It is the first day of the World Poker Tour Bay 101 Shooting Star in San Jose, California (March 14, 2011) and the first to be eliminated from the tournament's floor is your Casino Examiner. After enduring the WPT vetting process for a press credentential , one is required to report to Bay 101's security office to receive another badge. Since the tournament had just started, the security office can wait until the first break, your Casino Examiner had to catch the action. The Casino Manager and a security guard hauled me off the floor rudely with the Barney Fife appearing guard saying sarcastically "You need to go to the security office, if you are a member of the press." Not a good start, but appreciate Bay 101's concern for the safety of the tournament's participants and staff.
The Shooting Star attracted 415 players who shelled out $10,000 for the chance to win a little over $1 million in first place money and collect bounties of $5,000 for knocking out 50 well known poker players seated at each table. Some included Phil Hellmuth, Scotty Nguyen, Antonio Esfandiari, Erik Seidel, Kathy Liebert, Men Nguyen, Daniel Negreanu, Jennifer Tilly, Tony Dunst, Mike Sexton, Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, Freddy Deeb, Todd Brunson, John Juanda, Dan Harrington, Barry Greenstein, Mike Matusow, Gavin Smith, Hoyt Corkins, Jerry Yang, and other premier poker players. Day 1A and Day 1B chip leaders receive $10,000.
Tournament director Matt Savage conducted this event named this year for the late Marko Trapani, founder of Bay 101 and creator of the Shooting Star Tournament. Marko's son Chris wound up collecting 10k on Day 1B as the chip leader and wound up playing in the 6 player table format of the final 24 players remaining on Thursday. Two bounty players (Mike Matusow and WPT announcer Mike Sexton) made it to the final table yielding to Alan Sternberg who emerged as the WPT champion.
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