Hellmuth Leaves His Mark at Shooting Star Day 2
March 11, 2010
“Poker brat” Phil Hellmuth emerged as chip leader after Day 2 of the World Poker Tour Bay 101 Shooting Star, made more impressive by the fact that he is a marked man. The Shooting Star is a unique tournament where professional players have a $5,000 bounty on their heads. Anyone who knocks off one of these “Shooting Stars” gets the $5,000 bounty chip and bragging rights (not to mention a t-shirt!). It is rare to see more than one ‘marked’ player at the final table.
Hellmuth stands atop the final 27 that was whittled down from 126 at the start of the day after a big win over fellow Shooting Star JC Tran and eliminating Shooting Star Yevgeniy Timoshenko. Hellmuth, with over $300,00 in chips, is one of four remaining Shooting Stars, along with Chau Giang, John Cernuto and Scotty Nguyen. Daniel Negreanu, Mike Sexton, Barry Greenstein, JC Tran, Freddy Deeb, Greg Mueller and defending champion Steve Brecher fell to bounty hunters on Day 2. Day 1 chip leader Eugene Katchalov was also eliminated.
Ryan Smith is a contributing blog writer for GR88.com
