1. Bay 101 Casino

Los Angeles, CA (March 3, 2017) — Season XV of the World Poker Tour® rolls on with the WPT® Bay 101 Shooting Star at Bay 101 Casino in San Jose, CA. The $7,500 Main Event is one of the most fun-filled events of the season, awarding bounty prizes on a select group of players and drawing one of the most elite fields on the tournament circuit.

Bay 101 Gears Up For World Poker Tour Shooting Star Event With Three Weeks Of Satellites Win Your $7,500 Seat For As Little As $275: by Card Player News Team Published: Feb 12, 2016. TAGs: World Poker Tour, WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star The World Poker Tour releases their 2018 Season XVI schedule, and there’s no place for the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Stars event. I nearly left it. The WPT Royal Flush Crew welcomes you to San Jose, California, for the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star. Sick of the all-in fests at those other social poker sites? Test your skills today at www.PlayWPT.

The Season XV WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star $7,500 Main Event takes place starting Monday, March 6, 2017, and runs through Saturday, March 11. More than 50 players have been selected as Shooting Stars in the event. Knocking out one of these players will earn a player $2,500 in cash. In addition to the more than $125,000 to be won in tournament bounties, each chip leader from Day 1a and Day 1b of the tournament will be awarded with a $10,000 cash prize.

Last season’s WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star $7,500 Main Event proved a record field size for the event with 753 entries. A prize pool of more than $5.3 million was generated with $1.298 million going to the winner. Stefan Schillhabel, a German player, won the event for the largest live score of his poker career. Joining Schillhabel at the final table were Adam Geyer and Maria Ho.

Ho is one of more than 50 players selected as a Shooting Star for Season XV, and she’ll be joined by fellow bounties Erik Seidel, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, and Richard Seymour. WPT Co-Commentators Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten will also be Shooting Stars, as will WPT Raw Deal Analyst Tony Dunst.

Ema Zajmovic, the first female winner of an open event on the WPT Main Tour, became a late addition to the list of Shooting Star players.

Following the WPT L.A. Poker Classic that recently completed, WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star is the second leg of the World Poker Tour’s California Swing. Last season, it was Ankush Mandavia who emerged as the California Swing winner thanks to a a 23rd-place finish in Bay 101 Shooting Star to earn $30,310 and an eighth-place finish from a field of 409 in WPT Rolling Thunder for $36,646.

For becoming the California Swing champion, Mandavia earned perks and comps that he can use on this year’s California Swing, including transportation and accommodations.

For complete information on the Season XV WPT California Swing contest, click here.

Click here for more information regarding the Season XV WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star event.

Young poker pro Sam Panzica has just added another title to his portfolio and a hefty payday of $1,373,000 to his bankroll. The player bested the massive record-breaking field of the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star $7,500 Main Event for his career’s best accomplishment to date.

Last October, Panzica emerged victorious in the WPT bestbet Bounty Scramble $5,000 Main Event, so winning a WPT title was a feeling well familiar to him. The player said in his post-Bay 101 victory last night that that second title was more dear to him due to the event’s larger scale and the fact that he had to face a really tough competition, including three-time WPT Main Event winner Chino Rheem, who was going for his fourth title and was actually very close to capturing it.

The Shooting Star Main Event kicked off on March 6 to gather together 806 entries, both poker professionals and recreational players. A prize pool of $5,722,600 was generated as a result and the top 81 finishers left with a payday for their efforts.

The event’s final day was played on Friday, March 10, with six finalists eyeing the $1,373,000 first-place prize. Final-table play began with Rheems holding an overwhelming chip lead which he managed to maintain for quite some time. Fierce to win his record fourth title, Rheems was responsible for most of the eliminations at the table. Eventually, he ended up in 3rd place for $521,660.

Panzica kept quiet at first but it was halfway through the final day when he started building a solid stack until he had 75% of all chips in play by his side. The player entered into the final two-handed match against Anthony Spinella with a 4:1 advantage. Spinella meant to be a tough nut to crack as he managed to reduce the margin. Yet, despite his efforts, it took only five hands of play before the name of the winner became clear.

Hand #173 was the final one to be dealt. On it, Panzica’s [Ah][10s] clashed against his opponent’s [Ac][8c]. A blank [Jh][5h][3d][4d][5c] board secured Panzica with that last pot and the title. Spinella earned $786,610 for his runner-up finish.

Emerging victorious in the Shooting Star event, Panzica also secured a $15,000-worth seat into the season-ending Tournament of Champions, set to take place on April 7-9 at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino – Hollywood.

Sam Panzica Leads 2016/17 WSOP Circuit Palm Beach Kennel Club $1,675 Main Event Final 10

Sam Panzica Wins 2016 WPT bestbet Bounty Scramble $5,000 Main Event

Samuel Panzica Moves Up in GPI Player of the Year Ranking

Paul Petraglia Wins WPT bestbet Bounty Scramble $5,000 Main Event

Darren Elias Eyes Record Fourth WPT Title at bestbet Jacksonville

Bay 101 Casino

Sam Panzica Leads 2016/17 WSOP Circuit Palm Beach Kennel Club $1,675 Main Event Final 10

Sam Panzica Wins 2016 WPT bestbet Bounty Scramble $5,000 Main Event