November Nine Set!
Jul 20, '11
After eight days of play and nearly 72 hours of cards, the 2011 World Series of Poker has officially reached the November Nine.
Leading the way into the four-month hiatus is the Czech Republic’s Martin Staszko, who has a slight advantage over Ireland’s Eoghan O’Dea.
The final table will be a truly international affair, with seven different countries represented. The Americans will be the most prevelent at the Penn and Teller Theatre at the Rio, having three players in attendance. Matt Giannetti, Phil Collins and Ben Lamb also reside in third, fourth and fifth in the standings after some late night jostling.
Giannetti was handcuffed early on during the final table bubble, but picked up pocket jacks twice to give him a comfortable chip count entering November.
Barring a spectacular performance at the WSOP Europe series from Phil Hellmuth, Lamb has nearly locked up the WSOP Player of the Year honors. He has now earned nearly $2 million this summer and is in a great position to triple or quadruple that amount.
Badih Bounahra was at one point the shortest stack at the table, but he was able to pick up a big hand to double through, becoming the first player to represent Belize at the final table in WSOP history.
Germany’s Pius Heinz is certainly happy to have survived the bubble, especially after getting all in with K-J against a dominating A-K earlier in the day. Heinz would up making a straight to double, which was enough for him to advance.
The rest of the final table is rounded out by Ukraine’s Anton Makievskyi and the U.K.’s Sam Holden. Both players will have their work cut out for them in November, returning with less than 30 big blinds.
The unfortunate final table bubble boy was John Hewitt, who made a questionable call against Bounahra that saw his stacked crippled. He eventually lost a coinflip to O’Dea to see his Main Event run come to an end.
By surviving until November, Eoghan and his father, Donnacha O’Dea, have become the first father and son pair to make the WSOP Main Event final table. Donnacha finished ninth in 1991 and sixth in 1983.
Here is a look at the seating assignments and chip counts.
Seat 1 — Matt Giannetti — 24,750,000
Seat 2 — Badih Bounahra — 19,700,000
Seat 3 — Eoghan O’Dea — 33,925,000
Seat 4 — Phil Collins — 23,875,000
Seat 5 — Anton Makievskyi — 13,825,000
Seat 6 — Samuel Holden — 12,375,000
Seat 7 — Pius Heinz — 16,425,000
Seat 8 — Ben Lamb — 20,875,000
Seat 9 — Martin Staszko — 40,175,000
Player Tags: Matt Giannetti, Ben Lamb, Badih Bounahra, Eoghan O'Dea, Phil Collins, Martin Staszko, Sam Holden, Pius Heinz, Anton Makiievskyi
Sam Holden Eliminated In Ninth Place ($782,115)
Nov 06, '11
It took about three hours for the 2011 World Series of Poker main event final table to find its first casualty, and although there was a lot of fluctuation among the stack sizes, it was the initial short stack, Sam Holden who busted first.
Holden was all in several times, trying to keep his head above water, but an increase in the blinds forced him to move all in holding A
J.
Ben Lamb woke up with a dominating A
K
and his hand went on to make the eventual nut flush on a board reading A 9 8 Q 6
.
Holden was gracious in defeat as he exited the main stage. Unfortunately, the 22-year-old will not be taking home any additional prize money and will have settle for the $782,115 he was paid back in July.
Be sure to follow all of the main event action on Card Player’s official twitter page.
Player Tags: Sam Holden
A Look at the Stage!
Nov 06, '11
We are just about two hours away from the start of the 2011 World Series of Poker main event final table here at the Penn and Teller Theatre at the Rio. Here’s a look at the crew cleaning up the ESPN final table stage.
You’ll notice that the stage is nearly identical to the stage used this summer in the Amazon Room. The only difference is that the bleachers have been spread to the sides to form a half circle. Take a look.
Player Tags: Matt Giannetti, Ben Lamb, Badih Bounahra, Eoghan O'Dea, Phil Collins, Martin Staszko, Sam Holden, Pius Heinz
