Poker fans can start planning their summer.  The 2012 World Series of Poker unveiled the schedule for the 43rd annual World Series of Poker, which will run from May 27th through July 16th.  As usual, the Series has several changes and new events in store, including some big changes to the Main Event.

This year’s WSOP will feature 61 events, including the much-discussed $1 million Big One for One Drop Charity event.  The $10,000 Champions events are back as well.  There are several new preliminary events as well, including the first-ever WSOP re-entry event.  On Saturday, June 2nd, the $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event with re-entries will get underway.  If players bust on Saturday, they can re-enter Day 1B action on Sunday.

Other new and notable events include a $3,000 Heads-Up event that will include both No Limit Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha.  A %5,000 buy-in version of the WSOPE Mixed Max event, which will play out at nine, six, four, and two-handed tables.  New forms of No Limit Hold’em will get some time in the spotlight too with a $1,500 Ante Only event and a $2,500 four-handed No Limit Hold’em event.

The big news on the Main Event front is a new, shortened schedule which removed three days from the marathon schedule and will run from July 7th-16th.  Thanks to the addition of 92 tables and the use of the Brasilia ballroom, the WSOP will now house 420 tables.  The extra space means only three Main Event starting days this year, compared to four in previous years.  There will still be two Day 2s on the schedule, but instead of combining the starting day fields on the second day of play, Days 1A, 1B, and 1C will remain separated until Day 3.  Day 2A will see the fields from Days 1A and 1B play out in separate rooms, while the Day 1C field will play alone on Day 2B.

There will be no day off between Days 2 and 3 this year, and the Day 3 action will get underway on July 12th.  The Main Event action will continue over the next five days as the field plays down to the final table.  Once the final nine are set, there will once again be a break before they play down to a champion.

The WSOP teased via @WSOP on Twitter that there would be no Novemeber Nine this year.  While this is true, the change in schedule is not as drastic as many predicted.  The final table will now play out one week earlier and is being done in order to accommodate the 2012 Election.

“This year’s WSOP schedule is very exciting,” said WSOP Tournament Director Jack Effel, who will oversee the event for the seventh consecutive year. “We’re introducing some fantastic new events, while bringing back many successful stalwarts that our players love. We will expand our footprint this year to include extra tables dedicated to cash games, as well as plenty of satellite and single-day tournament space, so players will have an easy time finding a desirable game without ever having to leave the Rio Convention Center.”

Effel is right, as there will be plenty going on at the Rio besides bracelet events. The cash game section will be back in action along with the popular Daily Deepstack events. There will also be two $500 buy-in exhibition events featuring Doubles Poker and a Bracelet Bounty event with bounties placed on all the WSOP bracelet winners in the field.

Pre-registration for this year’s WSOP begins on February 8th. Players can find information about the WSOP schedule, the Main Event structure, and answers to some frequently asked questions on WSOP.com.

Heinz has way more than 57 reasons to be happy

When the poker world looks back on 2011, the year will likely be defined by Black Friday and its subsequent consequences. That doesn’t mean there weren’t highlights from this past year though. As 2011 winds down, we’ll take a look back at all the big stories of 2011, the good, the bad, and the ones that changed the landscape of poker forever.  November was a time to put the problems aside and celebrate the game with the final table of the WSOP Main Event and a toast to two poker legends.

The waiting was over, the moment was here: it was time to find out which of the November Nine would walk out of the Penn and Teller Theater at the Rio as this year’s WSOP Main Event Champion.  When the final table began, WSOP Player of the Year Ben Lamb, Phil Collins,  and Matt Giannetti, who won a WPT title during the downtime, were the bookmakers favorites to pick up the bracelet.

Giannetti was going off at even money and Pius Heinz seemed to be a reasonable pick at 4-1, but it was a rough start for the German, who dropped to the bottom of the counts early.  It was a temporary setback though, as Heinz quickly rallied up the counts, ending the first day of action as chip leader.  Even though Heinz was on top, Lamb still liked his chances and Martin Staszko remained focused despite fighting a cold.

Lamb’s colossal year didn’t end with a Main Event win. He exited early in the second day of action, leaving Staszko and Heinz to duel it out over the course of several hours.  In the end, Heinz prevailed, continuing the trend of young twentysomethings claiming poker’s biggest titles.  He also made history as the first German Main Event winner before a live television audience, who watched the action on a slight delay complete with hole cards.

Heinz’s victory capped off a long day of celebrating that also included the induction of Barry Greenstein and Linda Johnson into the Poker Hall of Fame.  The celebrations continued in November too, as Groupe Bernard Tapie finalized a deal with the Department of Justice to start the process of paying back players still awaiting their Full Tilt money.  The high hopes soon wore off though, as the year is over and players are still waiting with no updates whatsoever.

There were other of sources in November aside from the DOJ and GBT.  New Jersey started a rash of states pushing forward intrastate gambling initiatives.  The House Subcommittee on Manufacturing, Commerce, and Trade put together a second hearing on online poker too, but, like Full Tilt, there was a lot of high hopes with little result, as the hearing rehashed the same information and members of the committee publicly acknowledged online poker was an issue now on the back burner.

November’s Big Winners:

Partouche Poker Tour Cannes Champ Sam Trickett - €2,000,000
WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals Champ Daniel Santoro – $449,910
WPT Jacksonville Champ Anthony Ruberto – $325,928
WPT Marrakech Champ Mohamed Ali Houssam – $267,011
WSOPC Bilxoi Champ Jerry Monroe – $112,779

Jonathan Duhamel can breath a little easier knowing suspects have been arrested.

One week ago Jonathan Duhamel was the victim of a home invasion that saw him tied up, beaten and robbed of some cash, a Rolex watch and his 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event bracelet. On Thursday Montreal police announced that four suspects have been arrested in connection with the case.

Le Journal de Montreal reported that Andre Robert Perron, 26, John Stephan Clark Lemay, 22 and Bianca Rojas- Latraverse, 20, had been charged. Perron and Lemay have been charged with breaking and entering, assault, forcible confinement and possession of a stolen item and are set to appear in court on Thursday.

Latraverse, who is Duhamel’s ex-girlfriend, has been charged with conspiracy. A fourth suspect, a 20 year old male, was arrested and is being questioned by his police. Police have yet to confirm the name of any suspects arrested.

The Rolex watch, a gift to Duhamel from PokerStars for his win, has been recovered but the cash and WSOP bracelet have not yet been recovered by police. The day after the robbery Duhamel offered a reward of $10,000 for information leading to the arrest of suspects and return of the watch and bracelet.

On Wednesday, December 21, Duhamel answered the door at his Montreal-area home and was attacked by two-men who pushed their way into the home.

Duhamel is home and resting after being the victim of a home invasion.

Jonathan Duhamel, who won the 2010 WSOP Main Event, was the victim of an “armed assault” at his home in Boucherville, Quebec on Wednesday morning.

According to multiple media reports two men rang the doorbell at Duhamel’s home just after 9 am and burst into the house once the door was opened. Duhamel, who called 911 after the assailants fled, was hospitalized to treat injuries sustained during the robbery. He has since been released.

Police would not confirm the identity of the victim but one of Duhamel’s agents, Philippe Jetté, spoke to the Montreal Gazette on Wednesday evening and confirmed it was the 2010 WSOP Main Event champ.

“Let’s say that getting out of bed will be particularly hard tomorrow and that his Christmas photos won’t be the prettiest,” Philippe Jetté told the Montreal Gazette. “But Jonathan got out without serious injuries.”

There have been no indications as to what the robbers were able to acquire while in Duhamel’s home. The 23 year old Canadian was able to provide police with a description of one of the attackers.

In 2010 Duhamel won the WSOP Main Event earning $8,944,310. He’s since added another

Police plan to release more information on Thursday.

Heinz is the latest in a line of 22 year old champions

It should come as no big surprise that the big story of this week was the World Series of Poker Main Event final table.  Be it the ratings, the winner, Ben Lamb’s big party, or the Poker Hall of Fame inductions, just about every major story this week stems from final table action.  There are a couple of worthwhile news stories to highlight too though. We’ve got those stories and the final table highlights in this edition of The Week That Was:

Your 2011 Main Event Champ, Pius Heinz

In one of the most wide open final tables in recent memory, this year’s WSOP Main Event never really seemed to have a frontrunner during the downtime, not even Martin Staszko, who began the final table with the chip lead.  As the hours ticked down to the start of final table action though, Las Vegas bookmakers did have one player they thought was even money to take it all: Matt Giannetti.  We broke down the odds shortly before final table play began.  Giannetti was going off at even money, you could get Staszko at 8-1 and Heinz was going at 4-1.

It only took a couple of hours for Heinz to establish himself as the real player to beat though.  He won a big pot off Eoghan O’Dea and didn’t relinquish the chip lead until action was down to three-handed between himself, Staszko, and WSOP Player of the Year Ben Lamb.  Giannetti’s exit in fourth brought the first day of final table action to a close.  On the off day, Lamb seemed confident and focused that he and his team had what it takes to win.  Staszko explained that his less than dominant performance came, in part, because he was under the weather.  The chip leader was simply anxious to get back to the felt and finish what he started.

Before play resumed, the ceremony to induct 2011 Poker Hall of Fame members Barry Greenstein and Linda Johnson took place.  Both living poker legends teared up during their speeches.  Mike Sexton introduced Johnson and summed up her role in the poker world by saying, “There’s not one person on the planet that’s done more for the poker industry than Linda Johnson.”

In his typical humor, Greenstein cracked wise at the voting system in place for the Hall of Fame. “Most of my accomplishments are the result of battles across the poker table,” said Greenstein. “Normally I wouldn’t be that thrilled about getting an award as a result of a vote. However, after seeing the great year Erik Seidel after getting inducted into the Hall of Fame, I’m kinda looking forward to that Hall of Fame rungood.”

After the ceremony, play got off with a bang as Lamb exited after just four hands of action and Staszko took the chip lead.  It was not smooth sailing for him from there though.  He and Heinz battled heads-up for 120 hands, changing the chip lead several times before Heinz triumphed, becoming the first German WSOP Main Event champion and the recipient of over $8.7 million.

For more on the WSOP Main Event action, be sure to check out our final installment of 2011 WSOP By the Numbers.

The POY Aftermath

The big money may have been at the forefront of the players minds at this year’s final table, but the action also had an impact on this year’s BLUFF Player of the Year race.  Thanks to their big finishes, Lamb moved to second in the ranks, while Heinz, who final tabled another WSOP event back in the summer, moved to seventh.  They weren’t the only movers though. Come Wednesday, you can expect Sam Trickett to be in the top five of our latest POY update thanks to his big win at the final table of the Partouche Poker Tour Cannes Main Event.

Sports Betting, Skill Games, and Hearings on the Horizon

In the words of Wicked Chops Poker, there was good, bad, and meh news for the legalization and regulation of poker this week.  The DOJ’s hard-line response to payment processor Chad Elie’s poker as a skill gamer defense seemed like bad news, but the progress New Jersey made towards sports betting in the Garden State inspired confidence.  Then there is the news of not one but two upcoming Congressional hearings about online gambling that could genuinely go either way.  We’ve got the news on all of them in this week’s edition of The Fight.

The 2011 World Series of Poker is full of facts, figures, stats and records. With so many numbers being crunched day in and day out, sometimes it is tough to see what they all add up to. That is why each day BLUFF brings you some of the more interesting numbers related to the news of the day. Some are factual, some are fun, some are both. Here is the WSOP Main Event final table by the numbers:

1 Average rating over the six hours of Tuesday coverage on ESPN, per Wicked Chops Poker.  While down from lat year’s two-hour edited version, the broadcast managed to sustain viewership despite a lengthy heads-up match against two less than talkative players.

2 Number of Germans to ever make the WSOP Main Event final table.  Pius Heinz is the first German Main Event winner, but Henry Nowakowski was the first German to make the final nine.  He finished seventh in 2001.  Nowakowski is 37th on the all-time German money earner’s list with $624,262 in lifetime earnings.  Heinz is first on that list by a $5 million margin.

6 Finishing position for both Donnacha and Eoghan O’Dea. The two are the first father and son to both make the WSOP Main Event final table and they each finished in sixth place. However, while the elder O’Dea picked up $43,220 for his finish, his son fared far better with a more than $1.7 million payday.

9 Number of chip lead changes over the course of final table play.  Only one of those chip leads transpired on the first day of final table play, when Pius Heinz took the chip lead from Martin Staszko.  Only two did not transpire heads-up.  Staszko took the chip lead back by eliminating Ben Lamb during three-handed action.  The other seven lead changes all took place over the course of a length heads-up battle.

9 Number of Czech players in this year’s WSOP Main Event field, per the WSOP’s official Twitter feed, @WSOP.  The Czech’s comprised just .013% of the field, but captured 8.4% of the prize pool thanks to Martin Staszko’s runner-up finish.  Staszko is now far and away the most profitable Czech player in poker history. His next closest competitor is Jan Skampa who has just over $1.4 million in lifetime earnings.

51 Number of hands before Sam Holden busted in ninth place.  Holden came in as the short stack, but spent some of his time at the final table in a spot besides the bottom of the totem pole.  Even though he held on for a while, the young Brit was still the first player to exit the final table.

119 Number of hands of heads-up action.  It is the longest bout of heads-up play of the post-Moneymaker era and lasted around five hours.

175 Cost in dollars for the Hugo Boss Sporty Zip Up Hoodie, per Hugo Boss’ official website.  Unfortunately for those looking to mimic Pius Heinz’s now-signature look, the hoodie is currently sold out in all sizes.

9,858 Number of dollars the interest bearing account holding the eighth through first place paydays  generated over the course of July to November.  That interest was divvied up by the same percentages as the payday, with Heinz taking home $3,691 of it.

5,960,852 Total dollars won by Ben Lamb over the course of this WSOP. The WSOP Player of the Year earned more money than any other player this year but Pius Heinz. Thanks to his 2011 bounty, Lamb is now 13th on the all-time WSOP money list. Allen Cunningham is the only player ahead of Lamb on that list who did not finish first or second in the WSOP Main Event. Lamb’s career WSOP earnings come to $6,178,387.

Lamb spent Tuesday night having a major celebration at Vegas spot Stoney's

We knew the WSOP Main Event final table would have an impact on the 2011 BLUFF Player of the Year race, but it took until late Tuesday night to see exactly how the pieces were going to fall and where Ben Lamb and your new Main Event Champion Pius Heinz would end up in the ranks.  Both are now in the top ten

Lamb came up just short of taking the lead from Eugene Katchalov, but he is the closest anyone has come to catching Katchalov.  His third place finish in the WSOP Main Event pushed him ahead of Matt Waxman at number two in the standings with 988.1 points.  Don’t expect Lamb to hit the tournament trail with the fervor Waxman has.  Lamb spoke to BLUFF the day before the final three played down to a winner about how the Main Event run has curbed his desire to play in too many other events.

“I don’t see myself travelling too far away [ to play]. I think if I win this tournament it is going to be hard for me to play another poker tournament seriously for a little while at least,” he admitted.  ”I’m going to get bored or something. It is such a daunting task to start a poker tournament with hundreds of people or thousands of people and it is so hard to break through.”

With only five qualifying cashes so far this year, there is still plenty of room for improvement for Lamb and just one more major cash in one of the December Bellagio events may be the push he needs to take another Player of the Year honor.

Heinz also made a big jump in the POY ranks, but he will have a little more ground to make up than Lamb does.  Heinz is up to seven in the ranks with 884 points.  After being unranked last month, it is a huge jump for the German, but considering his next closest competitor, Elio Fox, still has over 40 points on him, it will take a big win in a big event for him to give Katchalov a run for his money.

The two Main Event final tablists were the only players to trend up this week, but with big events coming up in Prague, Loutraki, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles before the year is over, expect more big movers and shakers as we hit the home stretch of this tight race.

Here are the latest top twenty players in the 2011 BLUFF Player of the Year race, brought to you by Aria Resort and Casino:

1. (-) Eugene Katchalov – 1,077.38
2. (NR) Ben Lamb – 988.10
3. (-1) Matthew Waxman – 968.20
4. (-1) Bertrand Grospellier – 966.48
5. (-1) Marvin Rettenmaier – 926.05
6. (-1) Elio Fox – 920.45
7. (NR) Pius Heinz – 884.00
8. (-2) Chris Moorman – 879.98
9. (-2) Stephen O’Dwyer – 841.32
10. (-2) Erik Seidel – 833.29
11. (-2) Samuel Stein – 822.57
12. (-2) Maxim Lykov – 820.56
13. (-2) Jason Mercier – 811.61
14. (-2) Philipp Gruissem – 784.38
15. (-2) Galen Hall – 762.45
16. (-2) Ali Eslami – 758.39
17. (-2) Phil Hellmuth – 731.65
18. (-2) Will Failla – 692.10
19. (-2) Shawn Buchanan – 687.58
20. (-2) Tim West – 684.76

Heinz is the first German to win the Main Event

There were multiple points in the evening of the final day of 2011 WSOP Main Event action where it seemed as though Pius Heinz was going to come up short of the bracelet.  However, every time he was down, he found a way to battle back.  At a point, it seemed like Heinz was unstoppable.  From the early goings of final table action to the final hand of heads-up play, this felt like Heinz’s tournament to lose, so it might come as little surprise to learn that Heinz is this year’s WSOP Main Event Champion.

The momentum was in Heinz’s direction after he doubled thru Martin Staszko and he used his big stack to put the pressure on his opponent.  Running low on chips, Staszko open shoved for his last 40 million preflop with 7T and Heinz called with AK.  Heinz was ahead, but he still needed to hold up as the board ran out.  The 952 flop was no sweat for Heinz, though the J did give Staszko a gutshot in addition to his pair outs.

With the 4 on the river, Heinz ran to his rail to celebrate having won the pot and becoming the first German to ever win the WSOP Main Event.  As confetti fell from the rafters, his rail broke out into cheers.  Staszko was gracious in defeat, raising his hands in the air with a smile in response to his crowd’s applause.  ESPN’s Kara Scott interviewed both players and each managed to find something to say about the match.

As soon as Scott threw it back to Lon McEachern in the booth though, Heinz looked over to last year’s champ, Jonathan Duhamel, who was waiting to present him with the bracelet.  Heinz looked at the crowd snapping pictures from the audience, looked back at Duhamel and said, “I don’t know what to say.”

“There’s nothing to say, buddy,” Duhamel told him with a knowing smile.  ”Just enjoy it.”

Here are your final table results from this year’s WSOP Main Event final table:

1st: Pius Heinz – $8,715,638
2nd: Martin Staszko – $5,433,086
3rd: Ben Lamb – $4,021,138
4th: Matt Giannetti – $3,012,700
5th: Phil Collins – $2,269,599
6th: Eoghan O’Dea – $1,720,831
7th: Bob Bounahra – $1,314,097
8th: Anton Makiievskyi – $1,010,015
9th: Sam Holden – $782,115

Every time Pius Heinz finds himself on the ropes of this 2011 WSOP Main Event heads-up battle, he finds a way to battle back.  After being as low as 45 million chips, which amounts to just over 20 big blinds at this 1 million/2 million ante 300,000, Heinz has bounced back once again in a big way thanks to the first all-in confrontation of heads-up play, which has already lasted more than 110 hands.

The last hour was  peppered with two words we haven’t heard since earlier this evening when action was three-handed: all-in.  Parth of Heinz’s comeback came about during a hand where he bet a J54 board with 5T and Martin Staszko raised him holding Q6 for an overcard and a flush draw.  Heinz moved all-in and Staszko opted to lay his hand down rather than try to hit his flush.

That hand was just a prelude for the biggest pot of the tournament so far though.  Staszko completed the small blind with Q9 and Heinz raised out of the big blind with AQ.  Staszko called and the two saw a KT7 flop.  Heinz bet out 8.2 million and Staszko raised, making it 17.5 million to play.  After some deliberation, Heinz moved all-in with just an overcard and a gutshot.  In a move in direct contrast with his previous flush draw, Staszko called with a smaller straight draw and a flush draw.

The 3 was a brick for Staszko, as was the 6 on the river.  That gave Heinz the gigantic pot, not to mention a chip-leading 165 million chips, compared to Staszko’s 44 million.  Down to less than 20 big blinds, it will be an uphill battle for Staszko as he tries to keep his Main Event hopes alive.

By The Numbers

78 Percentage of the chips in play now in possession of Heinz. At his low point, he only had around 21% of the available chips.

112 Number of hands of heads-up play so far.  It is the longest heads-up match of the post-Moneymaker era.

Neither Martin Staszko or Pius Heinz has managed to find a way to put his opponent away but another chip lead change and momentum swing have Staszko in control and Heinz on the ropes.

Pre-Flop Raising War Bet Puts Staszko In Charge

Heinz made it 3,200,000 from the button with 9-7 offsuit and Staszko re-raised to 11,500,000 with A 2. Heinz responded with a four-bet to 20,600,000 and Staszko took his time before announcing all-in. Heinz folded and after the hand Staszko had climbed to 109,900,000 while Heinz was at 96,000,000.

Staszko Turns Straight To Increase Lead

Staszko called from the small blind and Heinz checked his option. The flop came J T 3 and both players checked. The Q on the turn got Heinz to lead out for 3,000,000. Staszko re-raised to 7,500,000 and Heinz called. The river  was the 6 and Heinz checked, allowing Staszko to bet 10,000,000. After nearly three minutes Heinz called and Staszko turned over K-9 for the second nut straight. Heinz mucked and dropped to 62,600,000 while Staszko reached 143,300,000.

By the Numbers

715 Chip position for Martin Staszko at the end of Day 3 of the Main Event.  There were 852 survivors that day and Staszko was well below average with just 94,000 chips, an amount that represents just .05% of a big blind now.

What was a back and forth battle in the 2011 WSOP Main Event  is started to feel a little one-sided with Martin Staszko is back out front.  A visibly frustrated Pius Heinz dipped as low as 65 million over the past hour.  He has managed to more than just stop the bleeding since hitting that low point. He pulled back to even in chips after a little over 55 hands of heads-up action, and now he is back in the chip lead after the sixth lead change of the evening:

Staszko Jumps to a 2-1 Lead

The hand of the hour has to be the big pot where Heinz ran a bluff right into his opponent’s full house. On Hand 228, Heinz raised preflop and Staszko defended his big blind.  Heinz bet the A93 flop and Staszko called.  The turn brought the A and Staszko checked again.  Heinz bet 8.4 million, a little more than half the pot, and Staszko check-raised to 18.5 million. Despite holding just 67 for seven-high.  Staszko, meanwhile, decided to bet his A9 for a full house when the 6 on the river completed a possible flush draw.  Heinz had improved to two pair, aces and sixes, but he folded and dipped to his low point.

And Heinz Fights Back

It only took around a dozen small pots for Heinz to pull back to even with Staszko, the most notable of which came when Heinz fired the flop and turn of a 9423 board.  Staszko called him down, but hte two checked when the river 5 pu ta four-liner straight draw on the board.  Heinz’s 9T was good enough to take the pot and that pushed him back up to 90 million.

His stack only got bigger from there. He took the chip lead six hands later and has been claiming small pot after small pot to move to 123,400,000 to Staszko’s 80,700,000.

By The Numbers

43 Number of Tweets Daniel Negreanu has sent about the play at the final table so far tonight. If you’re keeping track at home, that is a rate of roughly one every four and a half minutes.

100 Approximate number of different cheers Staszko’s rail has sung this evening. Okay, we might be exaggerating, but the rowdy crew seems to have a different chant for just about every pot Staszko takes down.

Lamb stayed positive during his exit interviews

On Sunday night, it took Ben Lamb twelve hands to voluntarily put a chip in the pot.  Tonight, it took him just one hand to get all of his chips in the middle for the biggest pot of the tournament.  After the Hall of Fame induction ceremony and a rousing introduction from Bruce Buffer, the first hand of action sucked the air out of the room and sent all of the momentum in Martin Staszko‘s direction.

On the very first hand of play, Lamb opened out of the small blind with the blinds at 600,000/1,200,000 ante 200,000, and Staszko reraised to 7.5 million out of the big blind.  Lamb deliberated a minute before announcing he was all-in, having Staszko’s remaining 35 million covered.  Staszko thought a bit as well, then called with 77.  Lamb showed KJ and this monster pot was going to come down to a coinflip.  The board as no help to Lamb as it ran out 9323T, and Staszko doubled to within striking distance of Pius Heinz, while Lamb was left with just over ten big blinds.

Staszko wasted no time putting that big stack to work, calling a raise on the river from Heinz on a board of A969J. Heinz was bluffing with KQ for king-high, and Staszko’s KK earned him a pot big enough to give him the chip lead.

Staszko folded one hand before adding another chunk to his bounty.  Lamb moved all-in from the small blind for his last nine big blinds or so with Q6 and Staszko woke up with yet another big hand in the big blind, this time calling with JJ.  The jacks held up as the 55227 flop didn’t even offer Lamb and his giant rail much of a sweat.

That left Lamb on the outside and looking in, out in third place with a $4,021,138 payday.

While Lamb gave exit interviews and made plans to go celebrate with friends, Heinz and Staszko got heads-up action underway.  Staszko began with the advantage holding 117,300,000 to Heinz’s 88,600,000.  Once the two players got to mano a mano action, Staszko’s insane rush slowed down thanks mostly to the following pot:

Staszko completed the small blind with A 8 and Heinz raised to 3,700,000 with 9 8. Staszko called. The flop came 9 8 5 and Heinz bet 4,300,000. Staszko called. The turn was the Q and Heinz bet 8,800,000 and again Staszko called. The T on the turn got Heinz to check and Staszko bet 14,500,000. Heinz tanked for two minutes before announcing he was all-in. Staszko considered his options and eventually folded and Heinz took down the 47,000,000 chip pot and moved up to 122,900,000 and the chip lead. Staszko dropped to 83,000,000.

Heinz only continued to chip up from there and he is not only holding on to the chip lead, but putting a little more distnace between himself and his opponent. After around 30 minutes of heads-up action, here is a look at the latest chip counts:

Pius Heinz – 129,000,000 (108 BBs)
Martin Staszko – 76,900,000 (64 BBs)

Ben Lamb Talks About His Fast Exit

With the makeup of the stacks when three-handed play began, it would not have been shocking to see early fireworks, but to have such a tournament shifting hand on the first hand of the night was quite jarring. For Lamb, it wasn’t necessarily a case of wanting to flip for the majority of his chips right away.

“I kind of just wanted to set the precedent that I was not going to be messed with,” said Lamb. “I wanted to win the tournament more than get second place. “The pay jump is nearly three times as big between first and second and second and third. It was just kind of an inflection point in the tournament when I wanted to give myself the best chance to accrue chips early so that I would have a good stack to get heads-up, if I got heads-up.”  He went on to elaborate on his decision making behind his play on the first hand, which is already generating a lot of discussion in the Twitterverse.

“I thought there was a decent chance he was just coming out swinging. I wouldn’t have done it with king-five, but I had king-jack. If he folds, I’m going to set myself up to be in a really good spot, and if he calls I’m going to have some equity most of the time,” he said.

While he was disappointed with the result, Lamb was still able to keep things in perspective. With such a large crowd there in support of him, there was still plenty of cause for celebration.

“We’re still going to have fun tonight for sure.”

By The Numbers

2 Number of hands before the chip lead changed at the final table. After holding the chip lead for 135 hands, Heinz lost it after just two hands of action.

9 Number of Czech player’s who played this year’s WSOP Main Event, per the official WSOP twitter account, @WSOP. That is just .0013% of the field.

75 Percent of hands of three-handed play where Martin Staszko held a pocket pair. He picked up sevens, kings, and jacks in just over a single orbit of play.

84 Number of spectators waiting outside the Penn and Teller Theater 30 minutes before the Hall of Fame inductions were set to begin.

85,600,000 The largest pot of the WSOP Main Event so far, coming on Hand 179 when Staszko doubled thru Ben Lamb.

From The Twitter Rail

Turns out Daniel Negreanu had more than just a casual fan’s interest in the WSOP Main Event action.  Shortly after Lamb busted, Negreanu revealed that he was part of Lamb’s team of people watching the coverage and sending intel:

My work is now done I guess. Its safe now to reveal that I was on team Benba sending info from home and helping along with Stien and Deeb.

November 8, 2011 10:27 pm via UberSocial for BlackBerryReplyRetweetFavorite

@RealKidPoker

Daniel Negreanu

Even though his horse is out though, Negreanu is still Tweeting about the coverage and had a very strong opinion about the action when Heinz shoved all-in on the river:

Staszko just exhibited the monster river tell on that hand with A8. Not sure its ethical for me to say what it is on twitter but its 100%!!

November 8, 2011 10:47 pm via UberSocial for BlackBerryReplyRetweetFavorite

@RealKidPoker

Daniel Negreanu

Lamb will start tomorrow second in chips

Some players at this year’s WSOP Main Event final table said the showing of hole cards and fifteen-minute delay didn’t have much bearing on final table action. Ben Lamb disagrees, but he also thinks he was the one who benefited most from the unprecedented levels of new information.

“It is definitely a different brand of poker,” he explained on his day off before returning for three-handed action on Tuesday. Lamb adjusted to the changes quickly though, employing a host of friends and experts to analyze plays, feed him key information, and look for any iota of information that might give him an advantage over his opponents.

“I have a team of people I am working with. We are going to do everything we can to be the most prepared. There are still $4.7 million to win.” It is this desire to cultivate the new info and make the most of it that has Lamb believing the semi-live broadcast benefitted him more than his opponents. “I always think I excel at a new way to play a game faster than other people, so I think it benefitted me the most,” he admitted.

Lamb also has experience on his side, what with six years of professional poker play to his credit. With so much experience, Lamb feels like the three month break didn’t really translate into any substantial improvement in his game. He did work during his time off though. “[I] watched every second of the footage ten times. Talked with people I respect, refined my game as much as I can. I’ve been playing for six years, but I am not going to get that much better in three months.”

When the final table began, many wondered if that preparation was paying off for the 2011 WSOP Player of the Year. He was the last player to voluntarily put a chip in the pot and played only a couple of hands during the first three or four orbits. Lamb wasn’t worried though.

“In any Sit N’ Go or final table, theoretically the best decision is to play tight until five or six handed. I wanted to try and not do that and be aggressive, but when someone raises in front of you and you have four-deuce, there is only so much you can do. I felt a little handcuffed during the first 20 hands, but it really wasn’t that nine-handed play was going to make or break the tournament.”

Now Lamb has the bracelet within reach, but he is more concerned with the money than the prestige of the title. As he recalls hands and mulls over what his future could be with the press, the millions come up multiple times. He acknowledges that might change in the future, but the $4.7 million still up for grabs is at the forefront of his mind. “It is a nice bracelet and all,” he said with a grin. “Twenty years from the now, the bracelet will probably mean more than the money, but in the immediate future, it can buy some pretty cool stuff.”

Same goes for his WSOP Player of the Year title, which he would gladly trade in exchange for the top payday. For a guy who got into poker because he, “kinda wanted to just make money,” it is a point of view that makes a lot of sense and has been working out for him so far.  Lamb knows he is up against some tough competitors, but with experience on his side, he feels good about how his game compares to his opponents’…at least for now.

“Staszko is a genius, he’s a world-class chess player, but it seems like he hasn’t really spent as much time playing poker. I think in a lot of ways he is a little more inexperienced even though he may be the smartest person at the table. I think in two or three years he could be one of the best in the world,” he predicted.

In the meantime, it is Lamb who is poised to assert himself as one of the best players in the world and the only player to win the WSOP Main Event and the WSOP Player of the Year honors if he can be the last man standing when that final river is dealt.

The expectations for Martin Staszko were pretty high, considering he began the final table of the World Series of Poker Main Event with the chip lead. A dry spell just before the dinner break reduced his stack to less than half of what he started with, putting him towards the bottom of the chip counts, in danger of being the odd man out in the play down from four to three.

“The start was good for me,” said Staszko. “I increased my stack early, but after that I lost some, I didn’t have good hands. I moved down until I had only 20 million, but then I doubled up and got back to [where I started].”

Staszko picked up a crucial double up in a coin flip with Pius Heinz, bringing his stack back over 40 million. He was able to stay out of trouble for the most part from that point on, and though he enters three-handed play as the shortest stack, he’s close enough that just one hand could give him the chip lead.

The play early on at the final table was a bit surprising for Staszko.

“I expected there to be more three bets,” said Staszko, “but its was dependent on stacks. [There were] a lot of short stacks with about 20 big blinds, where it’s not possible to three-bet and fold.”

Staszko was most surprised by the play of one of his remaining two opponents.

“Ben Lamb didn’t raise so I couldn’t three-bet him,” said Staszko. “He was tight from the start.”

He may not have shown it, but Staszko was not in peak form when the final table began Sunday. He was happy with how he played, but his health betrayed him a bit

“It was pretty good,” said Staszko. “Maybe there were some hands I could have played better, but I was very tired and sick, I was not 100% yesterday.”

Staszko was on a level playing field with his opponents in another way, however, as he had friends in the crowd who were relaying some of the hand information from the ESPN broadcast.

“I didn’t use it much,” said Staszko. “I knew my opponents could bluff and could bet with hands, but I think it didn’t really change my game much.”

Staszko’s plan for preparing himself for three-handed play doesn’t include watching the coverage from Sunday. He plans to spend his time off trying to recover.

“First of all I need to get a good [night’s] sleep,” said Staszko, “and hope that my health will be 100%. I will just relax. I know these players, and they know me. But it will be a little bit of a different game with only three people at the table, and maybe heads-up.”

As the first Czech-born player to make the WSOP Main Event final table, Staszko has be

“I read something on the internet, ‘our country’s biggest poker success’,” said Staszko. “Many people know about it, all of the poker players of course, but now more people know about poker and my success. I think the Czech poker boom will increase.”

Matt Giannetti was the last player eliminated on Sunday night before the final table broke until Tuesday.

Matt Giannetti had an hour that no poker player would ever want to live through and now finds himself out of the 2011 WSOP Main Event in fourth place. Giannetti first dropped 6,800,000 to Pius Heinz after the German pro bet 7,000,000 on a flop of 9 8 8 but the real dagger came at the hands of Ben Lamb.

From the button Giannetti raised to 2,600,000. Lamb moved all-in from the big blind for 26,800,000 and Giannetti called. Lamb showed A 7 and Giannetti turned over J J. The flop came K 9 5 giving Lamb the nut flush draw heading to the turn. When the 4 fell on the turn Lamb jumped into the rail to celebrate with his friends and family. The meaningless 9 on the river meant nothing and Lamb was at 55,000,000 while Giannetti was left as the short stack with just 6,700,000.

Giannetti doubled-up once through Martin Staszko before he ran into another monster from Lamb. Giannetti moved all-in from the button with A 3 which left him slim hope against the K K of Lamb. The flop of K K Q ended all drama as Lamb flopped quads to eliminate Giannetti in fourth place.

Lamb, Pius Heinz and Staszko will return to the table on Tuesday at 5 pm PST to play down to a new Main Event champion.

Updated Chip Counts

1. Pius Heinz – 107,800,000
2. Ben Lamb – 55,400,000
3. Martin Staszko – 42,700,000

By The Numbers

2 Number of instances of American-on-American all-in violence. Earlier today, Phil Collins doubled thru fellow American Ben Lamb. This past hour, Lamb doubled thru the third American amongst the nine, Matt Giannetti. Giannetti is the only player of the three to not double thru a fellow countryman, staving off elimination by taking chips from Czech player, Martin Staszko.

52 Percentage of chips in play that belong to chip leader Pius Heinz. He will begin play on Tuesday with nearly ninety big blinds and more than twice as many chips as either of his opponents.

135 Number of hands Pius Heinz has held the chip lead at the final table. This is the longest reign at the top by a margin.  Since combining to ten-handed play back in July, the table has seen three chip lead changes. Eoghan O’Dea began ten-handed action with the chip lead and held the top spot for 39 hands. Martin Staszko and O’Dea then swapped the lead on five separate occasions before Staszko pulled out front and stayed there for the final 21 hands of action before John Hewitt busted in 10th place. That means Staszko has the second longest streak at the table, staying on top for 63 hands before relinquishing the lead to Heinz.

178 Number of hands it took to play from nine players down to three.