The WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star is one of the most popular events on the poker tournament trail. Hosted by universally-respected tournament director Matt Savage, the Bay 101 Shooting Star puts a $5,000 bounty on a select group of poker pros and celebrities that ramps up the excitement and pressure from the very first hand. To be picked as a Shooting Star you have to be famous, and in poker there’s one sure-fire way to become famous–win.
And that’s what Alan Sternberg did last week, as he triumphed over the field of 415 and a a star-studded final table to win the Bay 101 Shooting Star title. Alan was playing in just his fourth World Poker Tour event and won his seat through a satellite, and that modest investment paid off as he took home $1,039,000 for his victory. Though it was a victory that did not come easy.
Oftentimes it’s the unknown underdog who becomes the sentimental favorite, but that wasn’t the case during this final table. That’s because WPT co-host Mike Sexton was among the final six, forgoing his announcing duties to battle on the green felt himself. But Sexton would be first player eliminated, by the notorious Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, and Sexton’s demise was especially harsh–his 
had Matusow’s dominated, but “the Mouth” spiked a Jack on the river to send Sexton out in 6th place.
After Casey McCarrel was eliminated in 5th place Alan played a stunning hand with Vivek Rajkumar, who was at his second WPT final table in as many weeks. Holding the chip lead and dealt pocket sixes, Alan saw a flop of A-6-5, giving him a set that put him in the lead against Vivek’s pocket Queens. But the turn was a Queen, putting Vivek in the lead, and the river a Queen as well, and Alan naturally moved all in his full house. Only to find that he’d lost a huge chunk of his stack to runner-runner quads.
That’s a hand that would shake the most cold-blooded poker player, but Alan didn’t dust off the last of his chips in disgust. He kept grinding away at what turned out to be a marathon final table, re-building his stack until he was once again the chip leader. Rajkumar was eliminated by Steven Kelly when Kelly’s K-Q held up this time around against Vivek’s K-J, and then Alan collected Mike Matusow’s bounty as he called Matusow’s shove with, once again, K-Q, which was good against Matusow’s 9-2.
During the heads-up battle Alan moved out to a substantial lead against Kelly before the final hand played out. Kelly opened for a raise and Alan put him all-in holding 10-8. Kelly called with A-Q and stood a good chance of quickly turning the tide. And his chances looked even better after the Q-8-7 flop, and better still after another 7 on the turn gave both players two pair and left Alan dead to an eight.
But some days, it’s your day. The river brought the glorious giving Alan a full house, the pot, and a World Poker Tour title. And, oh yes, a bit more than one million bucks. A remarkable recovery from that horrible cooler and a most-deserving champion of the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star! Congratulations Alan!
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