Event #58: $10,000 Main Event
Day 9 Started
2011 World Series of Poker
Event #58: $10,000 Main Event
Day: 9
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2011 World Series of Poker
Buy-in
$10,000
Prize Pool
$64,531,000
Entries
6,865
Level
43
Blinds
1,200,000 / 2,400,000
Ante
300,000
Seat 9: Martin Staszko (40,175,000)
Martin Staszko is a 35-year-old poker pro from Trinec of the Czech Republic who previously worked in the automotive industry. Stasko had four cashes at the World Series of Poker this summer prior to the Main Event. His best finish being 39th in the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi/Lo.
Staszko only has two results prior to the 2011 WSOP. The first result we find on Staszko's record is an 11th-place finish in the €5,000 Main Event at the European Poker Tour Deauville stop back in January 2010. He earned €35,000 for that finish. The second was a 10th-place finish in the €1,500 Main Event of the Unibet Open Prague for €8,200.
By making the WSOP Main Event final table, Staszko has become the first ever Czech to do so. He made sure to do so in a big way, coming in with the chip lead of over six million in chips. Staszko considers himself to be a professional poker player, but also enjoys competitive chess and recreational tennis. Staszko told the WSOP that it would be "unbelievable" to be the first person to win the Main Event from the Czech Republic.
During the months off leading up to the final table, Staszko has been traveling the European tournament circuit as most other pros have. He only able to record one result -- an 11th-place finish in an EPT Barcelona side event -- but he gained plenty of practice and experience on the felt.
Seat 8: Ben Lamb (20,875,000)
Ben Lamb's poker resume is easily the most extensive of the remaining players, including more than $2.5 million in career winnings and numerous World Series of Poker successes. "Benba" earned his first WSOP bracelet this summer in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship, and added a couple more final tables to put himself in first place in this year's WSOP Player of the Year race.
Lamb is originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma, but now resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. Outside of this year's Main Event run, Lamb has 12 other WSOP cashes. Back in 2009, Lamb almost made the final table of the Main Event, but fell short in 14th place for $633,022. That was the year Joe Cada took home the title.
Outside of Lamb's WSOP success, he's only had three other scores above $50,000. In 2006, Lamb won the $1,000 event at the Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge for $53,671. He also won a $500 event at the United States Poker Championship later that same year for $60,000. His other non-WSOP score above $50,000 was a second-place finish in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event at the 2009 Festa al Lago for $62,080, an event he actually chopped with Ted Lawson.
Lamb is a regular in the largest cash games in Las Vegas, mainly playing in Ivey's Room at Aria with some of the best players in the world. He's also an avid golfer.
Seat 7: Pius Heinz (16,425,000)
Pius Heinz of Cologne, Germany is a 22-year-old student who first learned poker via home games with friends. This marks his first World Series of Poker, and it has been a successful one, including a final table in Event No. 48 where he finished seventh to earn $83,286.
Like the chip leader Martin Staszko, Heinz shares the accolade that he is the first player from his home country to reach the WSOP Main Event final table. No other German has ever made it this far.
Outside of this final table and the aforementioned seventh-place finish, Heinz has one other live cash on record. During the November Nine hiatus, Heinz won a €1,000 side event at the European Poker Tour Barcelona for €17,450.
Those results don't seem like a whole lot of things to be proud of, but Heinz does most of his poker playing online. In fact, he's won over $700,000 playing across PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Party Poker under the moniker 'MastaP89'. His largest score online was a $61,072 win in the Sunday Mulligan.
Seat 6: Sam Holden (12,375,000)
Sam Holden is a 22-year-old poker pro from Canterbury, England. The former student is making his World Series of Poker debut this year, and this marks his first WSOP cash. He has a few scores from the UK & Ireland Poker Tour, including a first-place finish in June in a No-Limit Hold'em six-handed event, though no previous cashes above four figures.
Holden will enter the final table as the shortest stack in the field, but he has a very care-free attitude about him that it shouldn't affect his style. PokerNews had Holden as a podcast guest a few weeks ago while at WSOP Europe. On the show, Holden discussed how he doesn't have the majority of himself in the event and knows the position he's in.
Seat 5: Anton Makiievskyi (13,825,000)
Anton Makiievskyi of Dnipropetrousk, Ukraine is playing in his first-ever World Series of Poker. He's looking to be the fifth Ukrainian to take home a WSOP bracelet this year, which would pull Ukraine into a tie with Canada for the second-most bracelets of any country behind the United States.
Makiievskyi came onto the live poker scene in June 2009 with two second-place finished for over $30,000 combined. He then went on to finish in the money in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in 2010 and earned himself $17,500. After a couple more cashes in Ukraine, Makiievskyi finished 23rd in the Russian Poker Series Kiev Grand Final.
This WSOP Main Event run isn't the only WSOP cash Makiievskyi has on record, although it was his first. Makiievskyi traveled to the WSOP Europe in Cannes, France and played several events. He only finished in the money in one of them, placing 19th in the €3,000 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout for €6,913.
Outside of poker, Makiievskyi enjoys cycling and music. He takes time to teach himself to play the guitar and drums, and will be looking to do some rocking out when he ships $8.7 million.
Seat 4: Phil Collins (23,875,000)
Phil Collins is a 26-year-old poker pro originally from Rockford, Illinois who now calls Las Vegas, Nevada home. As his online handle "USCphildo" indicates, he went to the University of South Carolina where he met his wife, Katie. In addition to his numerous online successes, which include over $3 million in earnings, Collins has a number of live cashes to his credit, although his payday for this year's Main Event will well exceed all of those.
Prior to his run this year, Collins' largest score was less than $30,000. That came with a sixth-place finish in the 2010 Borgata Spring Poker Open East Coast Championship for $29,196. Other than that, Collins has only had five scores above $10,000.
When it comes to WSOP finishes, Collins has eight other than this one. The best of that bunch was a 10th-place finish in the $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em event in 2009 for $13,332. He's also finished in the money in a North American Poker Tour event and a World Poker Tour event.
Seat 3: Eoghan O'Dea (33,925,000)
Eoghan O'Dea of Ireland is a 26-year-old student who says he first learned poker from the popular UK show "Late Night Poker." His poker resume includes a number of cashes dating back to 2005, including three already at this summer's World Series of Poker. He's the son of the famous poker player Donnacha O'Dea, member of the European Poker Players Hall of Fame.
Eoghan's father final tabled the WSOP Main Event twice over his career, once in 1983 and then again in 1991. He finished sixth and ninth, respectively. His father also holds a WSOP gold bracelet, which Eoghan will be looking to earn his own here at the Main Event final table. This father and sun duo is the only one to ever make the WSOP Main Event final table.
O'Dea has had two earlier six-figure scores prior to this final table. In December 2008, he placed second in the Poker Million VII Final for $260,000. Nearly a year later, in October 2009, O'Dea took second in the World Poker Tour Marrakech Main Event for €263,662 ($388,532). Another notable result on O'Dea record was a third-place finish in an Aussie Millions event in 2011.
Outside of this WSOP final table, O'Dea has six other WSOP cashes. His best of those was also his most recent, coming with a ninth-place finish in the €5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event at the 2011 WSOP Europe in Cannes, France.
Seat 2: Badih Bounahra (19,700,000)
Badih Bounahra is a 49-year-old businessman and father of three originally from Lebanon now residing in Belize City. He says he learned poker from television, and cheekily names seven-deuce offsuit as the "best hand in my eyes."
He has a few cashes to his credit, including one World Series of Poker cash from 2008 in a $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em event for $7,582. Although that is his only other WSOP cash, Bounahra has several others. This Main Event run is by far the largest cash of his career. Previously, the largest score earned by Bounahra was in November 2008 when he won a $1,020 No-Limit Hold'em Second Chance event at the Latin American Poker Tour San Jose stop for $30,054. Another notable finish was a second place in a side event at the 2009 Aruba Poker Classic for $11,000.
When he's not actually playing poker, Bounahra spends time running a private poker room in Belize City at the Princess Casino. He also enjoys fishing and sleep.
Seat 1: Matt Giannetti (24,750,000)
Matt Giannetti of Las Vegas, Nevada is a 26-year-old poker pro who previously attended the University of Texas. Prior to making this World Series of Poker Main Event final table, he had a number of cashes to his credit dating back to 2006 totaling nearly half a million dollars, including 10 at the WSOP. His best previous finish in the Main Event was 521st in 2006 for $22,266.
Giannetti has plenty of results on his record and is a well-seasoned pro, but his best finish outside of this run in the Main Event came just recently. During the November Nine hiatus, Giannetti traveled the European tournament circuit like many of his fellow competitors. At the World Poker Tour Malta, Giannetti conquered the 240-player field to win the event for €200,000 ($276,457). He also took third in a side event at the European Poker Tour London for £12,500.
When it comes to the WSOP, this isn't Giannetti's first time at a final table. In fact, it's not his second either. Giannetti has two other WSOP final tables, coming in 2008 and 2009. The first of those came in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout in 2008. He took fifth place there for $40,267. The second came the following year in the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha event. Giannetti finished in fourth place for $66,544.
Three other notable scores for Giannetti all come from other WPT events. He took 28th in the LA Poker Classic in 2007 for $35,690, 35th in the WPT World Championship in 2008 for $65,955 and 46th in the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $28,825 also in 2008.