Eddy Sabat Wins $10K and the T-Shirt of a Lifetime on Day 1A at the Bay

Photo:  Scotty Nguyen (left) takes a selfie with chipleader Eddy Sabat (center), Todd Brunson, and the epic bounty t-shirt that Brunson signed for Sabat.

Poker players come to San Jose to play in the Bay 101 Shooting Star event each year because this unique tournament offer opportunities for some memorable moments and plenty of ways for everyone to feel like they won something thanks to things like the $2,500 Shooting Star bounties and the $10,000 Day 1A chipleader bonus.

Eddy Sabat ended Day 1A winning on pretty much every level with the kind of Bay 101 experience players dream of having. Not only is he already freerolling the tournament and then some thanks to winning the chipleader bonus and a bounty, but he also has a memory that he is going to treasure even more than money. Plus, he has 265,600 chips going into Day 2.

Once Sabat saw his table draw, he had one goal: bust tablemate and Shooting Star Todd Brunson. It has been a goal of his for a while, actually.

“Todd and I go way back in this tournament. He probably doesn’t remember, but every time we always talk about his t-shirt stories and what he draws [and writes] on them,” Sabat explains. “I just let him know at the start of the day that I wanted every expletive he could think of. I didn’t want him to change anything, I didn’t want a G-rated t-shirt. I wanted the real deal.”

Sabat busted Brunson and the Hall of Famer made good on the deal, taking a good half an hour to compose what is probably the most epic bounty t-shirt signature in Bay 101 history.

The signature was so impressive to Sabat, he says the $10,000 chipleader bonus is “a giant cherry on top,” but the bounty is the real experience he will treasure forever.

“The t-shirt is the best,” Sabat says as he holds it up to marvel at it. “He drew a picture of me! See? It says ‘little bitch’.”

Sabat was the boss at the end of the day, but he had a race for the chip lead on his hands against WPT Champions Club member Justin Young.

Young was the only player to collect two bounties today, eliminating both Joe Hachem and Erik Seidel, but the big pot of his afternoon came when he doubled thru early big stack Anthony Spinella. Young leads the bounty count and appears to be third in chips with 231,000.

There were 119 Day 1A survivors from a starting field of 361 entries, which bests last year’s Day 1A field of 331. The Day 1B field is filling up quickly, but as play ended Executive Tour Director Matt Savage said there was still time to sign up and not get an alternate spot.

The Day 1A field was populated with Shooting Stars at every table, with 38 Shooting Stars in the field, and seven of them using their single re-entry to make a total of 45 bounties available. More than two-thirds of the bounties were collected today, with only the following 14 Shooting Stars making it through to Day 2:

Garrett Greer  –  219,000  (137 bb)
Noah Schwartz  –  165,300  (103 bb)
Mike Matusow  –  132,000  (83 bb)
Ryan Riess  –  124,100  (78 bb)
Chance Kornuth  –  120,500  (75 bb)
Tim West  –  106,400  (67 bb)
Marvin Rettenmaier  –  75,200  (47 bb)
Joe McKeehen  –  70,500  (44 bb)
Jeff Gross  –  65,900  (41 bb)
Richard Seymour  –  59,500  (37 bb)
Anthony Zinno  –  58,300  (36 bb)
Jason Koon  –  45,600  (29 bb)
Tyler Patterson  –  31,900  (20 bb)
Mohsin Charania  –  18,600  (12 bb)

Of that group, Mohsin Charania had the most tumultuous trek to a bag and tag after being knocked down to a single chip only to rally back to end the day with 18,600. Asked if he was going to forfeit his stack and try again tomorrow, Charania chuckled and said, “No way, I have way too much.”

Some players were not so lucky. The long list of Shooting Stars who failed to make it through the day includes Erik Seidel, Daniel Negreanu, Qui Nguyen, Antonio Esfandiari, Mike Sexton, Matt Salsberg, Vince Van Patten, and Ema Zajmovic.

Some of those names, like Sexton and Zajmovic, have already assured they will be back in action for Day 1B. Be sure to check back in starting at 11 am on Tuesday for all the Day 1B action. Until then, here is a look at the unofficial top five:

1.  Eddy Sabat  –  265,600  (166 bb)
2.  Sergio Aido  –  242,500  (151 bb)
3.  Eduards Kudrjavcevs  –  235,000  (147 bb)
4.  Justin Young  –  231,000  (144 bb)
5.  Garrett Greer  –  216,000  (135 bb)

Photo:  Justin Young

Photography by Joe Giron / PokerPhotoArchive.com