Historical Poker Archive | Championship concluded: March 19, 2011 (local time)
Alan Sternberg emerged as champion of the World Poker Tour Bay 101 Shooting Star event in San Jose, California, following a final table that stretched into the early hours of March 19, 2011. His first-place prize was recorded as $1,039,000, including an entry to the season-ending WPT World Championship.
A Dramatic Heads-Up Finish
Sternberg faced Steven Kelly in the final heads-up contest. On the decisive hand, Kelly held ace-queen against Sternberg’s ten-eight suited. Kelly paired his queen on the flop, but an eight on the river gave Sternberg a full house and the title.
Kelly finished second for $595,300. Mike Matusow took third for $369,800, Vivek Rajkumar fourth for $295,800, Casey McCarrel fifth for $221,800, and Mike Sexton sixth for $148,000.
A Signature World Poker Tour Event
The Bay 101 Shooting Star tournament was known for its bounty format and prominent professional field. The 2011 Main Event attracted 415 entries, according to WPT season records.
Archive note: Independently written historical reconstruction, not a reproduction of the original headline’s article. Historical event and WordPress publication dates are different.
Historical references: World Poker Tour — official 2011 event coverage; PokerNews — March 19, 2011 report.
San Jose’s Shooting Star Championship
The World Poker Tour’s Bay 101 Shooting Star event occupied a distinctive place in the 2011 tournament calendar. Hosted in San Jose, California, it paired the familiar structure of a WPT Main Event with a bounty concept attached to selected prominent players. That feature made the tournament recognizable even among the many live events being played during the season.
The 2011 championship drew 415 entries, according to the event records. Alan Sternberg ultimately emerged from that field as champion. The reported first-place package was $1,039,000, including entry into the season-ending WPT World Championship. That package description matters: a headline figure may include an event seat as well as cash.
The Six Players at the Final Table
Steven Kelly finished runner-up, collecting a reported $595,300. Mike Matusow placed third for $369,800, followed by Vivek Rajkumar in fourth for $295,800. Casey McCarrel took fifth for $221,800, and Mike Sexton finished sixth for $148,000.
That lineup brought together several different strands of tournament poker. Matusow and Rajkumar were familiar competitive names, while Sexton was closely associated with the World Poker Tour through his broadcasting work. His presence as a finalist was a notable detail of the event, although the championship itself belonged to Sternberg.
The Deciding Heads-Up Hand
The final confrontation came between Sternberg and Kelly. Contemporary coverage describes Kelly holding ace-queen against Sternberg’s suited ten-eight. Kelly connected with a queen on the flop, but the later board gave Sternberg a full house, ending the contest in his favor. The river eight is a memorable detail because it changed the outcome of the final hand.
One dramatic showdown should not stand in for an entire tournament. Sternberg had already survived a large field and advanced through the final table before that last confrontation occurred. The closing hand explains how the title was settled, not how every earlier pot was won.
From Final-Table Report to Champion’s Record
This archive also preserves a separate entry titled “WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star Final Table Set.” The two stories describe different moments. The final-table report records the competitors who remained before the last stage; the championship report records the eventual result. Reading them together preserves the sequence of events rather than treating the winner as inevitable from the outset.
For researchers revisiting March 2011, the most durable facts are the venue, field, finishing order and reported payouts. The official WPT archive and contemporary PokerNews account are linked above so that the result and its coverage can be checked against their original contexts.