Poker News 
/ Short-Stacked Shamus / 10 March 2012 / Leave a Comment 
Moon Kim and friends celebrate his victory in the 2012 WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star Main Event (Photo: World Poker Tour)
Kim's $960,900 score is well above his previous career best cash of $85,000 for winning another Bay 101 event back in 2007. The amateur player won his entry into this year's Shooting Star Main Event by winning a $1K satellite.
In a tournament that featured many of poker's biggest names, the 2012 World Poker Tour Bay 101 Shooting Star saw an amateur, Moon Kim, rise above the field of 364 entrants to claim the title and first prize of $960,900. In fact, none of the final six who made the final table were among the tourney's designated bounties, although Kim nonetheless had to outlast a tough final group that included Erik Cajelais, Joe Serock, and another amateur and runner-up finisher, Ubaid Habib.
Cajelais was the chip leader to start Friday's final table with more than 3.6 million chips, with Habib and Kim his closest challengers with a bit more than 2 million each. After 112 hands all six were still at the table, with Kim having nudged out ahead of Cajelais into the lead with a little more than 3 million.
By then Joseph Elpayaa had become the super-short stack with less than a big blind, and was soon all in with Ac-6c against Andrew Badecker's Kd-Jh. A jack flopped, and when the turn and river brought no help Elpayaa was out in sixth.
About 20 hands later it was Badecker raising from the button, then watching Kim push all in from the big blind. Badecker called with Ac-Kc and was racing against Kim's 4d-4h. The flop came As-5s-2s to give Badecker the lead, but the 3h turn gave Kim a wheel, making the 8d no matter. They were down to four.
Over the next couple of hours Cajelais fell down below a half million chips while Kim built up over 6.5 million. Then came a hand in which Cajelais was all in before the flop against both Kim and Habib. Five cards later Habib had drawn kings and queens while the others had but ace-high, eliminating Cajelais in fourth.
Soon Serock was all in for his last 1.15 million or so with 9c-9s and hoping his pair would hold against Kim's Kc-Qc. But the board came 8s-6d-3h-Ks-7d to give Kim kings and knock out Serock in third.
Kim held the lead to start heads-up play with 6.76 million to Habib's 4.16 million. After 35 hands the pair's stacks were nearly the same when Kim opened with a min-raise to 240,000 from the button and Habib called. The flop came 9d-4c-2d, and Habib checked. Kim bet 300,000, Habib raised to 900,000, then Kim pushed all in and Habib called.
Habib had Qc-9h for top pair of nines while Kim had Jd-7d for a flush draw. The turn was the Ac and Habib was still best, but the river was the 8d, bringing Kim the flush and the win.
2012 WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star final table payouts:
1st: Moon Kim -- $960,900?
2nd: Ubaid Habib -- $570,200?
3rd: Joe Serock -- $320,400
4th: Erik Cajelais -- $256,300?
5th: Andrew Badecker -- $192,300?
6th: Joseph Elpayaa -- $128,200
Kim, a recreational player from California, has several small cashes over the last five years, his previous best being an $85,000 score for winning a spread-limit hold'em event at Bay 101 back in 2007. Kim also finished 393rd in the 2008 WSOP Main Event for $28,950.
Kim won a $1,000 satellite to gain entry into this year's $10,000 buy-in Bay 101 Main Event, and thus comes away with a sweet return of better than 960 times his initial investment.
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