The WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star Festival will continue through November 1, 2026, at the Bay 101 Casino in San Jose. The full Shooting Star Festival features 18 events plus satellites with buy-ins ranging from $400 to $5,300. The first six winners have now been crowned. The highlight so far came from Rajat Paliwal, who won the Shooting Star Opener with 822 entries and a prize pool of $427,440. In addition, the main event—the $5,300 WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star Championship—kicks off tomorrow.
Event #1: $600 Shooting Star Opener
The first tournament of the series was the $600 Shooting Star Opener. With 822 entries, the prize pool totaled $427,440. Rajat Paliwal came out on top and took home $71,320. Haidang Nguyen finished in second place for $44,000, while Donald Landwirth placed third and received $32,500.
| Place | Player | Prize Money |
| 1 | Rajat Paliwal | $71,320 |
| 2 | Haidang Nguyen | $44,000 |
| 3 | Donald Landwirth | $32,500 |
| 4 | Sang Min Park | $25,000 |
| 5 | Harold Kein Pader | $18,900 |
| 6 | Paul Richardson | $14,500 |
| 7 | Salvador Ortiz | $11,000 |
| 8 | Rickey Rabello | $8,800 |
| 9 | Ron Fetsch | $7,100 |
| 10 | Henry Phan | $6,100 |
Event #2: $400 NLH DeepStack Turbo
Event #2, the $400 NLH DeepStack Turbo, drew 327 entries, creating a prize pool of $114,450. Diego Cifuentes-Ortiz ultimately claimed the title and $15,700.
| Place | Player | Prize Money |
| 1 | Diego Cifuentesortiz | $15,700 |
| 2 | Yuan Zang | $13,835 |
| 3 | Abuobayedmd Shafiullah | $9,585 |
| 4 | Nikolai Dizomollat | $9,100 |
| 5 | Ajit Selvakumaran | $8,900 |
| 6 | Roy Lo | $8,500 |
| 7 | Farhad Ghafari | $7,370 |
| 8 | Oren Levy | $5,000 |
| 9 | Austin Tian | $2,360 |
| 10 | Dmitriy Gutkovich | $2,360 |
Event #3: $600 NLH 30/30
The $600 NLH 30/30 drew 191 entries. The prize pool totaled $99,320. Kevin Kent emerged victorious and took home $25,150.
| Place | Player | Prize Money |
| 1 | Kevin Kent | $25,150 |
| 2 | Bret Wagar | $17,170 |
| 3 | Analy Bringas | $10,180 |
| 4 | Carlo Castanetto | $6,190 |
| 5 | Ron Fetsch | $4,780 |
| 6 | Phuoc Nguyen | $3,960 |
| 7 | Phuoc Nguyen | $3,380 |
| 8 | Thukha Linn | $2,940 |
| 9 | Henry Phan | $2,530 |
| 10 | Triet Nguyen | $2,180 |
Event #4: $600 Omaha 8
Event #4, the $600 Omaha 8, offered a change of pace from the No-Limit Hold’em schedule. With 76 entries, a prize pool of $39,520 was distributed. Francis Zhang won the tournament and took home $13,350.
| Place | Player | Prize Money |
| 1 | Francis Zhang | $13,350 |
| 2 | Orit Hadas | $7,710 |
| 3 | Prince Of Docness | $4,820 |
| 4 | Timothy Boerum | $3,260 |
| 5 | Delia Beck | $2,470 |
| 6 | Adam Rymer | $1,980 |
| 7 | Nathan Szoke | $1,780 |
| 8 | Richard Coplon | $1,580 |
| 9 | Robert Nicholson | $1,380 |
| 10 | Graham Perry | $595 |
| 11 | Scott Numoto | $595 |
Event #5: $600 Action Clock NLH
In the $600 Action Clock NLH, Roman Romm prevailed against 209 other entrants. The tournament had a prize pool of $109,200. Romm received $22,640 for the win.
| Place | Player | Prize Money |
| 1 | Roman Romm | $22,640 |
| 2 | Tam Nguyen | $22,310 |
| 3 | Paul Richardson | $11,190 |
| 4 | Giridhar Tatavarti | $6,810 |
| 5 | Christine Lester | $5,260 |
| 6 | Gerry Dutra | $4,360 |
| 7 | Zhiqing Chen | $3,710 |
| 8 | Franklin Chavez | $3,180 |
| 9 | David Zhang | $2,650 |
| 10 | Orit Hadas | $2,290 |
Event #6: $600 Pot-Limit Omaha
And last but not least, Event #6, the $600 Pot-Limit Omaha, also came to a close. A total of 110 entries were registered, and the prize pool totaled $57,200. Jonathan Alley claimed the title and $17,160.
| Place | Player | Prize Money |
| 1 | Jonathan Alley | $17,160 |
| 2 | Dong Meng | $10,580 |
| 3 | Grant Maruya | $6,350 |
| 4 | Ryan Gray | $4,150 |
| 5 | Michael Knight | $3,200 |
| 6 | Shawn Puri | $2,630 |
| 7 | Prince Of Docness | $2,230 |
| 8 | Christopher Brandin | $1,940 |
| 9 | Niv Decalo | $1,720 |
| 10 | Rahul Konale | $1,520 |
| 11 | Tri Dinh | $1,520 |
| 12 | Graham Perry | $1,520 |
| 13 | Jake Childs | $1,340 |
| 14 | Andres Tamberg | $1,340 |
The main event is the $5,300 WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star Championship, which takes place October 23–27. Here, players can go after the bounties on the following celebrities: husband-and-wife team Alex and Kristen Foxen, poker legend Phil Hellmuth, David Williams, Brad Owen, Jeremy Becker, Scott Stewart, and Mike Matusow. The championship event begins on October 23 with Day 1A, followed by Day 1B on October 24. The buy-in is $5,300. The field will then be whittled down over Day 2 and Day 3 until the fourth day of the tournament. Anyone who knocks out a “Shooting Star” from the tournament will receive an additional $2,500. The bounty is not paid out of the regular prize pool but is distributed as a separate bonus for the knockout.
More information about the event is available on the WPT website.