Not since 2017 has the historic Bay 101 Capturing Star operated beneath the World Poker Tour banner, and it additionally marked the primary time the pageant has run since 2020. Its long-awaited return has been a success, drawing 672 entries for the marquee $5,300 Bay 101 Capturing Star Championship.
The collection has been underway at Bay 101 On line casino in San Jose, California, since October 17 and can conclude on November 2. The Championship occasion reached its midway level on Sunday, as Day 2 ended with the bursting of the cash bubble. A complete of 84 gamers stay in competition for the $480,700 high prize, which additionally features a $10,400 seat to the season-ending WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas.
The match featured two beginning flights, with 326 entries on Day 1A and one other 310 on Day 1B. An additional 36 gamers joined the motion firstly of Day 2, bringing the ultimate prize pool to $3,225,600. Of that, $187,500 was put aside for the bounty prize pool, with an extra $10,000 awarded in chip chief bonuses.
Poetra Leads Stacked Lineup
On the high of the chip counts sits Alfie Poetra, who ended Day 2 with 1,502,000 chips (150 large blinds).
The Indonesian participant has made a behavior of shining on the World Poker Tour stage, with three of his largest profession outcomes coming in WPT occasions. Poetra completed tenth in December’s WPT Prime Championship for $114,000 earlier than practically securing his first WPT title every week later, inserting third within the $3,000 Progressive Bounty occasion on the WPT World Championship for $55,328. He adopted that up in April with one other deep run on the Seminole Laborious Rock Poker Showdown, bowing out in twelfth for $65,000.
These three outcomes, totalling $234,328, make up a big portion of Poetra’s $752,139 in whole stay earnings, in response to The Hendon Mob.
There are additionally two different standouts rounding out the highest three — Nick Rigby (1,409,000 – 141 large blinds) and Likelihood Kornuth (1,148,000 – 115 large blinds) — and the pair have some fairly notable historical past with one another.
In the course of the 2023 World Sequence of Poker Foremost Occasion, Rigby and Kornuth tangled in an enormous 200 large blind pot on Day 5, which on the time was the most important of the match. Rigby, well-known for his trademark “Soiled Diaper” antics, picked up pocket aces and despatched the Chip Chief Teaching co-founder to the rail after Kornuth’s ace-king suited couldn’t catch up.
Rigby might be hoping for extra of the identical this time round, whereas Kornuth might have revenge on his thoughts, although the 2 will begin Day 3 on totally different tables.
WPT Bay 101 Capturing Star Championship Prime 10 Chip Counts
Hellmuth Exits Simply Earlier than the Cash
One notable title lacking from the end-of-Day 2 chip counts was Poker Corridor of Famer Phil Hellmuth. The 17-time WSOP bracelet winner started the day with what he described as “about a median stack,” however this time he couldn’t summon any of his trademark white magic and hit the rail in Stage 14.
Hellmuth, certainly one of 75 Capturing Star bounty gamers, moved all in for his final 22 large blinds holding pocket eights and was referred to as by Anthony Ajlouny, who tabled ace-jack. An ace-high flop left Hellmuth on the ropes, and the flip and river introduced no assist, ending his run.
Ajlouny collected the $2,500 bounty and an autographed t-shirt as a memento for knocking out the ‘Poker Brat’.
A couple of hours later, the bubble burst, placing the sphere within the cash. Xiaoyan Zheng was pressured all-in from the large blind for her last T-1,000 chip. Excessive curler Nick Petrangelo raised from early place and folded out the tables for the playing cards to go on their backs.
Petrangelo had 5♥5♣ and was forward of A♣4♣. Zheng flopped a flush draw, which wanted to hit after Petrangelo turned a set. The river gave the quick stack a no-good pair of aces to finish Day 2.
Day 3 Resumes on Monday
The WPT Bay 101 Capturing Star Championship picks up on Monday at 12 p.m. PDT, the place the plan is to play right down to the ultimate three tables. The match is then set to crown a winner on Tuesday.
You’ll be able to comply with the stay updates on WPT.com
WPT Bay 101 Capturing Star Championship Payouts
*Features a $10,400 seat to the season-ending WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas.
Remaining Schedule
Whereas registration has closed for the marquee occasions just like the $5,300 Championship and Excessive Curler, there’s nonetheless loads of motion left on the calendar for these trying to get in on the enjoyable.
The remaining open tournaments function a mixture of No-Restrict Maintain’em and Omaha codecs, with buy-ins starting from $600 to $2,200
All imagery courtesy of the World Poker Tour
Calum Grant
Senior Editor & Stay Occasions Government
