Poker News
/ Short-Stacked Shamus / 04 November 2011 / Leave a Comment
For nine players, the 2011 WSOP Main Event bracelet is still within reach (Photos: PokerNews)
It's the most international WSOP ME final table ever -- with the nine players coming from seven different countries -- as well as one of the youngest ever, with seven of the nine players aged 26 or less.
After nearly four months of waiting, the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event is almost ready to resume, with the nine remaining players -- a.k.a. the "November Nine" -- having returned to the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas to battle for the bracelet.
The final table starts just after noon Vegas time this Sunday, with Martin Staszko of the Czech Republic the current leader. Even ninth-place Sam Holden of Sussex has chips with which to work, however, meaning any of the nine can still take the title.
Here's a look at the chip stacks to which each player will be returning on Sunday:
Seat 1: Matt Giannetti (U.S.) -- 24,750,000
Seat 2: Badih Bounahra (Belize) -- 19,700,000
Seat 3: Eoghan O'Dea (Ireland) -- 33,925,000
Seat 4: Phil Collins (U.S.) -- 23,875,000
Seat 5: Anton Makiievskyi (Ukraine) -- 13,825,000
Seat 6: Sam Holden (U.K.) -- 12,375,000
Seat 7: Pius Heinz (Germany) -- 16,425,000
Seat 8: Ben Lamb (U.S.) -- 20,875,000
Seat 9: Martin Staszko (Czech Rep.) -- 40,175,000
There will be almost 35 minutes left in Level 36 when play resumes, where the blinds are 250,000/500,000 with a 50,000 ante. Thus even Holden has more than 24 BBs, which should afford him some time to be judicious at least during that first half-hour. And with everyone else within striking distance of the leader Staszko, the final table will likely provide much drama as the chips start moving back and forth.
As we've grown accustomed to over recent years, the stakes at the WSOP Main Event final table are enormous, with a huge gap between finishing first and ninth.
In fact, each player was already paid ninth-place prize money ($782,115) back in July, with the remaining funds placed into a money market account to draw a little bit of interest to add to the eight remaining spots. Here are the updated payouts for the final table:
1st: $8,715,638
2nd: $5,433,086
3rd: $4,021,138
4th: $3,012,700
5th: $2,269,599
6th: $1,720,831
7th: $1,314,097
8th: $1,010,015
9th: $782,115
Looking at the final nine players, two characteristics jump out. It's the most international WSOP ME final table ever, with the nine players coming from seven different countries. Interestingly, three of those seven nations -- Belize, the Czech Republic, and the Ukraine -- are being represented for the very first time at a WSOP ME final table. A total of 85 countries were represented among the 6,865 entrants in this year's WSOP Main Event, proving that poker is certainly a global game.
It is also an especially young final table, with seven of the nine players aged between 21-26. Only Staszko is in his 30s (aged 35), and Bounahra will be the table's elder statesman at 47. Anton Makiievskyi comes into this weekend still just 21 years old, and would be the youngest ever Main Event champion should he battle back from eighth place to win.
Of additional note is the fact that this Main Event final table is comprised of a number of especially tough competitors, all of whom (aside from Bounahra, a businessman) would fit into the "pro" category by most definitions.
Adding to the drama, coverage of this year's Main Event final table will be the most comprehensive ever, with every single hand -- with hole cards (shown after hands are completed) -- being televised on a 15-minute delay on the ESPN networks.
In the U.S., fans can watch them play down from nine players to three on Sunday on ESPN2 starting at 12:30 p.m. Vegas time. Then on Tuesday, Americans can watch from 6:00 p.m. Vegas time over on ESPN. The coverage will be shown online as well on the ESPN3 site (for those who are allowed access).
Meanwhile, for viewers outside the U.S., ESPN will also be carrying the coverage on several of its international networks. And if you don't happen to get any of those channels, non-Americans can view all of the coverage streaming over on the WSOP.com site.
Here are a few items about each player to contemplate as you follow along on Sunday and Tuesday:
Martin Staszko (1st, 40.175 million)
-- hopes to be the first player from the Czech Republic ever to win a WSOP bracelet
-- has cashed in five WSOP events this year (including the ME); his best finish in a preliminary event was 39th in the $1,500 PLO8 (Event No. 51)
-- brought a total of $20,000 to Las Vegas this summer to play in events; ended up playing in 15 total (including the ME) - Betfair Odds 5.8
Eoghan O'Dea (2nd, 33.925 million)
-- had five WSOP cashes in 2011 (including the ME and a final table at the World Series of Poker Europe in the €5,300 PLO event)
-- would be the second-ever WSOP ME winner from Ireland (Noel Furlong, 1999)
-- son of Irish player Donnacha O'Dea who made two WSOP Main Event final tables (1983, 1991); the pair comprise the first ever father-son duo to make WSOP ME FTs; Donnacha has won one WSOP bracelet (1998) and is a member of the European Poker Players Hall of Fame Betfair Odds 5.5
Matt Giannetti (3rd, 24.75 million)
-- was in the bottom ten in chips (with just 11 big blinds) with 378 players left
-- was the short stack with 10 remaining, but doubled up twice (with pocket jacks both times) to survive
-- had himself a profitable break from the WSOP ME, winning the WPT Malta Main Event and the €200,000 first prize in late September Betfair Odds 7.8
Phil Collins (4th, 23.875 million)
-- has yet to be all in once the entire tourney, enjoying an above-average stack throughout
-- has a bachelor's degree in business, earned at the University of South Carolina
-- is a Phil Collins fan, so doesn't mind his rail singing "In the Air Tonight" and other hits by the pop star Betfair Odds 7.0
Ben Lamb (5th, 20.875 million)
-- has already clinched the 2011 WSOP Player of the Year, with five cashes (including ME), a bracelet in the $10K PLO Championship (Event No. 42), and two other final tables
-- finished 14th in the WSOP Main Event in 2009, and 156th in the WSOP ME in 2007
-- has more than $3.3 million in lifetime tourney earnings, by far the most of any of the final nine Betfair Odds 6.6
Badih "Bob" Bounahra (6th, 19.7 million)
-- originally from Lebanon, also the birthplace of 2005 WSOP ME winner Joe Hachem
-- one of only two players from the central American country of Belize (pop. ~330,000) to enter this year's WSOP ME
-- stated repeatedly during play in July that seven-deuce offsuit was his favorite hand; was shown playing and winning with 72o during ESPN's coverage last week Betfair Odds 16.0
Pius Heinz (7th, 16.425 million)
-- only the second German ever to make a WSOP ME final table (Henry Nowakowski finished seventh in 2001)
-- hopes to be the 12th German ever to win a WSOP bracelet (and first ME winner)
-- made another WSOP final table this summer, finishing seventh in a $1,500 no-limit hold'em event (Event No. 48) Betfair Odds 12.5
Anton Makiievski (8th, 13,825 million)
-- was the start of Day 8 chip leader (with 27 players left)
-- hopes to be the fifth Ukrainian to earn a 2011 WSOP bracelet, and (as mentioned) the youngest WSOP ME winner ever (at age 21 years, 262 days); is already the youngest ever to play at a WSOP ME final table
-- his trip to Las Vegas this summer to play in the WSOP was the first time he'd ever visited the United States Betfair Odds 13.5
Sam Holden (9th, 12.375 million)
-- 2011 was the first WSOP for the 22-year-old, and the Main Event just his fourth WSOP event
-- has a degree in forensic science from the University of Kent
-- hopes to become the first-ever U.K.-born WSOP Main Event winner Betfair Odds 17.5
Check out the latest odds on the WSOP on Betfair
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