Let's fast forward to the first casualty of the day on hand number #26.

- Danny Nguyen raises it to $40,000, and Men Nguyen moves all in. Danny calls with J-J, and Men shows Q-Q. The flop comes 6-3-2, but a jack shows up on the turn, and the crowd gives a loud cheer for Danny's set. However, there are a lot of people shouting "Queen! Queen!" before the river card is revealed, and there's a brief moment of tension as it's another face card -- the case jack. Danny Nguyen has made four jacks against Men's queens.

Men "The Master" Nguyen is eliminated in 6th place, and collects $200,000 in prize money. But he was designated a "star" for this tournament, and Danny Nguyen receives another $5,000 as a bonus. At this point, that's chump change compared to what's at stake. But he gets a T-shirt with Men's picture on it, and I'm sure it's one that he'll treasure. Men shows a lot of class by sticking around to sign the shirt for Danny after a bad beat. It took a while to sign the shirt, and the audience speculated he might be writing a personal message. But when he held it up for the cameras, it was just his name in very large handwriting.

Following Men the master being eliminated is Corey Cheresnick & Shandor Szentkui. Gus is elimated on hand #83:

- Gus Hansen raises it to $120,000, and Danny Nguyen pushes all in. Gus thinks before calling, and shows K-10. He has two overcards to Danny's 9-9, but he's a slight underdog. The flop comes Q-8-4, and Gus has two cards to catch a pair or he's out of the tournament. But the turn card is a 9, making Danny a set and eliminating Gus in third place. Gus collects $320,000, and Danny Nguyen picks up his second bounty for busting out a "star."


Once Gus was eliminated it only took 2 hands to complete the heads up battle between Danny Nguyen & Jay Martens

- Hand #84 - Jay Martens raises the blind to $180,000, and Danny Nguyen calls. The flop comes Ah-10h-8c, Danny comes out betting, and Jay calls. The turn card is the 3h, and Danny pushes all in. Everything happens so quickly as Jay calls and the crowd all leaps to their feet to get a good look at what could be the final hand. Danny flips over Ad-5h, for top pair. Jay shows Kh-10c for second pair. Jay is behind, and with one card to come, he needs a king, a 10, or a heart (13 outs). The river card is the 4c, and Danny Nguyen wins the pot to take a 10-to-1 chip lead, with roughly $4 million to Jay's $360,000.

- Hand #85 - Jay is short-stacked, and the blinds and antes put $110,000 in the pot before any action takes place. So Jay makes a move on the very first hand, pushing all in. Danny Nguyen quickly calls. Jay has K-4, and Danny has 4-3 -- Jay is in excellent position to double up on this hand, and give himself a little breathing room. The flop comes 10h-9h-2h, and Danny is the only one with a heart in his hand. So he's down to 11 outs -- nine hearts for a flush, and two non-heart 3s for a pair. The turn card is the 7c, and with his supporters chanting for a heart, the river card is a 3, making him a lowly pair of threes that earns Danny Nguyen a million dollars.


And there you have it Danny Nguyen wins the BAY 101 Shooting Stars WPT Final Table. We will have a profile of Danny Nguyen in the next couple of days.



Final Results & Payouts:


1 Danny Nguyen $1,025,500
2 Jay Martens $600,000
3 Gus Hansen $320,000
4 Shandor Szentkuti $280,000
5 Corey Cheresnick $240,000
6 Men Nguyen $200,000