Sandeep Pulusani topped a field of 440 entries to win the Bay 101 Shooting Star Main Event at Bay 101 Casino in San Jose, California on Friday. The final day of the tournament saw five players return at the final table, and in just under eight hours of play the champion was crowned. The win takes his career live tournament earnings up to $1,226,214.
The final five players were all pretty deep when play began, and that ensured the pace of play would be slow with 90 minute levels allowing for a lot of play. Here is a look at the chip counts when cards got into the air.
Seat 1: Sandeep Pulusani - 1,645,000 (55 bb)
Seat 2: Loni Harwood - 6,040,000 (201 bb)
Seat 3: Dan Shak - 3,475,000 (116 bb)
Seat 4: Ryan Tosoc - 5,045,000 (168 bb)
Seat 5: John Andress - 1,380,000 (46 bb)
Andress was the shortest stack remaining, and he was the first player to fall today in fifth place. There was a series of double ups for multiple players before this happend, so Andress didn't hit the rail until almost 3 pm.
Shooting Star Loni Harwood entered the day with the chip lead, but the period of early double ups was rough for her. She hit the rail in fourth place around 4 pm. Her exit made Dan Shak the final Shooting Star in the field. He was also the next player to fall in third place. Ryan Tosoc took him out, so he claimed his $2,000 bounty and Shak autographed his shirt for Tosoc on the way out of the field.
Tosoc took 12.56 million into the final match against the 5.02 million of Sandeep Pulusani. The final two players then agreed to make a deal. They removed $50,100 from the final two spots to play for and chopped the remaining prizes according to chip counts. As part of the deal, they agreed to play 60-minute levels instead of 90 minutes.
Pulusani scored a big double up with pocket kings against pocket fives to take the lead in the final match, and the next time the two players got their money in the middle the tournament came to a close. On that hand, Pulusani held pocket aces, and Tosoc was all in preflop with [Ah][9c]. The flop brought an ace, and Tosoc was drawing dead on the turn. In addition to the prize money, Pulusani also took home a custom dolphin trophy from Bay 101 Casino.
Bay 101 Shooting Star Final Day Results
1st Place: Sandeep Pulusani - $354,400
2nd Place: Ryan Tosoc - $336,500
3rd Place: Dan Shak - $200,055
4th Place: Loni Harwood - $142,440
5th Place: John Andress - $103,710
3rd Place: Dan Shak - $200,055
4th Place: Loni Harwood - $142,440
5th Place: John Andress - $103,710
That concludes our live coverage from the Bay 101 Shooting Star Main Event. Thanks to all of the player who came out to the event, see you next year in March.
