Bay 101 Shooting Star Main Event Ends in 10-Way Chop Due To Coronavirus; Craig Varnell Declared the Champion!

With the increasing threat of the deadly coronavirus, the poker world is currently in doldrums. While many poker events have already been cancelled in various parts of the world, a few tournaments have gone forward. One such tournament concluding this past weekend was the Bay 101 Shooting Star $5,200 NLH Main Event where the final 10 players were to play out Day 3 on Friday but the organizers and the remaining players agreed to end the event due to the threat of Corornavirus.

The Bay 101 Shooting Star $5,200 NLH Main Event drew 290 entries, generating $1,331,000 in prizepool. Top 37 finishers were paid out and among them Max Young, Andrew Moreno, Mike Matusow, Chino Rheem and recent two-time WPT champ Tony Tran were notable ITM finishers.

PPC champ Phil Hui (12th for $24,860) and WPT legend Darren Elias (11th for $24,860) were the last two players to bust on the penultimate day. The remaining 10 players showed up for the final day but they negotiated and agreed for a ICM Chop. Craig Varnell (2,700,000) who held the chip lead at the time of the deal, was awarded the top prize of $159,710, while Kristen Bicknell (2,110,000) who had the second biggest stack walked away with $141,520. Indian-origin players Navin Mohan (3rd $132,780) and Anshul Kulshrestha (5th for $101,430) were also among the top 5 finishers.

Final 10 Payouts:

1 Craig Varnell $159,710 *

2 Kristen Bicknell $141,520 *

3 Navin Mohan $132,780 *

4 Tyler Patterson $113,860 *

5 Anshul Kulshrestha $101,430 *

6 Michael Tureniec $91,180 *

7 John Andress $88,800 *

8 Anthony Zinno $55,600 *

9 Anthony Spinella $50,000 *

10 Lexy Gavin $41,060 *