In what will likely go down as one of the most exciting and well-played World Series of Poker Main Event final tables in the modern era of poker, it was two of the odds-on favorites at the beginning of the day and a long-shot who would be left standing at the end of the night: Ben Lamb, Martin Staszko, and Pius Heinz.
Heinz chipped-up early and often, and even with a few minor stumbles held the chip-lead throughout most of the day. Staszko held steady most of the day, was grinded down during short-handed play, but eventually made a nice comeback to finish right around where he started. Lamb on the other hand had one of the most up-and-down days of anyone, with his stack routinely fluctuating between 15 million and 50 million.
The trio’s trip to the Tuesday’s final, final table came at the expense of Matt Giannetti who played a near-flawless game throughout the day. Unfortunately for Giannetti, the 26 year-old poker pro from Las Vegas ran into the “Run-Good” of Ben Lamb in a critical hand during 4-handed action. Lamb and Giannetti got it all-in with Lamb holding A7s against Giannetti’s JJ. A Flush draw on the flop opened the door for Lamb, and the deal was sealed with a 5th heart on the turn, crippling Giannetti and setting up a date between Lamb, Pius Heinz, and Martin Staszko on Tuesday.
Here is how the three will enter Tuesday’s action:
Pius Heinz — 107,800,000
Ben Lamb — 55,400,000
Martin Staszko — 42,700,000
And here is how the rest of the players fared at the 2011 WSOP Main Event final table:
Matt Giannetti — $3,012,700
Phil Collins — $2,269,599
Eoghan O’Dea — $1,720,831
Bob Bounahra — $1,314,097
Anton Makiievskyi — $1,010,015
Sam Holden — $782,115
|
