Pius Heinz Becomes Germany's First WSOP Main Event Champion
Germany's Pius Heinz has won the 2011 WSOP Main Event for $8,715,638.
He came out on top of a 6,865-player field, defeating the Czech Republic's Martin Staszko heads-up in a gruelling all-European heads-up finale at the Penn & Teller Theater in Las Vegas.
The 2011 WSOP Player of the Year Ben Lamb would have to settle for third place and $4,021,138.
2011 WSOP Main Event Final Table Results
| PlacePlayer | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pius Heinz | Germany |
| 2 | Martin Staszko | Czech Republic |
| 3 | Ben Lamb | United States |
| 4 | Matt Giannetti | United States |
| 5 | Phil Collins | United States |
| 6 | Eoghan O’Dea | Ireland |
| 7 | Bob Bounahra | Belize |
| 8 | Anton Makiievskyi | Ukraine |
| 9 | Sam Holden | United Kingdom |
Final Table Action
After four months, Martin Staszko returned for the final table of the 2011 WSOP Main Event with a slender lead over Eoghan O'Dea, but the early star at the final table was Pius Heinz.
Having started the day seventh in chips, he dragged a monster pot against O’Dea just 39 hands into the day to move from the second-shortest to the second-largest stack in one fell swoop. Less than an orbit later, he was the chip leader.
Much of the attention over the last four months has been on Ben Lamb, and deservedly so. As the only former bracelet-winner at this year's final table, after winning the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship earlier this year, Lamb's run to the final table locked up another title, the 2011 WSOP Player of the Year.
Beginning play with just about 20 million chips, Lamb’s initial trend was downward, but that didn't last long. He was responsible for the first elimination of the day when his ace-king dominated Sam Holden, and the last remaining Brit was sent off in ninth place.
Heinz then won a flip to eliminate Anton Makiievskyi in eighth place. Maikiievskyi was all-in pre-flop for 10,500,000, and Heinz called in the big blind.
Anton Makiievskyi: K♣Q♥
Pius Heinz: 9♥9♦
The J♥J♠K♦ flop looked set to double the Ukrainian up, but the 9♣ turn saw Heinz turn a set. The 7♥ river was a blank and Makiievskyi hit the rail as the first millionaire of this year’s final table.
Staszko, the start-of-day chip leader, had picked his way through the early pots with some measure of caution, and a couple hours into the day, he put Bob Bounahra out the door in seventh. Down to his last few million chips, Bounahra got the last of his stack in with ace-five against Staszko's ace-seven, and a board full of blanks ended the hopes for him and his home nation of Belize.
Phil Collins found a lucky double through Lamb to knock Lamb back down into the danger zone, but again Lamb battled back after getting his money in as an underdog. Lamb three-bet shoved with Q♦8♦, and O'Dea made a big call with ace-nine. Lamb turned a flush draw and rivered an eight to double, though, and O'Dea was sent to the rail in sixth place a short while later by Staszko.
Heinz added another elimination with Collins in fifth, and Heinz led the final four, with the German the clear table captain for the second half of the day. Meanwhile, Staszko had dropped back into the pack and was the shortest stack left on dinner break.
But Staszko would not go quietly.
Heinz tried for the knockout in a big pot with 6♠6♥, and Staszko was racing for the double with A♠8♣. The 8♥8♠5♠ flop saw Staszko take the lead, and he dodged the outs on the 4♦Q♣ runout to double up.
As the up-and-down day drew to a close, Lamb was still hovering around 25-30 million, and he made another stand with A♥7♥. This time, Matt Giannetti woke up with J♦J♣, but once again, it was no matter to Lamb. He flopped a flush draw again, and he only needed the turn card to ring in the winner. Giannetti was left short, and would double once, as Heinz became the first player to surpass 100,000,000 in chips.
Lamb went ahead and finished Giannetti off a short while later, securing the final three places a spot the following day.
Three-Handed Play
Heinz held the chip lead, but again all the attention was on Player of the Year Lamb as play resumed for the second day of final table action.
- Pius Heinz: 107,800,000
- Ben Lamb: 55,400,000
- Martin Staszko: 42,700,000
And the action was immediate, with Staszko doubling through Lamb on the very first hand, and moving into the chip lead after picking up kings against Heinz on the second.
The fans assembled Penn & Teller Theater were stunned as, on only the fourth hand of the day, Lamb moved all in from the small blind only for the fan favorite to be called by Staszko in the big blind.
Ben Lamb: Q♠6♥
Martin Staszko: J♦J♣
In minutes, Lamb had gone from second in chips to out after the board came 5♣5♥2♠2♣7♠, with the 2011 WSOP Player of the Year taking home $4,021,138.
Heads-Up Action
Heads-up play was a battle. Heinz would reclaim the chip lead just seven hands after losing it, but the lead would trade hands on numerous occasions.
Over the next hour, the two battled with the chip lead eventually swinging back to Staszko. Heinz dwindled a bit only to fight his way back into contention. And so it went for nearly 50 hands before Staszko managed to pull out to a 3-1 chip lead.
With the blinds at 1.2M/2.4M with a 300,000 ante, Staszko limped on the button on only to have Heinz raise to 7,900,000 from the big blind. Staszko made the call and then watched as Heinz fired out 8,200,000 on the K♠10♣7♣ flop. Staszko raised to 17,500,000 and Heinz shoved for 72,950,000. Staszko called; the first all-in and call of the heads-up battle.
Pius Heinz: A♥Q♥
Martin Staszko: Q♣9♣
Staszko held a massive draw and had a 46 percent chance of winning the championship. However, the 3♥6♠ runout was enough for Heinz and he doubled to 162.3 million, leaving Staszko with 43.6 million.
Eight hands later, it was over. Staszko open-shipped for 39,500,000 with 10♣7♣ and was called by the A♠K♣ of Heinz.
The 9♠5♣2♦ flop was not particularly exciting, but the J♥ turn did give Staszko four extra outs to a straight. When the 4♦ blanked on the river, the crowd erupted in celebration for Heinz, who rushed to his rail and was immediately swallowed up by his fans.
It was the longest heads-up battle in over 10 years, but in the end it was the 22-year-old German, Pius Heinz who was crowned WSOP Main Event champion for 2011.
With thanks to original reporting from Chad Holloway.
