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 The Shooting Star
tournament is different from World Poker Tour events we are used to. Bay 101 puts $5000 bounty money on "stars" that can be
won when a player knocks the bounty out. This year there were 23 bounties, and only one of them was left when the final six
sat down to play. The last bounty was 2003 World Series of Poker champ
Chris Moneymaker. The other five players were
Suzie Kim, Masoud Shojaei, Mark Mache, Scott Wilson and
Phil Gordon.
The main reason I was interested in this particular episode was because Chris was on it. Anyone familiar with my website knows I
believe Chris played fabulous poker at the World Series and I was hoping he would prove once and for all that he is not just "lucky".
The first interesting hand of the tournament was when Phil raised the $10,000
big blind to $20,000 with 65
suited, Suzie called in the small blind
with pocket eights, and Masoud called in the big blind with A7. After a flop of J99, Suzie checkraised Phil's $30,000
bet another $45,000 and Phil folded. There are not many woman that make it onto the WPT, so it is especially nice to see
when they do not let the men "bully" them.
Scott followed Suzie's lead and took a small chunk of Phil's huge lead. Mark raised to $20,000 with J9, Scott called in the
small blind with AJ and Phil raised to $200,000 in the big blind with 86. Mark asked if it was okay to "phone a
friend" which made me and the live audience laugh. He then folded. Scott thought for a long time and seemed to
recognize Phil likely did not have much of a hand to make such a large raise, so he moved in for an additional $53,000 which
Phil called. The flop was J75 giving Scott the top pair and Phil the open end straight draw. The turn was a deuce and the
river was another seven.
There was an interesting tidbit that was shared. Mark and Scott are not only good friends, but they had a last longer
bet. I liked the way the editing showed them say almost the same thing. They both wanted to take each other out.
It was not Scott that took most of Mark's chips, it was Suzie when she hit a key card on the turn. Mark raised to $35,000
with pocket nines. Suzie reraised all-in
for $134,000 with pocket eights. Suzie turned her eight and left Mark with very few chips.
Chris showed the heart of a champion when he earned a pot with a pure
bluff. He raised to $25,000 with 84
and Masoud called in the big blind with QT. The flop was 953. Masoud bet $50,000 and Chris moved
all-in!! Masoud folded. Chris won
another hand when Phil called in the small blind with 97 of diamonds and Chris checked Q9. Phil bet $15,000 on a flop of 964,
Chris raised to $45,000, and Phil called. The turn was a ten and both
players checked. The river
was a queen giving Chris two pair. Chris bet $75,000 and Phil called.
Windows - Mac
Suzie tried to get rid of Mark once and for all when she took her A3 against his A2 for the small amount of chips he had left. The board was QT746 and they both
split the pot with their ace high.
He was eliminated on the next hand we see when Masoud moved him in for $33,000. Masoud held KT and Mark called "blind"
for his last few chips with T2. The flop was K82, the turn was a queen, and the river was another king. Mark finished in sixth place.
 Scott, the general manager of
Paradise Poker, seemed to play decent poker. He made a great play in the beginning of the tournament with his AJ when Phil
over-raised. The one thing that was a little strange (and not just about Scott) was that many of the raises were just double
the blind. Many of the players at the table are relatively inexperienced
No Limit tournament players and they underbet
many of the pots. The only players that seemed to get involved in large pots were Chris and Phil. On the following hand, Scott doubled
the blind with AK and Phil called the additional $24,000 with 86. The flop was QJ6. Scott bet $30,000, Phil raised to $90,000 and Scott
called. The turn was a three. Scott checked, Phil bet $235,000, Scott folded. He invited Phil to play with him by making a small raise.
He got a pretty bad flop and made a weak bet that might have been a suck-in bet, but Phil made a small raise to test the
waters. Scott called with his
overcards and gutshot draw.
When he missed the turn, he correctly checked and Phil made an "I am going to take this pot" bet.
Chris won a nice pot when he raised with 97 of clubs and Scott reraised in the big blind to $116,000 with K9 of diamonds and
Chris called. This is another example of Scott not betting enough money. It was only $66,000 more for Chris to call
giving him almost 3 to 1 on his call. The flop hit Chris perfectly when it came 776. Scott checked and Chris
moved all-in and took the pot down. Scott did happen to make up some ground when Phil raised to $110,000 with A7 and
Scott called all-in from the big blind with QT. The flop was 972 all spades and Scott held the ten of spades.
The turn was an eight of spades giving Scott the flush and Phil two pair. The river was a six and it kept Scott in the
game.
One of the biggest pots was when Masoud raised the $24,000 big blind to $50,000 with AJ of diamonds, Phil reraised to
$300,000 and Chris moved all-in from the big blind for $648,000 with AQ of hearts. Masoud called for $257,000 and Phil
folded his two nines face up. Phil made a comment about knowing Chris was moving for that pot and he would have called
if Masoud hadn't. I am not sure if that was true, but the way he played the hand and the way he would have played the
hand were correct in my opinion. The flop was T73 and the turn was an eight. This gave Masoud additional outs. He
could now catch an eight to make the straight. The river was exactly that and he won a huge pot giving him the chip lead.
 Suzie finished the
tournament when she took her pocket fives against Phil's pocket nines. Phil raised to $60,000 and Suzie moved all-in
for $201,000. The flop was 332, the turn was another three and the river was an eight. It would have been nice
to see Suzie finish higher in the tournament and I am sure her many local fans in the audience would agree, but she played
great. Phil Gordon even complimented her on her play when she exited the tournament.
Phil won a big pot when Masoud raised to $60,000 with KT of clubs, Phil reraised to $180,000 with K3 of diamonds, and Masoud
called. The flop was 976 and both players checked. The turn was a queen of clubs giving Masoud the flush draw.
Phil bet $240,000 and Masoud called. The river was a queen. Phil moved all-in and Masoud folded. Phil probably
correctly put Masoud on a flush or straight draw. The queen was perfect as it couldn't help Masoud. If he had a
queen, he would have almost for sure went all-in on the turn.
Scott got knocked out of the tournament in fourth place by losing two hands in a row (at least the WPT's edited
version). Chris moved all-in for $206,000 with pocket nines and Scott called with pocket fives. Scott said he thought
Chris had two overcards like AQ. Neither player improved their hand and Chris won the pot with his nines. On the
next hand we see, Chris called $24,000 with pocket queens, Masoud called in the small blind with 64 offsuit, and Scott
checked his QJ. The flop was J95 and Masoud checked. Scott bet $30,000 with his top pair, Chris moved all-in and Scott
called his last $130,000. The turn was a king and the river was a deuce.
 The
last hand of the tournament was one of the most exciting of all the WPT episodes. Masoud moved all-in on the
button with T6 of diamonds. With a
monster stack, Phil called the additional $210,000 with A7.
Chris said, "Unless I have aces, I am folding". Then he looked at his hand and saw his pocket jacks. Chris asked the question
(third time this season in the WPT). If both players get knocked out, who gets second place. The tournament director explained that whoever
started the hand with more chips gets the higher place finish. Chris decided to play his "non-aces" by moving all-in. Phil asked for the dealer to
bring-in the original raise and calls
to see how much money he had to call. It was another $225,000. Phil thought about it for awhile and decided to call. The flop was AT8,
and the turn was an eight. The only way Masoud could win was if he caught a ten and the only way Chris could win was if he caught a jack,
but the river was a five. Masoud finished in third, Chris in second, and Phil was the winner. Because the play never got
heads up, they didn't have a money
presentation. They brought it out after the winner was already declared. (Actress Mimi Rogers collected $5700 for her 27th place finish.)
Also see Bay 101 Season Three
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