Martin Staszko

Martin Staszko

Nationality
Czechia
Czechia
GPI Rank 4,516
Total Live Earnings $6,437,860
The Hendon Mob Data provided by The Hendon Mob

Biography

Martin Staszko is a Czech professional poker player best known for finishing runner-up in the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event. Staszko then lost the race for the title to the young German player Pius Heinz and collected almost $5.5 million for his achievement.

Intro

Martin Staszko was born in 1976 in Třinec, Czechoslovakia. Before he started playing poker in 2007, Staszko mastered in other mind games such as mariáš (a very popular trick-taking card game in the Czech Republic and Slovakia) and chess. He began playing poker online from freerolls and then leveled up to some bigger tournaments. He was also working full-time at a car factory which left Staszko little time for poker. Still, his poker earnings exceeded his monthly salary by far and so eventually Staszko decided to leave his job and pursuit a career as a professional poker player.

Background

Staszko was born to a family of an iron works worker and a pharmacist. He got involved in gaming and betting while he was in High School. Staszko was a keen mariáš player and when he started studying at the university he was able to support himself from gambling winnings. Staszko became the champion of his university's darts league and was also known as a very successful chess player.

World Series of Poker

Staszko first entered the World Series of Poker in 2011 and gained instant success. Before the start of the Main Event he already had 4 cashes that summer and a total of $23,000 in winnings. However, it was just a warmup before the most important tournament of them all, the WSOP Main Event. First Staszko made the November Nine leading the final table in chips. However, when the play resumed three months later, it was the short stack Pius Heinz who emerged from the seventh place and eventually outplayed Staszko heads-up taking the Czech's title dreams away.

Martin Staszko's Top 5 WSOP Results

YearEventPlacePrize
2011$10,000 Main Event2nd$5,433,086
2011$1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo39th$5,874
2011$1,500 No-Limit Hold'em58th$10,156
2012$1,500 H.O.R.S.E.88th$2,676
2011$1,500 No-Limit Hold'em112th$4,242

European Poker Tour

Staszko has a total of seven European Poker Tour cashes on his record. His best EPT achievement came at the EPT Sanremo in 2012 when Staszko fell just short of winning the €300 No-Limit Hold'em / Turbo event. He finished the tournament in second place for €5,000. He scored his best EPT Main Event result at the EPT Deauville in 2010. Staszko took home €35,000 for finishing the tournament in eleventh place.

Martin Staszko's Top 5 EPT Results

YearEventPlacePrize
2012Sanremo €300 No-Limit Hold'em / Turbo2nd€5,000
2012Campione €1,000 No-Limit Hold'em9th€3,370
2010Deauville €5,000 Main Event11th€35,000
2011Barcelona €1,000 No-Limit Hold'em11th€4,800
2012Copenhagen DKr 35,000 Main Event16thDKr 75,000

Other Achievements

In 2010 Staszko came in tenth at the Unibet Open Prague €1,500 Main Event collecting €8,200 in cash. Then two years later, in 2012 he final tabled the German Championship of Poker, Grand Final (GCOP) €2,500 Main Event in Rozvadov. He finished the tournament in sixth place for €21,360 in prize money.

Sponsorship

After his runner-up finish at the 2011 WSOP Main Event, Staszko signed a sponsorship deal with the world's larges online poker site PokerStars. Along with his fellow countryman Martin Hrubý, Staszko was a member of Team PokerStars Czech Republic.

Did you know?

  • Before becoming a professional poker player Staszko used to work as a foreman at an automobile manufacturing plant's paint shop.
  • Staszko was the first Czech player to ever make the World Series of Poker Main Event final table.

PokerNews Covered Events

Event Place Prize
2023 World Series of Poker
Event #77: $777 Lucky 7's
219th $3,350
2023 World Series of Poker
Event #68: $1,000 Super Turbo Bounty
389th $1,062
2023 World Series of Poker
Event #53: $1,500 Millionaire Maker
584th $4,480
2023 World Series of Poker
Event #39: $1,500 Monster Stack
85th $12,310
2022 PokerStars EPT Prague
€1,100 Eureka Main Event
589th €1,700
2019 World Series of Poker Europe
Event #1: €350 Opener No-Limit Hold'em
81st €615
2019 PokerStars EPT Prague
€1,100 EPT National
175th €2,520
2018 PokerStars EPT Prague
€1,100 EPT National
208th €2,300
2018 World Series of Poker
Event #66: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em
88th $3,203
2018 World Series of Poker
Event #11: $365 PLO GIANT Pot-Limit Omaha
424th $557
2018 World Series of Poker
Event #45: Big Blind Antes $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em (30 minute levels)
8th $26,245
2018 World Series of Poker
Event #35: $1,500 Mixed Omaha
103rd $2,258
2018 World Series of Poker
Event #24: $2,620 THE MARATHON No-Limit Hold'em
49th $11,329
2018 World Series of Poker
Event #19: $565 Pot-Limit Omaha
72nd $2,675
2018 World Series of Poker
Event #7: $565 COLOSSUS No-Limit Hold’em
1504th $900
2018 World Series of Poker
Event #12: $1,500 Dealer's Choice 6-Handed
58th $2,263
2018 partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Germany
Main Event
77th €15,000
2017 PokerStars Championship Prague
Main Event
66th €12,200
2017 partypoker LIVE German Poker Championship
Main Event
28th €5,000
2017 World Series of Poker
Event #64: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed Mix
141st $2,293
2017 World Series of Poker
Event #56: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em
63rd $9,466
2017 World Series of Poker
Event #47: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em MONSTER STACK
253rd $5,415
2017 World Series of Poker
Event #43: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em SHOOTOUT
90th $4,837
2017 World Series of Poker
Event #23: THE MARATHON - $2,620 No-Limit Hold'em
202nd $4,275
2017 World Series of Poker
Event #12: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em
115th $3,055
2017 World Series of Poker
Event #7: $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball
18th $5,930
2017 PokerStars Festival Rozvadov
Main Event
48th €3,423
2017 PokerStars Festival Rozvadov
€5,300 King's High Roller
6th €12,560
2016 PokerStars EPT Season 13 Prague
€5,300 Main Event
165th €9,180
2016 PokerStars.com EPT Season 13 Malta
€5,300 Main Event
41st €12,390
2014 PokerStars.com EPT Season 11 London
£4,250 Main Event
89th £7,750
2014 World Series of Poker
Event #51: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Monster Stack
344th $5,412
2014 World Series of Poker
Event #50: $1,500 Eight-Game Mix
26th $4,723
2014 World Series of Poker
Event #33: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em
112th $2,369
2014 PokerStars.net EPT Vienna
€5,300 Main Event
127th €8,700
2014 PokerStars.fr EPT Deauville
€10,300 High Roller
9th €27,600
2013 PokerStars.com EPT Barcelona
€5,300 Main Event
25th €29,270
2013 World Series of Poker
Event #27: $3,000 No Limit Hold'em (Mixed Max)
43rd $7,446
2013 World Series of Poker
Event #12: $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em
48th $2,795
2012 World Series of Poker
Event 53: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em
183rd $3,932
2012 World Series of Poker
Event 27: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E.
88th $2,676
2012 World Series of Poker
Event 21: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em
116th $2,771
2012 PokerStars.com EPT Copenhagen
Main Event
16th 75,000 DKK
2011 World Series of Poker
Event #58: $10,000 Main Event
2nd $5,433,086
2011 World Series of Poker
Event #56: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em
58th $10,156
2011 World Series of Poker
Event #51: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-low Split-8 or Better
39th $5,874
2011 World Series of Poker
Event #43: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em
112th $4,242
2011 World Series of Poker
Event #34: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em
185th $2,603
2010 EPT Deauville
Main Event
11th €35,000

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