WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star Kicks Off with Star-Studded Action

The WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star tournament began on March 8 in San Jose, California. The tournament offers a $5,000 bonus for eliminating a star player. Day 1A of the tournament saw Vanna Ti emerge as the winner, narrowly edging out Greg Muller in the final moments. Sixteen stars started in Day 1A, but only six survived to the second day. Among those who did not make it to Day 2 were Erik Baldwin, TJ Cloutier, Hoyt Corkins, Tom 'Durrrr' Dwan, Chris Ferguson, Bertrand Grospellier, Gus Hansen, Jennifer Harman, Kathy Liebert, Jason Mercier, and Gavin Smith. The survivors include Steve Bresher, Freddy Deeb, Mike Matasow, Greg Muller, Daniel Negreanu, and Eugene Timoshenko.

Tom 'Durrrr' Dwan, known for his early exits from tournaments to focus on online cash games, earned $856,489 over the weekend, bringing his year-to-date earnings to $1,755,708. In addition to his poker achievements, Dwan made headlines with a high-stakes bet against Phil Ivey on the show High Stakes Poker. Phil Ivey agreed to become a vegetarian for a year for $1 million, a challenge that Gus Hansen doubted Ivey could complete. Hansen, a former tennis champion in Denmark, often plays tennis and has a history of betting on sports. Last year, he bet around a million euros on Rafael Nadal's victory at the French Open, which did not materialize.

Gus Hansen, who was part of Caroline Wozniacki's support group at the Australian Open, also shared his thoughts on the vegetarian bet. Hansen suggested that Ivey could easily hire the best vegetarian chef for a year for less than his average online poker winnings. Hansen himself turned down a $2 million offer to abstain from sex for a year, indicating his confidence in his abilities. The conditions of the bet between Ivey and Dwan were revealed after the show's airing, which was filmed in December.