2009 WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star Final Table Recap
by Chad Holloway of Predictem.com
On Friday March 20, 2009, the final table got under way of the 2009 World Poker Tour Bay 101 Shooting Star with the final six-players of a 391-player field, including one “Shooting Star” with a $5,000 bounty on her head. Those players and their chip counts were:
Seat 1: Chris Moore — 1,476,000
Seat 2: Thao Le — 711,000
Seat 3: Steve Brecher — 2,016,000
Seat 4: Tony Behari — 2,046,000
Seat 5: Kathy Liebert (the lone remaining “Shooting Star”– 1,180,000
Seat 6: Chau Vu — 352,000
Action started fast when the extreme short stack, Vu, moved all-in under the gun for 202,000 with As 8d and was called by Behari’s 8c 8h. The Ks Jd 10c 9d 3c board gave Behari the pot and increased his stack to 1,909,000 while Vu was sent home in sixth place ($135,000). Not long after, Liebert raised to 36,000 and was called by Le in the small blind. Le checked the 5s 2d 2h flop, Liebert bet 40,000, and once again Le called. The 6s on the turn caused Le to bet 80,000, Liebert to raise 230,000, and Le to push all-in for 796,000. Liebert called and showed Ac Ah which was far ahead of Le’s Qc Qh. The 7h on the river did not help Le and he was eliminated in fifth place ($180,000).
Another sizeable hand developed when Liebert raised to 40,000 and was called by Moore and Behari. The 9s 4h 2h flop caused Behari to check, Liebert to bet 100,000, and Moore to make the call. After Behari got out of the way the 6h fell on the turn and both players checked. Liebert checked the Js on the river and Moore bet 185,000. After tanking for a bit, Liebert mucked her hand and Moore increased his stack to 2,023,000; in fact, after winning a few more pots after this hand, Moore became the new chip leader. Brecher was also doing a fine job increasing his stack by picking up pots here and there.
After being knocked down in a hand with Behari, Liebert raised to 70,000 on the button with Ac Ah and was reraised to 250,000 by Moore. Liebert shoved all-in for 766,000 and Moore called with 10c 10h. The board ran out Jd 9s 3h Jh Qh and Liebert doubled up to the cheers of an excited crowd. Shortly thereafter, Liebert doubled up again through Behari and took the chip lead with over 4 million in chips. The next elimination came when Moore raised to 55,000, Behari moved all-in, and Liebert called. Moore got out of the way and Liebert revealed 10d 10h while Behari was behind with Kh 8h. The Js 7d 2h 3c 4s provided Behari with no help and he was knocked out in fourth place ($230,000). After a quick Moore double-up through Brecher, the final three chip counts were:
Kathy Liebert: 4,238,000
Steve Brecher: 2,072,000
Chris Moore: 1,511,000
After Brecher doubled through Liebert and Moore took a large pot off of her, the last “Shooting Star” was on the short stack with 890,000. However, she refused to give up and three-handed play lasted for an astounding five hours until the following hand came up. Moore raised to 125,000 with the Ad Kh from the small blind and Brecher made the call with the Kd 3d from the big blind. Moore pushed all-in on the 9h 5d 4d flop and Brecher made the call with his flush draw. The 5h kept Moore ahead but the 6d gave Brecher a flush. Moore was eliminated in third place after an excellent performance ($291,500).
Brecher started heads-up with 5,540,000 while Liebert had built her stack to 2,280,000. Action was fast as Brecher took down a big pot by picking off Liebert’s bluff, only to have Liebert double-up a few hands later with a set of fours. A huge hand developed when Liebert raised to 175,000 and Brecher reraised enough to set her all-in. Liebert called with Qs 10s but was behind Brecher’s Ac 9h. The 6h 6s 2s flop gave Liebert a flush draw but the 2c on the turn and 4c on the river provided no salvation. She was eliminated in second place ($550,000). Brecher, who started the day second in chips, became the 2009 WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star champion, was awarded $5,000 for knocking out the last “Shooting Star” bounty, and won the $1,025,500 first-place prize!
