
3 | Chris Moorman | 560,000 | 56 |
4 | Ari Engel | 388,000 | 38 |
5 | Haizia Zhang | 450,000 | 45 |
6 | Barry Hutter | 800,000 | 80 |
The third and final British player looking for a seven-figure score is the reigning UK Global Poker Index Player of the Year, Oliver Price. The Londoner bagged up 558,000 chips at the end of Day 2 to find himself in the middle of the pack.
Like Moorman, Price has a solid record in the U.S having cashed in the 2014 L.A. Poker Classic that Moorman won (28th for $36,400) and more recently he finished third in a $5,250 buy-in event at the 2015 L.A. Poker Classic for $74,000.
Price has a tough table draw for Day 3 and is out of position again the toughest players on his table, but if anyone can navigate their way around these opponents it is Price.
Seat | Player | Chips | Big blinds at start of play |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Griffin Paul | 375,000 | 37 |
2 | Oliver Price | 558,000 | 58 |
3 | Sorel Mizzi | 906,000 | 90 |
4 | Isaac Baron | 883,000 | 88 |
5 | Shawn Buchanan | 120,000 | 120 |
6 | Tom Dobrilovic | 320,000 | 32 |
Play resumes at 12:00 noon Pacific Time and the 36 returnees will play as many 90-minute levels as it takes to whittle them down to the final table of six.
Imad Allahham is the man to catch going into Day 3 thanks to accumulating 1,717,000 chips. Allahham is being chased down by our aforementioned trio plus the likes of Taylor Paur (1,096,000), Italy’s Giacomo Fundaro (1,082,000), Sorel Mizzi (906,000), Isaac Baron (883,000), Ari Engel (388,000), Gordon Vayo (324,000) and Garrett Greer (270,000).
The very best of luck to Lewis, Moorman and Price, here’s to all three of them reaching the final table of the 2015 WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star.