The highly anticipated World Series of Poker Main Event began this past Sunday, with several marquee players battling for the $8.7 million first place prize. Three players now remain within this highly-contested round table, including crowd and odds-on favorite Ben Lamb.
Martin Staszko, Ben Lamb and Pius Heinz are the survivors of two intense days of final table play, as the play for the November Nine was finally underway after a long-awaited four-month hiatus. Heinz currently sits as the chip leader three-handed with 107,800,000 in chips, well over the remaining balances of Lamb and Staszko with 55,400,000 and 42,700,000 respectively.
Despite Heinz holding nearly a 2-to-1 chip advantage over his closest follower, it’s still believed to be anyone’s bracelet, and both critics and fans alike continue to give Lamb an edge in terms of skill and perseverance over his fearsome competitors.
Lamb used a bit of that resilience during his stay over these past few days, picking up monstrous pots in timely situations to secure his spot amongst the November elite.
November Niner Matt Giannetti was the primary victim of Lamb on these momentous occasions, and it seemed to be insignificant whether or not Giannetti’s money entered the pot as a favorite or an underdog. In two decisive spots Giannetti’s luck faltered, the first which saw him move all-in with pocket jacks only to be flushed on the turn by 
, and the second in which his ace-high didn’t improve against the pocket pair of Lamb’s.
In a strange irony of sorts, Lamb’s big pocket pair seemed to be indestructible against most opponents and Giannetti was not unique as the 
didn’t gain a glimpse of hope against the pocket kings of Lamb on a flop that brought yet another pair of cowboys.
Giannetti, despite playing very well and rarely getting to showdown without premium holdings, ended his fairy tale run at poker’s most prestigious title and finished in fourth place.
Before he departed the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, Giannetti gently expressed his frustration through mild disappointment.
“It sucks when you get close to something you really want and don’t make it,” Giannetti responded to his dreadful exit. “I didn’t come here to finish fourth.”
Despite some of these hands becoming the primary conversation pieces of the WSOP Main Event final table, current chip leader Pius Heinz is worth discussing not only because of his impressive play thus far, but also because of his focus in retrieving poker’s most sought-after mantelpiece for the country of Germany for the first time.
“I just played as well as I could and tried to not make any mistakes,” Heinz said. “In most of the hands I was pretty spot on with my thoughts and it was just my day.”
“I think it would have a really, really big impact on poker in Germany. It would just be awesome, but I’m not there yet. I still have to beat two really tough opponents. I definitely respect both guys but I’m not afraid of either of them.”
Heinz delivering the WSOP Main Event gold to his home country of Germany would be a monumental event, as no German player has ever won the honor of being Main Event champion.
The five other players that exited this final table all had dreams of similar magnitude, but Sam Holden, Anton Makiievskyi, Bob Bounahra, Phil Collins and the son of Donnachea O’dea, Eoghan O’dea didn’t quite convert their aspirations into expensive WSOP hardware.
British young gun Sam Holden was the first casualty of the November Nine, unfortunately having few outs to keep his tournament alive after he was all-in with A-J against the A-K of Lamb.
Just 51 hands into play, the 888 Poker sponsored player was sent to the rail in 9th place, with a consolatory $782,115 in his pocket.
Makiievskyi, the 8th place finisher, was soon to exit thereafter, but his fate was a bit tougher to swallow as his K-Q looked very solid against the pocket nines of Pius Heinz after a king hit the flop.
But to the delight of Heinz’s supporters, his rail jumped in elation as a nine was revealed on the turn to end Makiievskyi’s tournament.
Bounahra, the only amateur player to grace this year’s November Nine, faced a similar fate of Holden, getting his ace-high involved all-in pre against a better ace. Never quite gaining much in terms of tournament chips, Bounahra couldn’t have been too upset with his seventh place$1.3 million extra in his pocket book.
Ireland’s Eoghan O’Dea, one of the final table favorites and also a player with the deepest lineal background considering poker heritage, surprisingly finished in sixth place despite walking into the Rio as the runner-up in chip count.
Making a fatal mistake against the hard-to-read Heinz, O’Dea showed strength by three-betting pre-flop and betting both the flop and turn only to relinquish the hand by the river. Sensing that Heinz was over-abusing his chip stack, the receptive O’Dea considered his actions the correct move at the time, but in hindsight critiqued the scenario as his biggest setback.
“I’d usually just call there and then call behind, but I felt like he was weak there and ended up losing a lot of chips,” he told reporters after he left. “I misread the situation.”
Collins, entering the November Nine as one of the average stacks, didn’t run as well as Lamb with A-7 suited and left in fifth place versus Heinz’s pocket nines.
The German’s luck with the familiar pocket pair just may lead him to an ironic ending with which he would be much less acquainted, nearly a $9 million dollar payday. He would also go in the record book as the first German player to ever win the WSOP Main Event.
In just a few days, historic moments may be abundant at the Rio All-Suite & Hotel in Las Vegas, NV.
More updates will be coming soon from High Stakes Report on the WSOP Main Event final table in upcoming hours.
Here are the complete final table payouts and chip counts going into Tuesday’s play:
2011 World Series of Poker Main Event – $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em
Entrants: 6,865 Prize Pool: $64,531,000 1st place: $8,711,956
- 4th place – Matt Giannetti ($3,012,700)
- 5th place – Phil Collins ($2,269,599)
- 6th place – Eoghan O’Dea ($1,720,831)
- 7th place – Bob Bounahra ($1,314,097)
- 8th place – Anton Makiievskyi ($1,010,015)
- 9th place – Sam Holden ($782,115)
Current chip counts:
- Pius Heinz – 107,800,000
- Ben Lamb – 55,400,000
- Martin Staszko – 42,700,000
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