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
Level 36 Update: November Nine Set
Jul 20, '11
Blinds: 250,000-500,000 with a 50,000 ante
Players Remaining: 9 out of 6,865
Average Chip Count: 22,883,333
Chip Leaders:
Coming Soon…
Eliminations:
10. John Hewitt — $607,882
Featured Poker Tweets:
Philip Collins
Ben Lamb
Hands:
Matt Giannetti Scores Much Needed Double Up
Matt Giannetti moved all in for his last 5,500,000 from under the gun and John Hewitt reluctantly called from the big blind with A
10
.
Giannetti showed pocket jacks and they held when the board fell K 8
4 5 6. He now has over 11 million in chips, but Hewitt is now short with 10,400,000.
Giannetti Doubles Again With Jacks
Pius Heinz raised to 1,100,000 and Ben Lamb reraised to 3,100,000. Matt Giannetti then moved all in for 8,400,000 from the button and Heinz folded.
Lamb called with K 9 and was well behind Giannetti’s J J
. The board rolled out 10 6 3 7 A and Giannetti doubled up to 19 million. Lamb took a major hit down to 21 million.
Badih Bounahra Doubles Through John Hewitt
John Hewitt raised to 1,100,000 and Badih Bounahra moved all in for his last 9,300,000. Hewitt called with K Q, but he was in awful shape against Bounahra’s pocket kings.
The board brought a queen, but Hewitt couldn’t come from behind to bust his opponent. Now Hewitt is on the short stack with 4 million and Bounahra is up to nearly 20 million.
John Hewitt Eliminated in 10th Place
Eoghan O’Dea raised to 1,100,000 and John Hewitt moved all in for 3,875,000. O’Dea immediately called with K J and was racing against Hewitt’s pocket threes.
The board fell Q 10 7 A K and O’Dea’s straight sent Hewitt to the rail in tenth place. The remaining players are now the newest members of the November Nine.
Player Tags: Matt Giannetti, Badih Bounahra, John Hewitt
Badih Bounahra Eliminated in Seventh Place ($1,314,097)
Nov 06, '11
Badih Bounahra was arguably the tightest player at the table, but you wouldn’t have known it by his cheering section, which was the largest at the World Series of Poker main event final table.
The 49-year-old was probably the victim of his passive approach, which included a lot of limping and rarely defending his blinds.
After blinding down to less than five big blinds, Bounahra shoved over Martin Staszko’s opening raise with A 5. Stazsko made the automatic call with A 9 and his hand held on a board of 7 6 2 K 6 to bring the final table down to six players.
The Belize native scored $1,314,097 for his seventh-place finish, which is by far the largest of his career.
Be sure to follow all of the main event action on Card Player’s official twitter page.
Player Tags: Badih Bounahra
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
5
4
2
on the turn. His opponent bet 6000 on the turn and Bounahra called. The 6