Day 1b of the 2012 World Poker Tour Bay 101 Shooting Stars Main Event saw a very rare feat accomplished; the tournament actually saw a decline in attendance from Day 1a to Day 1b! On Day 1a of the event 142 players registered for the $10,000 buy-in event that places additional $5,000 bounties on some of the bigger names in the field, but Day 1b of the tournament saw only 122 players take to the tables at the Los Angeles card-room.

Overall the tournament saw 364 players register, a slight, but not dramatic decrease from last year’s 415 entrants considering last year’s Bay 101 took place prior to Black Friday turning the poker world on its head. 149 of the original registrants are still alive, and will be back in action on Day 2. The WPT announced the payouts for the tournament yesterday, where 36 players will make the money, and the winner of the 2012 Bay 101 will pocket just under $1 million ($960,900 to be precise).

One player on Day 1b also pocketed a $10,000 bonus for ending the day as the chip-leader, Christ Summers. Summers barely edged out former WPT Champion Taylor Von Kriegenbergh for the top spot. Here is a look at the Top 10 chip-counts from Day 1b:

1. Christ Summers – 188,000

2. Taylor von Kriegenbergh – 181,300

3. Max Silver – 155,200

4. Pete Nguyen – 148,800

5. Scott Baumstein – 133,600

6. Kent Washington – 131,000

7. Michael Mizrachi – 129,900

8. Andrew Watson – 128,800

9. Allen Cunningham – 122,200

10. Haroun Dalaig – 119,200

Of course there were also 28 $5,000 bounties to be collected, but unlike Day 1a, the “Shooting Stars” on Day 1b didn’t go quietly into the night. Of the 28 Shooting Stars, an impressive 13 made it through to Day 2, including Scotty Nguyen, Nam Le, Chau Giang, Antonio Esfandiari, Jason Mercier, Men Nguyen, Bertrand Elky Grospellier, J.C. Tran, Fabrice Soulier, Linda Johnson, Allen Cunningham, Michael Mizrachi, and David Williams,.

The names of the eliminated Shooting Stars were Barry Greenstein, Mike Sexton, Jennifer Harman, Ben Lamb, Scott Seiver, Eugene Katchalov, Todd Brunson, Alan Sternberg, Freddy Deeb, Chino Rheem, Matt Giannetti, Chris Moorman, and Allen Bari.

After playing an absurd ten 60 minute levels on Day 1, the field will now see the tournament format change to 90 minute levels on Day 2, and 120 minute levels on Day 3. Furthermore, when the money-bubble is burst (which will happen at 36 players) the tournament will switch from a Full Ring format to a 6-Max format.

Day 2 will begin at Noon local time, and will see the field pared down to just 18 players or play seven 90-minute levels –the latter being the more likely scenario considering there are nearly 150 players remaining in the tournament.

Tags: Allen Cunningham, Andrew Watson, Antonio Esfandiari, Bay 101, Black Friday, Bounties, Chau Giang, Cunningham Michael, Dramatic Decrease, ElkY, Fabrice Soulier, Kent Washington, Linda Johnson, Michael Mizrachi, Poker World, Rare Feat, Registrants, Scotty Nguyen, Shooting Stars, World Poker Tour, WPT

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