WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star 2026: Rajat Paliwal Wins the Opener as Early Champions Are Crowned

The WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star festival is in full swing at Bay 101 Casino in San Jose, California, and the first batch of champions has been crowned. The biggest story so far belongs to Rajat Paliwal, who outlasted a huge field to win the $600 Shooting Star Opener for $71,320.

The festival runs through November 1, 2026, with 18 events plus satellites and buy-ins from $400 to $5,300. The main attraction, the $5,300 WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star Championship, kicks off tomorrow, October 23.

Here’s a look at how the early events played out.

Event #1: $600 Shooting Star Opener

The festival started with a bang. The Opener drew 822 entries, building a prize pool of $427,440, the biggest field of the series so far.

When the dust settled, Rajat Paliwal was the last player standing, banking $71,320. Haidang Nguyen finished runner-up for $44,000, and Donald Landwirth took third for $32,500.

Place	Player	Prize
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

The cheapest event on the schedule pulled in 327 entries for a $114,450 prize pool. Diego Cifuentes-Ortiz came out on top and collected $15,700.

The payouts at the top were unusually close. The top six spots were separated by just over $7,000, which suggests the final players likely agreed to a deal.

Place	Player	Prize
1	Diego Cifuentes-Ortiz	$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 and a $99,320 prize pool. Kevin Kent took the title and $25,150, with Bret Wagar second for $17,170.

Two familiar names from the Opener showed up here too. Ron Fetsch and Henry Phan, who finished ninth and tenth in Event #1, both cashed again.

Place	Player	Prize
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 gave mixed-game players a break from No-Limit Hold’em. The $600 Omaha 8 (Omaha Hi-Lo) attracted 76 entries and a $39,520 prize pool. Francis Zhang won it for $13,350.

Place	Player	Prize
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

Event #6: $600 Pot-Limit Omaha

The latest event to finish was the $600 Pot-Limit Omaha, which drew 110 entries for a $57,200 prize pool. Jonathan Alley claimed the title and $17,160.

A couple of players had a busy week. Prince Of Docness made a second deep run after finishing third in Event #4, and Graham Perry cashed in both Omaha events.

Place	Player	Prize
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

Coming Up: The $5,300 WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star Championship

Now the main event takes centre stage. The $5,300 WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star Championship runs October 23–27, and it’s one of the most unique events on the World Poker Tour.

Championship Schedule

Date	Day
Friday, October 23	Day 1A
Saturday, October 24	Day 1B
Following days	Day 2 and Day 3
Day 4 of the event	Final table

The final six players will play for the title at a televised final table, and the winner gets their name on the Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup.

What Makes It Special: The Shooting Star Bounties

The Shooting Star Championship is famous for one thing: celebrity bounties. Well-known players are scattered through the field as “Shooting Stars,” and anyone who knocks one out wins an extra $2,500. That bounty is paid separately, so it doesn’t come out of the regular prize pool.

This year’s Shooting Stars include:

• Alex Foxen and Kristen Foxen, poker’s best-known married couple
• Phil Hellmuth, the all-time WSOP bracelet leader
• David Williams
• Brad Owen, the popular poker vlogger
• Jeremy Becker
• Scott Stewart
• Mike Matusow

Can It Top Last Year?

The bar is high. When the Shooting Star returned to the WPT last year, the Championship drew 672 entries and a prize pool of about $3.2 million. Florida’s Kharlin Sued won it for $480,700, beating Danny Wong heads-up after the final table moved to Wynn Las Vegas.

With a strong turnout in the early events, especially the 822-entry Opener, there’s good reason to think this year’s Championship could draw another big crowd.

Final Thoughts

The WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star has gotten off to a lively start, with big fields, a few repeat cashers and a mix of Hold’em and Omaha champions. Rajat Paliwal set the tone with his Opener win, and now all eyes turn to the $5,300 Championship and its star-studded bounty list.

Stay tuned for updates as the festival heads toward its final day on November 1.

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