WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star 2026: How Phil Hellmuth, Jeff Madsen and the Bounty Stars Got Knocked Out

Most tournaments are about stacking chips and surviving. Bay 101 adds a twist: the hunt.

Every year, a group of well-known pros and poker personalities sit down with a price on their heads. Knock one out and you collect $2,500 in cash, plus a T-shirt signed by the player you just eliminated. It has become one of the most fun traditions on the World Poker Tour.

This year there were 55 Shooting Stars, more than double the 23 in 2025. That puts $137,500 in bounty money in the room on top of the regular prize pool. Below are the biggest hands involving those stars, with a quick look at the odds in each so you can see how close (or not) each one was.

The Tournament at a Glance

Detail	2026	2025
Buy-in	$5,300	$5,300
Entries	584	672
Prize pool	$2,613,200	Over $3,000,000
Places paid	73 (min-cash $9,600)	–
Shooting Star bounties	55 × $2,500	23
First prize	$470,500*	$480,700 (Kharlin Sued)

First prize includes the winner’s $10,400 seat in the season-ending WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas.

Turnout was split across two starting flights: 236 on Day 1A, 310 on Day 1B, and 38 more who registered late at the start of Day 2. The field was smaller than last year’s 672. Even so, 584 runners at $5,300 a seat is a strong number for a regional WPT stop, and the bounty format keeps the event’s personality intact.

Like last year, the event did not finish in San Jose. Play stopped at six players, and that televised final table will be played in Las Vegas in December.

Day 1A: Mike Holtz Runs Kings Into Aces

The first star to fall was three-time WSOP bracelet winner Mike Holtz, a co-host of the PokerNews Podcast. During Level 8 (blinds 600/1,200 with a 1,200 ante), a preflop raising war with Nicholas Ralph ended with Holtz’s 74,000 stack all in.

Holtz had K♠ K♥, the second-best starting hand in hold’em. Ralph had the only hand that beats it: A♣ A♥.

The flop of Q♣ J♦ 9♦ gave Holtz a sliver of hope, since any ten would make him a straight. The J♠ turn and 6♥ river missed. Ralph took the bounty and the signed shirt, and Holtz headed back to Las Vegas to chase the WSOP Online bracelet leaderboard.

The odds: Kings against aces before the flop win only about 18% of the time. It’s one of the most famous coolers in poker. With 74,000 chips this early, there is almost no way to fold kings, and nobody should.

Day 1B: Chad Holloway’s Tens Can’t Hold

PokerNews Podcast host Chad Holloway opened to 1,500 from the cutoff in Level 5 (300/600/600). Brian Luo, who had just won the WSOP Circuit Atlantic City Main Event for about $189,000, three-bet from the small blind. Holloway moved all in for 26,000 and Luo called.

• Holloway: 10♦ 10♣
• Luo: A♠ J♥

The J♠ 5♥ 4♣ flop gave Luo a pair of jacks, and the turn and river didn’t help Holloway. Luo, also from Wisconsin, collected the bounty from his fellow Wisconsinite.

The odds: Pocket tens against ace-jack is close to a coin flip. The tens are a slight favourite, winning roughly 56% of the time. It’s the kind of spot you’re happy to get into with a short stack, but you’ll lose it almost half the time.

Day 2: Holloway’s Re-Entry Meets Aces

Holloway bought back in at the start of Day 2, but his second bullet didn’t last long. In the final hand before the first break, he moved all in for 42,000 with K♠ Q♥. Jeff Madsen, a regular guest on the podcast, woke up with A♥ A♣.

The board ran A♦ 9♣ 6♣ 8♣ 3♠. Madsen made three aces on the flop, and by the turn Holloway was drawing dead. That ended his first-ever run at Bay 101.

The odds: King-queen against aces wins only about 17% of the time. When you’re short and a big hand is waiting behind you, there is nothing you can do.

Day 2: Ben Ludlow Falls on the First Hand

The third PokerNews Podcast host, Ben Ludlow, made it to Day 2 but came in short. He didn’t survive the first hand of the day. With blinds at 1,000/2,000/2,000, he moved all in for 39,500 and Dan Maor called.

• Ludlow: 9♦ 9♥
• Maor: A♠ J♣

Ludlow was ahead before the flop, but the K♣ Q♥ 10♣ flop gave Maor a Broadway straight. The K♦ turn gave Ludlow outs to a full house, but the 4♣ river ended it.

Maor knows this event well. He finished fifth at the 2025 Bay 101 final table for $132,000.

The odds: Nines against ace-jack win about 55% of the time before the flop. That flop left Ludlow needing one of four cards on the river.

End of Day 2: Madsen Falls One Hand Short of Bagging

Jeff Madsen played the hero against Holloway, but his own run ended in painful fashion. On the very last hand of Day 2, in Level 17 (5,000/10,000/10,000), Madsen moved all in for 125,000 from under the gun with A♣ K♥. Shawn Daniels called from the button with J♦ J♠.

The board ran Q♠ 9♥ 8♦ 2♥ 7♣ with no ace or king, and Daniels’s jacks held. Madsen went out in 56th place for $10,300, and Daniels collected the bounty.

That turned out to be an important pot. Shawn Daniels is a Shooting Star himself, and he’s one of the six players at the final table, with 3,000,000 chips.

The odds: Ace-king against jacks is the classic flip, with the pair a slight favourite at roughly 57% to 43%. Busting on the last hand of the night is especially cruel: one more fold and Madsen bags for Day 3 with a 12-big-blind stack.

Day 3: Two Hellmuths Exit Within Minutes

Day 3 began with 55 players, including 12 surviving Shooting Stars. It quickly became a bad day for the Hellmuth family.

Nick Hellmuth went first, finishing 51st for $11,400. Not long after, his father, 17-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, followed him out the door.

In Level 18 (6,000/12,000/12,000), Phil moved all in from the button for 290,000 and WPT champion Michael Wang called.

• Hellmuth: A♣ J♠
• Wang: 9♠ 9♦

The J♥ 7♠ 6♣ flop put Hellmuth in front with top pair. The 10♦ turn gave Wang extra outs to a straight with any eight. The eight never came, but the 9♥ river gave Wang three nines. Hellmuth went out in 49th for $11,400.

The odds: Before the flop, Wang’s nines were a narrow favourite. After the flop, Hellmuth was about a 70% favourite with one card to come, and the turn added only a few more outs for Wang. It shows how quickly a “safe” lead can disappear.

Between them, father and son collected $22,800, both in the same pay bracket and within minutes of each other.

Ten Players Left: One Hand, Two Stars Eliminated

The most dramatic hand of the event came with ten players left in Level 23 (20,000/40,000/40,000).

Chahn Jung raised to 85,000 from the button. Shooting Star Aaron Massey moved all in from the small blind for 1,050,000. Fellow Shooting Star Adam Hendrix then moved all in from the big blind for 1,850,000. Jung called both.

• Massey: 3♥ 3♣
• Hendrix: A♠ J♥
• Jung: K♠ K♣

The board ran 10♥ 7♣ 5♣ 2♠ 5♠. Jung’s kings held, and he eliminated both stars in one hand, collecting two $2,500 bounties and two signed shirts.

The odds: Kings were the clear favourite in this three-way pot, but nowhere near certain. Massey needed a three, and Hendrix needed an ace, a jack, or running cards to a straight. The hand sent Jung to the final table with 9,075,000 chips, the second-biggest stack.

A similar three-way hand ended the night. Quoc Mai’s pocket kings held up in a three-way all-in, eliminating two players at once and setting the final six.

The Final Table: Six Players, Nearly $1.4 Million Left

The six survivors will return to the felt in Las Vegas on December 15, during the WPT World Championship festival. Each has already locked up $94,000, and there is $1,389,500 in prize money left to play for.

Seat	Player	Chips	Big blinds
1	Eric Zheng	2,065,000	52
2	Ziao Guo	4,095,000	102
3	Chahn Jung	9,075,000	227
4	Shawn Daniels	3,000,000	75
5	William Davis	700,000	18
6	Quoc Mai	10,165,000	254

Place	Prize
1st	$470,500*
2nd	$305,000
3rd	$226,000
4th	$168,000
5th	$126,000
6th	$94,000

Includes a $10,400 WPT World Championship seat.

Quoc Mai is the man to catch. He was runner-up in a $3,000 event at the 2026 WSOP and already has close to $2 million in recorded live earnings. Mai and Jung together hold more than 19 million of the roughly 29 million chips in play, so they’re in control.

William Davis has the hardest job. With 18 big blinds, he’ll need a double-up early.

Shawn Daniels is the last Shooting Star standing. He’ll be playing for the title and for the bragging rights of being the bounty who refused to burn out.

What Players Can Learn From These Hands

• Coolers are part of the game. Kings against aces and king-queen against aces sent two Shooting Stars home. With short stacks, there is no realistic fold, and it’s not a mistake to lose these hands.
• Short stacks live and die by flips. Ludlow, Holloway and Madsen all went out in spots close to 50/50. If you’re short, you have to accept that variance, so pick the best spots you can and get your chips in first rather than calling.
• Top pair isn’t safe on connected boards. Hellmuth flopped top pair on a J-7-6 board, but straight draws and set outs gave Wang plenty of ways to win. On coordinated boards, a strong lead can still be fragile.
• Bounties change calling ranges. When a $2,500 bounty is in the pot, you can call all-ins a little lighter against players you cover. Jung’s double knockout earned him an extra $5,000 on top of the chips.
• Watch the clock near the end of the day. Madsen’s elimination came on the final hand of Day 2. Late in a day, a short stack sometimes gains more from surviving to the next session than from forcing action.

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