Quoc Mai will take the chip lead into the televised final table of the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star Championship, but the six survivors from San Jose now face a long wait. The tournament was halted at six players late on Monday night, and the title will be settled on 15 December in Las Vegas during the WPT World Championship series.
None of the invited Shooting Stars made it. Joe Nguyen was the last of them in the field and finished eighth for $56,500, while Phil Hellmuth, Chris Moorman and Day 2 leader Stephen Graner all fell earlier on a hectic third day.
Two double knockouts end the day
The official WPT live updates describe a frantic finish in Level 23. Chahn Jung first picked off two Shooting Stars in a single hand, sending Adam Hendrix out in ninth ($48,500) and Aaron Massey in tenth ($41,500). Because both carried bounties, Jung also banked two $2,500 Shooting Star payments, the first double bounty knockout of the event.
Minutes later Mai repeated the trick. Nguyen moved in from the small blind, Jeremy Menard shoved over the top from the big blind, and Mai put both of them at risk with a five bet. The board held for Mai, who collected the bounty on Nguyen and eliminated Menard in seventh for $72,000.
That hand lifted Mai to 10,165,000, ahead of Jung on 9,075,000. The other four have a lot of catching up to do.
Final table seating and chip counts
- Seat 1: Eric Zheng, 2,065,000
- Seat 2: Ziao Guo, 4,095,000
- Seat 3: Chahn Jung, 9,075,000
- Seat 4: Shawn Daniels, 3,000,000
- Seat 5: William Davis, 700,000
- Seat 6: Quoc Mai, 10,165,000
Shawn Daniels is the one player at the table already in the WPT Champions Club. William Davis has the shortest stack, with only 18 big blinds when play restarts at 20,000/40,000 with a 40,000 ante. Everyone left is guaranteed $94,000, and the winner receives $470,500, a figure that includes a $10,400 seat in the season ending WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas. Second place is worth $305,000.
Cards are in the air on Day 3 of the $5,300 @WPT @Bay101Casino Shooting Star Championship 🏆🌠
55 players have returned in the money, all having locked up at least $11,400 🔒
The field is set to play down to the final two tables, which is expected to take roughly nine hours ⏰
World Poker Tour (@WPT) October 26, 2026
How the big names went out
Monday began with 55 players and twelve Shooting Stars, as we reported in our preview of Day 3. Graner, who had bagged the biggest stack on Sunday, ran out of chips in 17th place after Adam Adler came from behind against him in an all in pot, and he left with $27,000.
According to the full payout list published by Pokerexklusiv, Hellmuth finished 48th and Moorman 50th, each for $11,400. Hellmuth’s son Nicholas also cashed for the same amount in 51st. Hellmuth therefore remains without a WPT title.
The six finalists now have seven weeks to prepare before they reconvene in Las Vegas, where Mai and Jung will start as the clear favourites in chips.
