The six finalists have been determined for the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star Championship, which attracted 584 players. Quoc Mai leads the final table with 10,165,000 chips, and the decisive stage will take place on December 15 at the Wynn in Las Vegas as part of the WPT World Championship festival.
The winner of the legendary World Poker Tour event will receive $470,500, while each of the six finalists has already secured at least $94,000. The final table will be streamed live; the news was published on October 29, 2026, while the original report states that the action at Bay 101 wrapped up on October 28.
Details
On Day 3 of the tournament at Bay 101, located in Northern California, players battled for seats at the final table. Day 2 ended with 55 players remaining, including 12 “Shooting Stars”—players carrying special $2,500 bounties. A bounty is an additional reward for eliminating a specific player from a tournament.
After Day 3, only one such player remained in the field: Shawn Daniels. He was also the only finalist who is a member of the WPT Champions Club. Daniels has earned more than $3.5 million in live tournament prizes and will begin the final stage with 3,000,000 chips. That is the fourth-largest stack among the finalists.
Quoc Mai leads the chip counts with 10,165,000. His closest challenger, Chahn Jung, has 9,075,000 chips. In third place is Ziao “Zeo” Guo with 4,095,000. Guo is considered one of the most frequent players in Hustler Casino Live history: since HCL launched in 2021, he has appeared on the show nearly 100 times.
| Place | Player | Stack |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quoc Mai | 10,165,000 |
| 2 | Chahn Jung | 9,075,000 |
| 3 | Ziao “Zeo” Guo | 4,095,000 |
| 4 | Shawn Daniels | 3,000,000 |
| 5 | Eric Zheng | 2,065,000 |
| 6 | William Davis | 700,000 |
Shawn Daniels is fourth, followed by Eric Zheng, who will return to play in December with 2,065,000 chips. William Davis is in last place with 700,000, the shortest stack at the final table. The original report suggests that Quoc Mai and Chahn Jung will likely target Davis early in the final stage.
The six players secured payouts after Jeremy Menard was eliminated. He finished in seventh place, the so-called final-table bubble. After that, all remaining players were guaranteed at least $94,000, while the champion will take home $470,500.
The final stage will not take place immediately after the tournament at Bay 101 concludes. It will be held on December 15 at the Wynn in Las Vegas during the three-week WPT World Championship festival, which wraps up the World Poker Tour season. The festival schedule also includes the Super Gold Million, with a $3 million guaranteed prize pool, and the WPT Prime Championship.
The stack distribution makes for a particularly lopsided final table. William Davis has 18 big blinds, while Quoc Mai and Chahn Jung each have more than 220 big blinds. Ziao Guo has more than 100 big blinds, and Eric Zheng has 52. With four big stacks at the table, however, even Zheng has no need to force the action. Given the disparity in stacks, the final-table broadcast is expected to be lengthy.
The article was written by Jon Sofen, senior editor of the U.S. edition of PokerNews. The tournament is listed under World Poker Tour; the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star Championship is part of the World Poker Tour series.
Commentary from the Vse-o-Pokere Editorial Team
For players and companies working with poker tournaments, this story highlights the importance of transparent qualification, payout, and public final-table rules. The gap between the largest and smallest stacks is also worth noting: with the same guaranteed payout, players’ strategies and audience interest in the broadcast will differ significantly. Businesses planning promotional activities, partnerships, or a presence at international poker festivals should verify the event format, venue status, and organizer requirements in advance. We advise and support clients on poker, gambling, casinos, gaming, and regulatory matters, including the assessment of commercial and regulatory risks associated with tournaments. This approach helps distinguish the sporting dynamics of a particular final table from the legal considerations involved in promotion and operating in the market.
