Brecher captures Shooting Star title
By Arnold Warner

In an epic battle that broke the record for most hands at a WPT final table, Steve Brecher of Reno, Nev. came away with the Bay 101 Shooting Star title (and $1,025,000) when he outlasted Kathy Liebert ($550,000) and four others on March 20, 2009.

The previous record for a final table was 303 hands, but it took until hand number 319 to bring the event to a conclusion. Liebert raised preflop with Qs-10s, Brecher moved all-in with A-9 offsuit and Liebert called. The flop came 6h-6s-2s giving Liebert a flush draw. When the turn brought the 2c, she needed a Q, 10 or any spade to double up, or another 6 or 2 to chop the pot and survive. The river was the 4c, giving Brecher the tournament and Liebert’s $5,000 bounty as an extra bonus.

The pivotal moment of the tournament occurred in hand 178 when they were still three handed, along with Chris Moore. Brecher moved all-in preflop with A-Q offsuit, which Liebert, the chip leader at the time, called with As-Ks. Leibert was obviously a huge favorite to eliminate Brecher and have more than a two-to-one chip lead over Moore. The flop was K-J-5, pairing Leibert’s king, but also giving Brecher the gutshot straight draw. When the 10 came on the turn, Leibert’s was left to hope for a Q on the river and a chopped pot. When a 7 hit the felt, Brecher had taken a commanding chip lead and Liebert was left on the short stack.

Liebert said, “I was very happy when I saw the flop because I was a big favorite to knock him out and go heads up with the chip lead. To lose the pot put me in third place with short chips. When I got heads up I was outchipped and he put the pressure on a lot of hands, so I felt I had to gamble as to not get run over. Obviously it was great to get that far in the tournament but disappointing not to win. It would have been huge to win and second [place] money is good, but not the same glory and pride as winning.”

Brecher’s take on the hand was similarly pragmatic: “After the hands were turned up, and before I won that hand on the turn, I was prepared to leave the building. I wouldn’t have had any great regret, because I don’t think I made any big mistake on the hand. I don’t like busting out of a tournament, but I have lingering regrets only when I think I have donked out.” After fate (and the turn) went his way he said, “My thought was that, with the big chip lead I’d just gained, it was now my tournament to lose.”

Three of the six finalists hail from the Bay Area. Chau Vu started the final table in sixth place, but was first in the hearts of many in the audience. He works as a prop player at the Bay 101 Casino (and had to wear his badge throughout the tournament). He won a seat into the tournament in a $100 with re-buys satellite.

Two other Bay Area residents at the final table were Tony Behari (second at start of final table) and Thao Le (fifth). Also laying claim to some Bay Area roots was Brecher, who was an undergrad at Stanford from 1963 to 1967 and later was a computer software developer in Sunnyvale from 1986 to 1991.

“I first started playing while I was a Stanford undergrad in the mid 1960s— both at school and at the nearby, now-defunct, Cameo Club in Palo Alto. The Cameo Club dealt no-limit Ace-to-Five Lowball with a joker. The house dealer also got a hand! I also played some at a small cardroom in Palo Alto which may have been on Alma St. and which was run by a young guy named Jerry Reed. Nowadays I occasionally see Jerry at tournaments—I think he got pretty deep at the Shooting Star,” Brecher said.

“I didn’t play much while I lived in Sunnyvale, except for an occasional game with friends. A few times a year I’d go back to the Cameo Club and play limit Lowball. On those occasions I was glad to see young Stanford students come into the game!”

When the final table got underway, it seemed like it might be over pretty quickly. Vu ($135,000) was eliminated on hand number 8 in sixth place, followed shortly by Le ($180,000) on hand number 11. It would be hours, however, before the next victim fell.

The Bay Area contingent’s last member was gone when Behari ($230,000) was busted in fourth place by Liebert on hand number 117. It took even longer for Moore ($291,500) to finally go out in third place when his A-K lost to Brecher’s Kd-3d when the flop brought two diamonds and the river completed the flush on hand number 265.

As always at the Shooting Star, bounties played a big part in the tournament, with $5,000 (and an autographed t-shirt) going to any individual who eliminated one of the many superstars participating. This year was no exception, with the first bounty going to Macario Escobedo, who knocked out Andy Bloch with A-A versus K-K.

Asked to comment on the tournament in general, Brecher said, “It’s hard to imagine a better structure for a four-day event. Except for the final table—which set a WPT record for number of hands—none of the days were marathons, yet there was plenty of play. It never became a “shove fest” for the average stack. Going six-handed on Day 3 is one of tournament director Matt Savage’s great ideas.

“More generally, the Shooting Star is always popular with players and fans alike. The fans get to see a lot of the superstars they’ve seen on TV. The Bay 101 treats the players well, from an excellent brunch each day before the start to using tables with automatic shufflers to enable more hands to be played. And the bounties on the stars adds an interesting twist. When I play tournaments on Full Tilt I’m always a bounty, so it was nice to be on the other side, although next year at the Shooting Star I’ll be one of the ones they’ll be shooting at!”

While less verbose than Brecher, Liebert’s take on the tournament was no less positive: “The tournament had a great structure, and the fans were awesome. Just a great place to play and the best fans anywhere in the world,” she said.