Taylor Paur Defeats Over 700 Entries to Win WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star for $1,214,200
Taylor Paur brought $1,562,974 in live tournament earnings into the 2015 World Poker Tour Bay 101 Shooting Star final table, and he is highly regarded as one of the best young players in the game. The question was, would he be able to fight his way through an extremely tough final table to earn the second leg of poker's Triple Crown?
As it turned out, yes he would.
Paur started the final table second in chips. After the dust settled, he had his hands on his second live tournament title and a huge payday of $1,214,200. To get there, Paur had to go through top competitors Faraz Jaka, Sorel Mizzi, Jake Bazeley, and Isaac Baron.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taylor Paur | $1,214,200 |
| 2 | Isaac Baron | $704,200 |
| 3 | Jake Bazeley | $461,470 |
| 4 | Sorel Mizzi | $310,060 |
| 5 | Faraz Jaka | $216,320 |
| 6 | Ravee Mathi | $168,260 |
According to the live coverage, Paur got started early, increasing his stack in the early orbits before he knocked out Ravee Mathi in sixth place to take the chip lead on Hand #22 of the final table. After that, Paur pressed hard and soon reached 10,000,000 in chips. Then, Jaka was eliminated on Hand #35 by Mizzi, and the field was cut to four.
Baron, who began the final table in front, regained the chip lead on Hand #94, but it wasn't to last long as Paur fought back to retake the lead on Hand #101. From there, he didn't give it up.
On Hand #109, Paur sent Mizzi to the rail after winning a flip with the 5♥5♦ to Mizzi's A♦J♥. It was at this point that Baron and Bazeley looked to be playing for second place, as Paur kept the pressure on and continued to extend his lead. Then, Baron doubled through Paur on Hand #161, and it looked like momentum might start to swing. But, Bazeley was able to double through Baron on Hand #169 to take some of those chips away.
Those chips that Bazeley won off Baron via the double didn't last too long in his possession, as he then passed them all over to Paur on Hand #171. Bazeley was all in with the K♣7♣ against Paur's A♠10♠. The flop, turn, and river ran out A♥2♥2♦9♣A♣, and Bazeley was out in third. His elimination set up a heads-up match between Paur and Baron, with Paur holding 14,450,000 in chips to Baron's 6,775,000.
Nine hands later, it was all over.
The blinds had grown to 100,000/200,000/25,000, and Paur min-raised the button to 400,000. Baron made it 1,050,000 to go, and Paur called. The flop was 9♠7♥2♥, and Baron led for 1,050,000. Paur called, and the turn was the 3♦. Baron bet 1,650,000, and Paur called once again.
The 5♥ river card completed the board, and Baron moved all in for his last 3,025,000. Paur called instantly with the 10♥9♥ for a flush to defeat Baron's A♣9♦. With that, Baron was out in second place for $704,200 and Paur was crowned the winner.
Paur topped a field of 708 entries in the event to earn the largest live tournament score of his career. He now has over $2,775,000 in live tournament winnings and this WPT title will look nice next to his World Series of Poker gold bracelet.
Next up for the WPT will be the WPT Rolling Thunder Main Event at Thunder Valley Casino. This will be the third and final stop of the popular California Swing, and you will be able to find a recap from the event following its completion.
*Data and photo courtesy of the World Poker Tour.
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