Heinz, Lamb and Staszko left in WSOP Main Event
Monday, 7 November 2011
The first part of the final table of the 2011 WSOP Main Event took place overnight and by the close of a lengthy day of play just three were still in the hunt for the $8.7m first prize.
The man in pole position to become the new World Champion is Pius Heinz who went on an absolute heater and finished the day with a stack of 107,800,000 almost double that of closest rival Ben Lamb who closed with 55,400,000. Completing the trio is start of day chip leader Martin Staszko ended the day with just 400,000 fewer chips than he started with on 42,700,000.
Hopes of a British victory ended early on with Sam Holden the first elimination of the day. The short stacked youngster was unlucky to run his AJ shove into Ben Lamb's AK and departed in ninth place with $782,115.
Anton Makiievskyi was next to go. The Ukrainian was flipping with KQ against Pius Heinz's pocket 9s and looked in good shape on a KJJ flop. A 9 on the turn changed everything though, sending Makiievskyi to the rail and the German to the top of the leader board, a position he wouldn't relinquish for the rest of the day.
Amateur Badih Bounahra was next out in sixth place. The veteran from Belize seemed happy to work his way up the cash ladder until taking a stand with A5. Unfortunately for the 49-year-old, he ran into Martin Stazko's A9 and couldn't find an out.
This month's Bluff cover star Eoghan O'Dea was highly fancied to become the first Irish Main event winner since Noel Furlong in 1999. The Dubliner lost a couple of big pots early on but worked his way back into contention until a clash with Ben Lamb left him crippled. Lamb pushed all in on an O'Dea raise and put the Irishman in the tank. He eventually made the call with Ac9d which looked in good shape against Lamb's Qd8d. Two diamonds on the flop gave the American extra outs but the 4c on the turn wasn't one of them. An 8 on the river was though giving Lamb a tournament saving pot and leaving O'Dea crushed. He departed just a couple of hands later in sixth place with $1,720,831.
There won't be one more night for Phil Collins either who, with around 20 big blinds, shoved Ad7d. Pius Heinz made the call with pocket 99s which held.
Matt Giannetti's hopes for WSOP glory faded soon after and, like O'Dea, he can at least say he got his money in good. Like the O'Dea hand, Lamb shoved on an initial raise and was called. Once again he wasn't in great shape with Ah7h against Giannetti's Jacks. The flop was Kh-9d-5h leaving Lamb with an over and a flush draw. Sure enough the 4h appeared on the turn to give Lamb the nuts and leave Giannetti crushed. Giannetti bowed out a few hands later when his A3 ran into Lamb's pocket Kings which eventually turned into quads.
And with that, the night was over. Heinz, Lamb and Staszko will resume battle at 2am in the early hours of Wednesday morning UK time with the not so small matter of $8.7m and the title of World Champion up for grabs.
The chip counts are as follows:
Pius Heinz 107,800,000
Ben Lamb 55,400,000
Martin Staszko 42,700
The payouts so far are as follows:
1 TBC 8,715,638
2 TBC 5,433,086
3 TBC 4,021,138
4 Matt Giannetti 3,012,700
5 Phil Collins 2,269,599
6 Eoghan O'Dea 1,720,831
7 Bob Bounahra 1,314,097
8 Anton Makiievskyi 1,010,015
9 Sam Holden 782,115
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Tags:
WSOP 2011, Main Event final table, Pius Heinz, Ben Lamb, Martin Staszko, Matt Giannetti, Phil Collins, Eoghan O'Dea, Bob Bounahra, Anton Makiievskyi, Sam Holden