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Recap: $25,500 WPT World Championship
Recap: $100,000 WPT Super High Roller
| Earnings | $2,902,441 |
| Cashes | 10 |
| Final Tables | 3 |
| Titles | 1 |
| Tournaments Played | 31 |
Est. Current Chipcount
Est. Average Chipcount
12,450,000
Current Chipleader
-
Day 1-B
50,000
Day 2
1,076,000
Day 3
4th
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 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 27: 25,000-50,000, 5,000 ante
Vivek Rajkumar raises from the button to 115,000, and Mike Matusow calls from the big blind. The flop comes A94, Matusow checks, Rajkumar bets 75,000, and Matusow check-raises to 300,000. Rajkumar thinks for about 30 seconds before he calls.
The turn card is the 5, and both players check. The river card is the 9, and Matusow moves all in for 630,000. Rajkumar asks for a count.
Rajkumar says, "Did you catch up, Mike? Did you catch up on me with the nine?" Rajkumar thinks a bit more and says, "It's a nine or nothing, right? It's a nine or nothing." Matusow says nothing.
After more than two minutes, Rajkumar folds, and Matusow takes the pot. Rajkumar asks, "Tell me afterwards?" Matusow nods.
Seat 1. Mike Matusow - 1,545,000
Seat 3. Alan Sternberg - 6,615,000
Seat 4. Vivek Rajkumar - 875,000
Seat 5. Steven Kelly - 3,415,000
Level 27: 25,000-50,000, 5,000 ante
Mike Matusow certainly has a lot of sympathy for his friend Vivek Rajkumar, who is running into some trouble being seated between the aggressive Alan Sternberg and the equally aggressive Steven Kelly.
"Man," he says. "I just sit here blinding out. Meanwhile, these guys are on each side of Vivek beating him to death with a baseball bat." Matusow then swats an imaginary bat is he makes noises like "Blam" and "Blowh."
"They're beating the crap out of you and they're just laughing at me."
Level 27: 25,000-50,000, 5,000 ante
The friendly needling between Vivek Rajkumar and Mike Matusow is back on. Rajkumar eggs Matusow on with another comment about his conservative play. Before it is Matusow's turn to act preflop, Rajkumar says, "I'm just gonna call it now. 'Good fold Mikey.'"
This is all it takes to set off the Matusow rant.
"Time out," he says. He gestures to both the table and Tournament Director Matt Savage to make sure they are all paying him their full attention.
"You got me when I was playing perfect to make a big bet bluff against this yo yo. You try to get me to play the queen-six like a yo yo. Relax, King Vivek. Wait until I double up and get this kid over here," gesturing to Kelly. Matusow then looks up across the table and smiles.
"Hello Stevie!"
Level 25: 15,000-30,000, 5,000 ante
Alan Sternberg completes the small blind to 30,000, and Vivek Rajkumar raises from the big blind to 105,000, and Sternberg calls. The flop comes K84, Sternberg checks, Rajkumar bets 150,000, and Sternberg check-raises to 400,000. Rajkumar thinks for about 30 seconds before he calls.
While waiting for Rajkumar's action, Mike Matusow engages Steven Kelly in a very casual conversation starting with, "Hey Steven, how's it going, bud?"
The turn card is the 10, Sternberg checks, Rajkumar bets 320,000, and Sternberg quickly check-raises again to 825,000. Referring to the plaques (worth 100,000 each), Matusow says, "You guys are throwing these things around like they're quarters!" Matusow later adds, "You guys have put more money in this pot than I have the entire tournament.
After more than a minute in the tank, Rajkumar folds, and Alan Sternberg takes the pot. Referring to Sternberg's comeback after the hand with pocket queens, Matusow says, "He had 1.5, played you like a fiddle, and got it all back."
Matusow says a few more things, and Rajkumar says, "We're playing poker here, Mike, what are you playing?" Matusow says, "I'm playing waiting-to-bust-you."
Pot Size: 1,670,000
Seat 1. Mike Matusow - 1,770,000
Seat 3. Alan Sternberg - 3,720,000
Seat 4. Vivek Rajkumar - 2,410,000
Seat 5. Steven Kelly - 4,555,000
Level 25: 15,000-30,000, 5,000 ante
Alan Sternberg raises from the small blind to 80,000, and Vivek Rajkumar calls from the big blind. The flop comes K107, Sternberg checks, Rajkumar bets 110,000, and Sternberg calls.
The turn card is the 4, and both players check. The river card is the K, Sternberg bets 130,000, and Rajkumar thinks for about 30 seconds before he calls. Neither player is eager to turn over their cards.
Sternberg shows QJ for queen high, and Rajkumar asks "Does the queen play?" It does. Rajkumar asks, "Does the jack?" It does too. Rajkumar turns over Q8, and Sternberg wins the pot with his jack kicker. Rajkumar says, "We're even now," referencing the quads-over-full house hand.
Seat 1. Mike Matusow - 1,835,000
Seat 3. Alan Sternberg - 2,635,000
Seat 4. Vivek Rajkumar - 3,365,000
Level 25: 15,000-30,000, 5,000 ante
Ever since Vivek Rajkumar's big double up, Mike Matusow's been a little quieter and Rajkumar is taking notice.
"We miss you, Mike," Rajkumar tells him. "Come on, say something."
"I can't say anything until I win a pot," Matusow protests. "I'm just going to close my eyes and three-bet the next hand you guys raise."
Matusow quiets down again, then adds, "Maybe I'm just still in awe of the genius way you played those queens."
"It's genius when you hit," Rajkumar quips back.
Level 25: 15,000-30,000, 5,000 ante
After his massive double up, Rajkumar is perplexed:
"This kind of stuff just keeps happening. I don't understand it."
The table also discusses the massive pot and Rajkumar earnestly tells Sternberg he planned on calling him the whole way down with his pocket queens.
While Tournament Director Matt Savage was counting down the stacks, Mike Matusow heard a similar assessment of the situation from Phil Hellmuth in the audience.
Matusow gets his two cents in on the matter. "Perhaps you didn't notice this guy's played two pots in the past two hours," he tells rajkumar. He then turns to Sternberg. "Alan, how does that make you feel? Are you sick?"
Level 25: 15,000-30,000, 5,000 ante
Alan Sternberg raises from the small blind to 63,000, Vivek Rajkumar reraises from the big blind to 160,000, and Sternberg asks for a count of Rajkumar's remaining chips. (Rajkumar says he has about 1.3 million behind, but he may have forgotten to count his plaques worth 100,000.) Sternberg thinks for about two minutes before he calls.
The flop comes A65, Sternberg checks, Rajkumar bets 105,000, and Sternberg thinks for a while before he check-raises to 277,000. Rajkumar thinks for about 20 seconds before he calls.
The turn card is the Q, Sternberg bets 475,000, and Rajkumar thinks for nearly a minute before he calls. Mike Matusow says, "Wow," as the pot
The river card is the Q, and Sternberg thinks for a moment before moving all in. Rajkumar instantly calls with QQ for quad queens, and Sternberg is stunned as he turns over 66 for a flopped set and a rivered full house.
Rajkumar goes to his rail to exchange high fives with all of his friends as Sternberg stares at the board in stunned silence. Rajkumar comes back to the table and admires the board for a while himself as TD Matt Savage counts down the chip stacks. Rajkumar eventually takes a photo of the board with his iPhone.
Seat 1. Mike Matusow - 2,368,000
Seat 3. Alan Sternberg - 1,378,000
Seat 4. Vivek Rajkumar - 3,472,000
Seat 5. Steven Kelly - 5,234,000
