Few people would’ve guessed that 22-year-old university student Pius Heinz would be holding the 2011 WSOP Main Event gold bracelet over his head last night, but that’s exactly what happened as the German survived over seven hours of play to win the world’s most prestigious tournament.
As we reported the other day, there were three players left in the Main Event with Heinz (108m chips), Ben Lamb (55m chips) and Martin Staszko (43m chips) all vying for the title. However, it would be a very quick day for the American Lamb as he tried to steal a pot from Staszko on the first hand with K-J. The Czech felt pretty good about his pocket 7′s, and quickly pushed all-in; when the board didn’t help Lamb, Staszko scooped a massive pot that put him right up with Heinz.
Meanwhile, Lamb was reeling from his big loss, and busted out of the tournament just a few hands later. Things got much tougher from here on out with Staszko and Heinz taking turns with the lead. The momentum shifted wildly throughout a 119-hand heads-up session, and both players had huge crowds cheering and singing for them in the background. It was as if the Penn & Teller Theatre had been transformed into a World Cup football match.
The players seemed fairly comfortable in this environment, which made for a great matchup. At one point, it looked like the 35-year-old Staszko was in firm control of the game when he held a 4-1 chip advantage. However, he (Qc-9c) called a crucial all-in move by Heinz (Ah-Qh) while hoping to end the Main Event on a board of Tc-7c-Ks. Neither player got anything from the board, but this meant Heinz took down the big pot, and overtook Staszko for the lead.
Over the next several hands, Heinz looked firmly in control with his 4-1 chip advantage, and was able to end the heads-up match a short while later. After becoming the first German poker player to take down the Main Event, Heinz told the Washington Post, “It’s got to be the happiest day of my life. But I can’t believe what happened – it’s unreal.”
Here is how the 2011 Main Event final table played out:
1. Pius Heinz – $8,715,638
2. Martin Staszko – $5,433,086
3. Ben Lamb – $4,021,138
4. Matt Giannetti – $3,012,700
5. Phil Collins – $2,269,599
6. Eoghan O’Dea – $1,720,831
7. Bob Bounahra – $1,314,097
8. Anton Makiievskyi – $1,010,015
9. Sam Holden – $782,115
