WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star Day 3: Pahuja Leads Final; Nam Le Seeks 2nd Bay 101 Title
The Season XII World Poker Tour (WPT) Bay 101 Shooting Star began with a record 718-entry field, but on Thursday the field was left with the final table of six. Leading the way with 6.47 million is Mukul Pahuja, though Nam Le, who won the Shooting Star back in Season IV, is seeking a second title at Bay 101.
Here’s a look at the final table:
| Seat | Player | Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nam Le | 1,715,000 (34 bb) |
| 2 | Garrett Greer | 1,235,000 (24 bb) |
| 3 | Shaun Suller | 4,200,000 (84 bb) |
| 4 | Dylan Wilkerson | 5,850,000 (117 bb) |
| 5 | James Carroll | 2,075,000 (41 bb) |
| 6 | Mukul Pahuja | 6,470,000 (129 bb) |
According to the WPT Live Blog, 36 players returned for Day 3 action, which picked up in Level 21 (6,000/12,000/2,000). Straight out of the gate there was a slew of eliminations including Grant Hillman (36th - $24,870), Keven Stammen (35th - $24,870), Ben Zamani (34th - $24,870), Pat Lyons (33rd - $24,870), Erkut Yilmaz (32nd - $24,870), and Thomas Lutz (31st - $24,870).
In Level 22 (8,000/16,000/2,000), David Paredes hit the rail. It happened when he moved the last of his chips all in from the cutoff and Pahuja called from the big blind.
Paredes: A♣J♥
Pahuja: A♥A♠
Paredes held a decent hand, but Pahuja woke up with pocket rockets at just the right time. The board ran out 8♠3♣2♠10♥9♠ and Paredes fell in 30th place for $24,870.
Before long, he had company on the rail in the form of Noah Vaillancourt (29th - $24,870), Ben Hamnett (22nd - $29,340), Owen Crowe (20th - $29,340), Tam Truong (19th - $29,340), Isaac Baron (17th - $33,820), Justin Young (16th - $33,820), and Jonathan Little (13th - $39,800).
Little fell in Level 24 (12,000/24,000/4,000) when he opened for 50,000 preflop only to have Pahuja three-bet to 140,000 from the small blind. Brian Park then four-bet to 380,000 from the big, Little five-bet shoved, and Pahuja got out of the way. Park made the call and the cards were turned up.
Little: Q♥Q♦
Park: K♠K♥
It was a cooler for Little, and he received no reprieve as the board ran out A♠A♦2♠9♥K♣. Park would fall a short time later in 10th place for $49,740.
In Level 26 (20,000/40,000/5,000), Steve Sung, who began the day as the chip leader, moved all in from the button for 345,000 and received a call from Garrett Greer in the big blind.
Sung: K♣10♠
Greer: A♠3♥
Sung was behind, though he was drawing to two live cards. The 8♣5♥3♦ flop paired Greer’s three, and it ended up winning as the 9♦ blanked on the turn followed by the 6♣ river. Sung was eliminated in eighth place and took home $99,470 for his performance.
The TV final table bubble last 54 hands, but eventually Herbie Montalbano bowed out in seventh place for $134,300. In his final hand, Shaun Suller opened for 125,000 under the gun, Montalbano called from the small blind, and Greer came along from the big. When the flop came down J♦8♠7♦, Montalbano moved all in for roughly 1.1 million, Greer folded, and Suller snap-called with the J♣J♥ for top set. Montalbano tabled the 9♥8♥ for middle pair and a gutshot straight draw. The 5♣ turn was no help to Montalbano, and neither was the A♥ river. With that, action came to a close for the night.
The final six will return at 4 p.m. PT on Friday to play down to a winner. Who will walk away with the $1,256,550 first-place prize? Find out when PokerNews brings you a full recap of the action upon completion of play.
*Photos and data courtesy of the WPT Live Blog.
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