|
Live: $25,500 WPT World Championship
Live: $100,000 WPT Super High Roller
| Earnings | $670,552 |
| Cashes | 3 |
| Final Tables | 1 |
| Titles | 0 |
| Tournaments Played | 18 |
Est. Current Chipcount
Est. Average Chipcount
12,450,000
Current Chipleader
-
Day 2
653,000
Day 3
2nd
Level 31: 60,000-120,000, 20,000 ante
When you’re a satellite qualifier, sometimes it just feels like the deck is stacked against you. Sure, there are the satellite wonders like Chris Moneymaker or Leron Washington who take their shot in the big event and turn it into a big win, but that doesn’t change the fact that taking a seat with the pros can be intimidating.
For Bay 101 satellite qualifier Alan Sternberg, it was one of those uphill battles, not some glamorous Cinderella story. He came into the final table sandwiched between Poker Hall of Famer Mike Sexton and the hottest player on the tour, Vivek Rajkumar. Then he dropped most of his stack to Rajkumar in a brutal hand where Rajkumar hit running queens to crack Sternberg’s flopped set of sixes.
For most people, that would be the end of their final table run. Not Alan Sternberg. He rallied from being down to 1.3 million chips and on the bottom of the totem pole to claim the chip lead, capture a bounty, and catapult his name into the WPT history books by picking up the Bay 101 Shooting Star title.
When the final table began, the focus was less on how play would go on the final table and more on how the play-by-play would go from the booth. With Mike Sexton busy with the final table, commentating honors went to Tony Dunst, who went from Raw Deal to real deal in the blink of an eye, taking the seat next to Vince Van Patten.
Sexton’s run at this final table would be a short one though, thanks to a bad beat at the hands of the other Shooting Star at this final table, Mike Matusow. The two got it all-in preflop for the last os Sexton’s dwindling stack and Sexton looked in good shape to double up with K
Q
to Matusow’s K
J. Sexton faded what he needed to with an A
84 flop and a 2 on the turn, but a J on the river gave Matusow just the river he needed to take the pot and collect the $5,000 bounty on Sexton’s head. Sexton decided to enjoy the rest of his day off and headed home following the bust, leaving Vince and Tony to handle the commentary.
Casey McCarrel exited shortly after Sexton, making his last stand by reraising all-in over the top of a three-bet from Steven Kelly with AQ. Kelly felt priced in to call with J10 and spiked a ten on the flop to send McCarrel to the rail.
With the two short stacks out of the way, the lone remaining Shooting Star, Mike Matusow, was left to contend with the trio of aggressive young pros he deemed the Three Stooges. While Matusow sat back and patiently picked his spots, the other three clashed in big pot after big pot.
In one big hand in particular, Alan Sternberg raised out of the small blind and Vivek Rajkumar reraised out of the big blind. Sternberg thought a while before calling and the two saw the flop come A65. Sternberg checked, Rajkumar bet one-third of the pot, 105,000, and Sternberg check-raised to 277,000. Rajkumar called and the turn card brought the Q. Sternberg bet 475,000 and Rajkumar called. The river Q brought a flurry of action, as Sternberg announced “all-in” and Rajkumar beat him into the pot with QQ for quad queens. Sternberg showed his 66 and sat there with his jaw on the table for more than a minute as Rajkumar’s stack was counted down.
That hand put Sternberg on the short stack, but he was certainly not down for the count. He rallied and managed to not only retake the chip lead, but pull out to a substantial lead with very few showdowns and absolutely no all-in confrontations. At one point, his stack was so big it had the combined stacks of everyone else at the table covered.
Kelly pulled within striking distance of Sternberg when he eliminated Rajkumar in fourth place. Running low on chips, Rajkumar shoved all-in on the button and Steven Kelly called out of the small blind. Matusow was in the big blind and said he was going to call, but folded his K-Q face-up. Kelly thought that was a bad omen for his own KQ, but he ended up being up against Rajkumar’s KJ. There was no jack on the river this time around and Rajkumar was gone in fourth place. The finish is good enough to put him second in the WPT Player of the Year race with 2,000 points. He is so close to frontrunner Andy Frankenberger, that even a cash for 100 points could tie him with the Legends of Poker Champ.
With Rajkumar gone, Matusow was once again the short stack and was running out of time to pick up a hand and double up. Looking to pick up some chips, Matusow shoved all-in with one of the worst starting hands—92. Sternberg called him with KQ and flopped a pair of queens to silence The Mouth in third place and pick up his first Shooting Star bounty of the tournament.
Things only got better for Sternberg from there. He and Kelly began heads-up play dead even in chips, but Sternberg jumped to a big lead early thanks to a couple of big pots in which Kelly flopped big draws but ended up with just nine-high.
Running low on chips, Kelly thought he found a great spot to double up when he got it all-in preflop holding AQ to Sternberg’s 810. The Q87 looked good for Kelly and the 7 on the turn only helped him even more. However, it was not to be for Kelly, as the river brought one of Sternberg’s two outs—the 8. His trip eights took the pot and a shocked Sternberg could barely say anything as he reveled in his first WPT victory.
Here are the final table results from the Bay 101 Shooting Star Main Event:
1st: Alan Sternberg - $1,039,000
2nd: Steven Kelly - $595,300
3rd: Mike Matusow - $369,800
4th: Vivek Rajkumar - $295,800
5th: Casey McCarrel - $221,800
6th: Mike Sexton - $148,000
Level 31: 60,000-120,000, 20,000 ante
Steven Kelly raises to 240,000, Alan Sternberg moves all in, and Kelly calls with AQ. Sternberg shows 108, and Kelly is a favorite to double up here. Kelly says, "It's the first good hand I've had in a while.
The flop comes Q87, and both players flop a pair, but Kelly retains the lead with a pair of queens. The turn card pairs the board with the 7, killing some of Sternberg's outs. Kelly will double up here on any card but an eight.
The river card is -- the 8!
Alan Sternberg wins the pot -- and the tournament -- with a full house, eights full of sevens. Steven Kelly finishes as the runner-up, earning $595,300.
Alan Sternberg wins the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star, earning $1,039,000, a WPT bracelet, and a Bay 101 trophy. That money includes a $25,500 entry into the season-ending WPT World Championship at Bellagio in May.
Congratulations to Alan Sternberg!
1st: Alan Sternberg - $1,039,000
2nd: Steven Kelly - $595,300
3rd: Mike Matusow - $369,800
4th: Vivek Rajkumar - $295,800
5th: Casey McCarrel - $221,800
6th: Mike Sexton - $148,000
Level 30: 50,000-100,000, 10,000 ante
Alan Sternberg raises to 200,000, Steven Kelly reraises to 560,000, and Sternberg calls. The flop comes 1085, Kelly bets 470,000, and Sternberg thinks for a bit before he calls.
The turn card is the 5, Kelly bets 1,100,000, and Sternberg thinks for more than 30 seconds before he calls. There is already more than 4 million in the pot.
The river card is the 10, and both players check. Kelly shows 97 for the two pair on the board with a nine kicker, while Alan Sternberg turns over 98 to win the pot with a higher two pair, tens and eights.
Pot Size: 4,140,000
Alan Sternberg - 8,300,000
Steven Kelly - 4,160,000
Level 29: 40,000-80,000, 10,000 ante
Alan Sternberg and Steven Kelly are discussing the fact that Sternberg picked up his first Shooting Star bounty of this tournament, giving him $5,000 and a signed t-shirt.
"You could probably sell the t-shirt on Ebay," Kelly tells him.
"Most definitely," Sternberg replies. "Bet you could get $10 or $15 for it."
Level 29: 40,000-80,000, 10,000 ante
Steven Kelly and Alan Sternberg have requested to play heads-up without antes. Tournament Director Matt Savage allowed it, so players are playing 40,000-80,000 with no antes.
Sorted In: Alan Sternberg, Steven Kelly, Bay 101, Tournaments, Bay 101 Shooting Star, Season IXLevel 28: 30,000-60,000, 10,000 ante
Steven Kelly is curious and can't resist asking Mike Matusow, "So were you bluffing Vivek that hand?"
"No," Matusow says as he emphatically shakes his head. "How can I bluff? I tried to bluff once and called by f***ing 19th pair. I'm just waiting for you two to play an 11 million-chip pot so I can get second."
Level 28: 30,000-60,000, 10,000 ante
Vivek Rajkumar moves all in from the button for 750,000, and Steven Kelly moves all in over the top from the small blind. Mike Matusow Matusow says, "I was gonna call him," and folds K-Q face up from the big blind.
Kelly says, "Oh, that's really bad for me," and he shows KQ. But Rajkumar turns over KJ, and Kelly says, "Oh, that's really good for me."
Matusow says, "Didn't we see this hand earlier tonight?" (Referencing his three-outer against Mike Sexton to eliminate him in sixth place.)
The board comes A32710, and Steven Kelly wins the pot with his queen kicker to eliminate Vivek Rajkumar in fourth place.
Seat 1. Mike Matusow - 1,425,000
Seat 3. Alan Sternberg - 6,755,000
Seat 4. Vivek Rajkumar - Out in 4th Place ($295,800)
Seat 5. Steven Kelly - 4,280,000
Level 26: 20,000-40,000, 5,000 ante
Mike Matusow moves all in under the gun for 750,000, and Steven Kelly calls from the big blind with KQ. Matusow shows A7, and he'll need it to hold up to stay alive.
The flop comes 653, and Matusow pumps his fist as he picks up a gutshot straight draw. The turn card is the 2, and Matusow needs to avoid a king or a queen to stay alive.
The river card is the 4, and Matusow wins the pot with a seven-high straight. As the crowd goes wild, Matusow quietly says, "I won a flip."
Seat 1. Mike Matusow - 1,545,000
Seat 3. Alan Sternberg - 5,910,000
Seat 4. Vivek Rajkumar - 2,060,000
Seat 5. Steven Kelly - 2,940,000
Level 26: 20,000-40,000, 5,000 ante
Steven Kelly raises under the gun to 100,000, and Alan Sternberg calls from the small blind. The flop comes 1096, Sternberg checks, Kelly bets 120,000, and Sternberg calls.
The turn card is the K, Sternberg checks, Kelly bets 260,000, and Sternberg check-raises to 650,000. Kelly thinks for more than a minute before reraising to 1,190,000. Then Sternberg thinks for about a minute before he moves all in, and Kelly quickly folds. Sternberg takes another huge pot.
Pot Size: 2,880,000
Seat 1. Mike Matusow - 890,000
Seat 3. Alan Sternberg - 6,155,000
Seat 4. Vivek Rajkumar - 2,330,000
Seat 5. Steven Kelly - 3,080,000
Level 25: 15,000-30,000, 5,000 ante
Not two minutes after Mike Matusow went on a tirade in which he referred to Steven Kelly as "the idiot," he changes his tune, indicating his ribbing is all in jest and good fun.
"You're playing pretty good over there Mr. Kelly," Matusow tells him. "You've got a brick house you're building."
