Tuesday, November 8, 2011 6:20 PM Local Time
Pius Heinz started the hand with the button. He raised to 2.7 million and won the pot.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011 6:19 PM Local Time
Martin Staszko had the button. He completed for the minimum 600,000, and Pius Heinz took a free flop from the big blind.
It came , and Heinz's bet of 1.8 million won him the first pot of heads-up play.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011 6:13 PM Local Time
We're taking a quick break while $8.7 million is dumped onto the table.
Back in just a few.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011 6:13 PM Local Time
| Martin Staszko | 117,300,000 | 11,100,000  |
| Pius Heinz | 88,600,000 | 1,400,000 |
| Ben Lamb | 0 | -12,500,000  |
Tuesday, November 8, 2011 6:13 PM Local Time
Hand #182:
Pius Heinz had the button.
After Heinz folded, Ben lamb raised all in for 10.9 million. Martin Staszko woke up with the and made the call. Lamb held the .
The flop came down and Lamb whiffed so far. He was still looking for a queen or running straight cards to win the hand and double up.
The turn brought the and there was now two pair on board, but none of that mattered to Lamb. He needed just a queen on the river. All of Lamb's fans stood waiting for the river, but none of them looked or sounded confident at all that Lamb was going to survive this hand.
The river brought the and that wasn't the lady that Lamb needed to save the day. He was eliminated by the man who doubled through him on the first hand, Staszko, and just two players remained.
For his finish, Lamb earned $4,021,138.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011 6:08 PM Local Time
Martin Staszko had the button. Pius Heinz moved all in against Ben Lamb and Lamb folded.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011 6:07 PM Local Time
| Martin Staszko | 106,200,000 | 20,600,000 |
| Pius Heinz | 87,200,000 | -20,400,000 |
| Ben Lamb | 12,500,000 | -200,000 |
Tuesday, November 8, 2011 6:07 PM Local Time
Okay, deep breath...
Ben Lamb had the button, and he folded. Martin Staszko was counting out raising chips in the small blind, and he made it 3 million straight. Pius Heinz flatted in the big, and off they went heads up.
The dealer spread out , and Staszko continued out with the same 3 million. Heinz took pause to stare across the felt for a minute, and he made the call after about 30 seconds. The turn paired the board with the , and Staszko checked this time. Heinz checked it back, and the filled out the board. Staszko led back out with 4.5 million, and that sent Heinz a bit deeper into the tank. It was at least a couple minutes before he grabbed at his chips, and he decided to make a big raise to 14.2 million total. Another couple minutes later, the call came from Staszko, and it was a good one.
Heinz:
Staszko:
Staszko's kings up were plenty good, and we have a new chip leader at this three-handed final table. It's Martin Staszko, and he's got 106.2 million. From worst to first in two quick hands.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011 5:59 PM Local Time
| Pius Heinz | 107,600,000 | -200,000 |
| Martin Staszko | 85,600,000 | 42,900,000 |
| Ben Lamb | 12,700,000 | -42,700,000 |
Tuesday, November 8, 2011 5:57 PM Local Time
Pius Heinz had the button to start this hand and the second day of action of the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event final table.
Ben Lamb raised to three million from the small blind after Heinz folded the button. Martin Staszko reraised from the big blind to 7.5 million. Lamb took some time to think things over and then reraised all in. Staszko called!
Lamb:
Staszko:
As you can see, the first hand was a real banger as Staszko and Lamb decided to flip for the lot of it! Staszko was ahead, but in no way could he be feeling comfortable.
The flop came down and Lamb whiffed so far. His some 300-strong fans stood with their jaws wide open waiting to see what would happen on the turn or river.
The turn brought the to pair the board and Lamb needed the river now.
The river card was the and just like that, Staszko moved to 85.6 million while Lamb dropped to 12.7 million. What a way to start the final three-handed action!
Tuesday, November 8, 2011 5:54 PM Local Time
Bruce Buffer has just gotten us under way as nobody else can. With his booming voice commanding the dealer into action, the cards are in the air, and the Tuesday Three is a go.
Next stop, heads up.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011 5:52 PM Local Time
Level: 40
Blinds: 600000/1200000
Ante: 200000
Tuesday, November 8, 2011 5:28 PM Local Time
Welcome back to PokerNews' coverage of the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event final table. The remaining November Niners had to endure one more short hiatus from play as yesterday was a day off from action, but the cards will be back in the air shortly.
The three remaining players are Martin Staszko, Ben Lamb and Pius Heinz. Heinz will have the chip lead while Staszko and Lamb have about a quarter of this chips each. Lamb is the current WSOP Player of the Year and he is hands down the favorite here in the Penn & Teller Theatre. The amount of greens shirts in support of Lamb has just about tripled here in the audience.
Each player has locked up over $4 million, but there's still plenty more to be won. Not to mention, the winner will earn the right to call himself champion of the most prestigious poker event in the entire world. So who wants the gold bracelet? You'll have to stay tuned to PokerNews in order to find out! The cards will be in the air shortly.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011 1:28 PM Local Time
Pius Heinz will enter the final day of play with a big chip lead, holding 107.8 million in chips. That's very far from the 16.425 million in chips that he began the day with and a 556.32% increase. It's also over 52 million more than Ben Lamb in second place and nearly 10 million more than both of the other players combined.
It took Heinz until Hand #14 to finally win a hand, but there would be many, many more to come on the day. The first time Heinz started to make noise was on Hand #36, when he raised to 2.1 million after a Phil Collins limp. Collins tried the old limp-reraise play, but Heinz four-bet shoved and won the pot. A few hands later, Heinz dragged in a monster.
Heinz raised to 1.3 million, and Lamb flatted next door. The action came around to Eoghan O'Dea, and he figured a squeeze was in order. From the small blind, he reraised to 4.1 million, and that brought the decision back to Heinz. After a minute, he just flatted, and Lamb folded out of the way to let the other two go at it.
There was already more than 10 million in the pot when the dealer spread out an flop, and O'Dea reached for chips. Heinz had just over 20 million chips left in his stack, and he was faced with a follow-up bet of 4.6 million. Once again, he just flatted, and the landed on fourth street.
Now there was 19.975 million piled in the middle of the table, by far the largest pot we've seen today. O'Dea wasn't slowing down now, and he fired a second bullet worth 8.2 million. That was more than half of what Heinz had left, so he was essentially considering the decision for his tournament life. His whole Main Event.
Heinz spent several long minutes starting across the felt at O'Dea, who was sitting like a statue with his eyes facing front. Even staring at the back of his hoodie, we could feel the pain in Heinz's decision. It had to be at least five full minutes before he acted, and he did so by raising all in for 16 million flat. Wow. O'Dea took only about 15 seconds before folding, and the stadium erupted in cheers as Heinz moved to over 40 million.
Once that hand happened, Heinz ramped up the aggression and really put his foot on the gas, entering pots often and with plenty of raises. He took the chip lead on Hand #43 and never looked back from there.
On Hand #59, Heinz eliminated Anton Makiievskyi. Makiievskyi open-raised all in for 10.5 million and Heinz called out of the big blind. Makiievskyi held the and Heinz pocket nines. The flop came down and put Makiievskyi in the lead, but the on the turn spiked a full house for Heinz and the Penn & Teller Theatre erupted. The landed on the river and Makiievskyi was eliminated.
On Hand #100, just one hand after Eoghan O'Dea was eliminated by Martn Staszko, Heinz sent Phil Collins out the door. Heinz opened to 2.1 million and Collins three-bet jammed for 18.3 million. Heinz took a few moments and then called with the , the same hand he busted Makiievskyi with. Colins held the .
The flop was an interesting one with the and the turn was an even more interesting . The river was a blank with the and Heinz was the hand. With that elimination, he moved to 86.7 million in chips.
The shorter the table got, the more Heinz opened up. He put constant pressure on his opponents and was most often attacking Lamb's big blind from the small blind, even though he would have to act out of position. He also earned a good amount of walks from his opponents who didn't want to tangle with the chip leader.
On the 158th hand, Heinz took a big pot from Matt Giannetti after turning a pair of queens to move to nearly 90 million in chips. He then gave a bunch to Staszko after losing the 161st hand to him and fell below 80 million once more. It didn't seem to phase the young German as he kept raising and kept firing. On the 176th hand of the final table, Heinz moved to over 100 million and that's where he would finish the day.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011 1:27 PM Local Time
Ben Lamb is the 2011 World Series of Poker Player of the Year. He surely played like it on Sunday, chipping up from 20.875 million in chips to over 55 million. He increased his stack by 165.39% and has all eyes on him heading into three-handed play. "It's Benba's world and we're all just living in it," was the yell from some of Lamb's fans during his run on Sunday and it really will be his world if he can come out on top with the victory.
Lamb didn't get involved into Hand #12, which was much to the surprise of many of the people watching the action. Over the course of the final table, Lamb played the second most hands behind Pius Heinz's 65 with 48 and did a lot of preflop raising and three-betting. In fact, he three-bet the most (10 times).
Although it took Lamb the longest to get involved in the action, he was the man who sent the first player out the door on the day -- Sam Holden.
Holden began the day as the short stack and three-bet shoved for 11.125 million over Lamb's open to 1.7 million. Lamb called holding the . Holden was dominated with the . The flop came down and then Lamb turned an unbeatable flush when the fell. The river completed the board with the and ended Holden's tournament to move Lamb into third place overall with over 34 million.
Lamb stayed right around that mark until Hand #73 came up. It was then that Lamb lost nearly half of his stack to a Phil Collins spike.
Collins open-shoved all in from the button for 13.575 million and Lamb called from the big blind. Collins held the and Lamb the . The flop didn't have much there for Collins, but the turn card are a very sweatastic one. The on the river slammed Collins with a flush and caused Lamb to fall to 15.325 million.
On Hand #97, Lamb would find his own river card to spike a much needed double up. Eoghan O'Dea raised to 1.6 million from the cutoff seat and Lamb reraised all in from the big blind for 14.225 million. O'Dera tank-called with the to be ahead of Lamb's .
The flop of gave Lamb a flush draw. The turn wasn't what he was looking for, but the on the river gave him the win.
At the dinner break, Lamb had chipped his way up to 46.3 million with four players left, but upon return was under constant pressure Pius Heinz was slipped back a bit. Then, Hand #174 happened. Or simply, Benba happened.
Matt Giannetti raised on the button to 2.6 million and Ben Lamb reraised all in from the big blind for 26.8 million. Giannetti called and everyone in the theatre jumped to their feet. Giannetti held the and had the most chips against Lamb's . The board ran out and Lamb mashed the flush.
Giannetti doubled back once, but then fell on the 178th hand to Lamb, who flopped quad kings. Giannetti raised all in for 12 million from the button and Lamb called from the big blind with the . Giannetti held the . The flop came down and that was the end of Giannetti in fourth place, sealing the deal for the final three players.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011 1:27 PM Local Time
Martin Staszko began the final table on Sunday with the chip lead, coming in at 40.175 million in chips. That's only an increase of 6.29% from the stack he came in with, but Staszko has done well to lock himself up $4,021,138 and has a chance for a lot more.
Staszko didn't go too crazy early on, but did chip up a bit in the early goings. He climbed near the 50-million mark and held onto the chip lead until the 43rd hand of play, when Pius Heinz took over the top spot. Still, Staszko didn't rattle and kept playing a solid, tight-aggressive style.
On the 67th hand of the final table, Staszko eliminated Bob Bounahra in seventh place. Martin Staszko raised to 1.7 million and Bob Bounahra reraised all in for 4.475 million. Staszko called with the and was dominating Bounahra's . The flop, turn and river ran out and Staszko won the pot to move to nearly 46 million after dropping back to around 40 million.
Matt Giannetti moved into second place and Staszko fell to third, but he was still right in the pack of the top three for most of the day while the players behind him fell much further down the ladder.
After Eoghan O'Dea was crippled by Ben Lamb in a very pivotal hand, Staszko send O'Dea to the rail on Hand #99. O'Dea was all in for his last 2.3 million with the . Staszko held the . The board ran out to send O'Dea out the door.
During four-handed play, Staszko fell to the bottom of the group. He hovered right around the 20-million mark, but was able to selectively pick good spots to three-bet shove. Every time he did so, he added a couple million chips to his stack while hanging in there.
On the 156th hand of play, Staszko doubled through chip leader Pius Heinz. Staszko three-bet jammed for 21.525 million over a 2.1-million-chip raise from Heinz. Heinz called with the and was up against Staszko's . Staszko flopped trip eights on the hand and went on to hold up from there in order to get back to 44.65 million. That's right about where he ended the day roughly 20 hands later.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011 1:26 PM Local Time
The first day of the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event final table saw 178 hands played and six players eliminated. PokerNews took the time to crunch some numbers over the hands we recorded here in the live reporting blog to reveal how many hands each play saw and how they acted preflop during those hands.
| Player | Hands Played | VPIP | PFR % | PF 3B % | PF 4B % |
|---|
| Pius Heinz | 178 | 36.52% | 75.38% | 10.77% | 3.08% |
| Ben Lamb | 178 | 26.97% | 60.42% | 20.83% | 0% |
| Martin Staszko | 178 | 21.91% | 58.97% | 39.13% | 0% |
| Matt Giannetti | 178 | 23.60% | 42.86% | 16.67% | 0% |
| Phil Collins | 100 | 19% | 21.05% | 26.32% | 0% |
| Eoghan O'Dea | 99 | 23.23% | 60.87% | 21.74% | 0% |
| Bob Bounahra | 67 | 17.91% | 58.33% | 8.33% | 0% |
| Anton Makiievskyi | 59 | 8.47% | 100% | 0% | 0% |
| Sam Holden | 51 | 9.80% | 60% | 40% | 0% |
Pius Heinz was far and away the most active player at the table, although it took him the longest to win a pot at the start of play. Once Heinz found himself harnessing the chip lead, it was raise, raise, raise. Although Ben Lamb was the player who performed the most three-bets against his opponents, Heinz was the only play to four-bet on the day -- doing so twice over the course of the 65 hands he choose to voluntarily play.
Eoghan O'Dea kept himself very active during the time he was at the final table, playing nearly 25% of the hands he saw and coming in with a raise or three-bet over 80% of the time. Bob Bounahra was also very active before bowing out in seventh place. Anton Makiievskyi went out in eighth place and only played five hands out of the 59 he saw. On every one of those hands, Makiievskyi came in raising, usually with a preflop shove.
Also of note is that the ever-active Heinz attacked Lamb's big blind plenty of times. He rarely limped in from the small blind and often raised despite having to act out of position against Lamb post-flop. Lamb didn't play back at Heinz too much, but that should create an interesting dynamic for today when the two will be in many more blind-versus-blind situations.
Phil Collins played nearly a fifth of the hands he saw, but had a very low preflop raising percentage. Why? Well, the majority of the time when Collins entered a pot, he came in with a limp, rather than a raise. He did try the limp-three-bet play against Heinz once, but that only results in one of Heinz's two four-bets.
These numbers should provide a nice look at how the dynamic of the final table played out. It was clearly Heinz who was the most active, as he was constantly putting his big stack to use. It's going to be interesting to see if he keeps his foot on the accelerator today and how his opponents, Lamb and Martin Staszko, react. We know Lamb is capable of three-betting a lot, but Staszko did three-bet his opponents nine times over the first 178 hands and seemed to be very correctly selective in picking the right spots to do so.