For the best players in the world, playing at the WPT’s Bay 101 Shooting Star is a lot like playing any other day, Thanks to the wonders of television, their faces are known throughout the poker world, and their visage at the table always inspires additional attention from the opposition. This time, there’s just a bonus for taking them out.
“We’re used to having a target on our backs” TJ Cloutier told me; “This time, we’re just getting paid for it.” He’s right of course, though these names aren’t always sitting with the amateurs of the world. For the Chip Reese, as an example, it’s seldom he sits with someone who isn’t invited to participate in promotions like this.
Reese is considered by some to be the best player in the world, but today he looked a little bored. After all, he’s accustomed to playing in limit cash games where the big bet is $8,000, so the idea of playing a five day $10,000 event might be a little mundane. Still, even he had to find it interesting when he found himself at a table today that had an amazing five players carrying bounties.
Chip collected $10,000 in one hand when he took two of his fellow targets out. Jen Harman, playing her first event outside of Vegas since the birth of her twins, was down to T7,000 and moved all-in from the cut-off. Reese, sitting on the button, thought for a while before deciding to re-raise all-in himself. After the small blind folded, Gus Hansen looked down at his hand in the big blind to find pocket kings. He had no choice but to call for his last T25,000. Harman had pocket tens; Chip had Ah-8h.
With Reese calling for an ace, the flop came with two hearts and a ten, giving Harman the lead and leaving Hansen in big trouble. The turn was 4h, giving Reese the flush and bringing him from worst to first. Pairing the board would still give Harman the win and allow her to triple up, but it wasn’t to be; a brick on the river ended her day and Gus’s along with it.
Reese, Harman and Hansen are accustomed to playing for larger stakes than this back home in Vegas, but you could see that this was fun for all three. Chip received an autographed Shooting Star shirt from each of his bounties and collected his twin prizes. Not long after, content in having recouped his fees, he got knocked out after playing some admittedly loose poker.
Gary Wise
gary@wisehandpoker.com
