It all came down to Tuesday night. Three men – Germany’s Pius Heinz, America’s Ben Lamb, and the Czech Republic’s Martin Staszko – returned to the Rio to determine who would be the next poker legend, who would be the 2011 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion.
It looked like Pius Heinz’s bracelet to lose, as he had more chips than the other two players combined, the aggressive internet pro was against to fantastic players. Lamb was an established internet star in his own right and had already clinched the 2011 WSOP Player of Year title, while Martin Staszko was a chess expert and had no trouble remaining calm, cool, and collected no matter what the situation. Here were the chip stacks to start play:
Pius Heinz: 107.8 million
Ben Lamb: 55.4 million
Martin Staszko: 42.7 million
For those viewers who wanted action (or quick finish to avoid a long night), they were far from disappointed in the early going. On the very first hand we had an all-in and a call, and with the stacks where they were in three-handed play, it materially altered the entire course of the final table.
Again, this was the first hand of the night, at 8:53pm: With blinds and antes at 600k/1.2 million/200k, Ben Lamb raised pre-flop to 3 million and Martin Staszko three-bet to 7.5 million. Then, in what must have been a surprise to most of the audience in the Penn & Teller Lamb moved all-in! Staszko made the call, putting himself all-in, as he was the shortest stack. When the cards were flipped over, they weren’t the monsters that everyone probably expected. Lamb had Kh-Jd, while Staszko had 7s-7h. The race was on. Lamb got absolute no help from the 3h-9s-2d- 3s-Tc board and Staszko doubled-up to 85.6 million. Lamb was crippled, down to 12.7 million, or just 10 big blinds and 6 orbits.
In his post-game interview with Kara Scott, Lamb said that he thought his four-bet would force Staszko to fold, but even if his opponent made the call, he still had a shot to win and get to heads-up right away.
Then, on the very next hand, Staszko took the chip lead away from Pius Heinz. Staszko raised to 3 million pre-flop, Heinz made the call, and the two saw a flop of 9h-Ac-6s. The same betting occurred and the turn card, 9d, was dealt. Both men checked to bring on the river of Jc. At that, Staszko bet 4.5 million, Heinz raised to 14.2 million, and Staszko called, turning over pocket Kings, easily beating Heinz’s K-Q.
Two hands later, on the fourth hand of the night, Lamb put his last 10.9 million into the pot pre-flop with Qs-6h and was called by Staszko, who had Jd-Jc. Just like earlier, Lamb didn’t even get a good sweat with the board cards and in the blink of an eye, the 2011 WSOP Player of the Year was eliminated in 3rd place.
Staszko had won the first four hands of the night and had the chip lead going into heads-up play, 117.3 million to 88.6 million.
With that shocking quick exit, it looked like it might be a short night, but it wasn’t to be. What poker fans were treated to, however, was arguably the best WSOP Main Event heads-up match we have seen in years. Here we had two players with seemingly contrasting styles: Heinz was the 22-year old internet player who had shown the propensity to play any two cards and was extremely aggressive, while Staszko was the 35-year old chess expert, relatively new to poker, who appeared much more mathematical and tight (though his tightness may have just been perception – as Heinz said Sunday night, he suspected Staszko was simply card dead during the first portion of the final table). ESPN’s statistics tended to bear that out, too, as Heinz raised pre-flop much more than Staszko, as well as making continuation bets almost every single time.
Their styles showed themselves on Hand 9, at 9:22pm ET. Staszko simply limped in from the button, Heinz raised to 3.7 million, and Staszko called. After the 9d-5c-8d flop, Heinz bet 4.3 million and Staszko called. It was another bet and call on the Qd flop, this time for 8.8 million. On the river 10c, Heinz checked, Staszko put out 14.5 million, and after 3-4 minutes of pondering, Heinz moved all-in for his remaining 74.4 million, forcing Staszko to fold. ESPN cameras showed that Heinz had flopped two pair with 9s-8s, while Staszko had just one pair with As-8c.
Heinz now had the chip lead back, 122.9 million to 83 million.
Unlike many heads-up matches, there were a lot of flops seen between the German and Czech, even with their different styles. Over the next 15 hands, each player took his share of pots, when a timely river card helped Staszko regain the lead on Hand 25. As was the case many times, Staszko limped pre-flop and Heinz checked his option (interestingly, this never happened the other way around – Heinz never limped from the button) and the two saw a flop of 2c-Qs-9h. With the new blinds and antes at 800k/1.6 million/300k, Heinz made a small 2 million chip flop bet and Staszko called. The turn was Ks, Heinz bet 4.5 million, and Staszko called again. On the river, the 7s, Heinz made it 14.25 million, and Staszko was content to call. That river card was big, as it gave Heinz two pair with 2h-7d, but it also gave Staszko a better two pair with his Qh-7c. Staszko was winning all the way, but the river likely gave Heinz the confidence to make a heavy bet and, in turn, lose more chips.
Staszko once again had the chip lead, 110.65 million to 95.25 million.
Three hands later, Heinz snatched the lead right back, getting very aggressive with pocket Aces. Staszko had flopped top pair with Q-9, but it was never going to be enough, especially when Heinz turned a set, and Staszko eventually surrendered a 48.7 million pot by folding on the river.
Heinz upped his lead to 124.9 million to 81 million on Hand 32, but the tables lead flip-flopped again on Hand 33. Staszko raised to 3.5 million pre-flop, Heinz three-bet to 10.1 million, and Staszko called. With the pot already at 20.1 million, the flop came down 7d-2h-Ts and Heinz bet 9.7 million, followed by a call from Staszko. Heinz ratcheted up the pressure with a 21.3 million chip bet when the Ac was dealt on the turn, but this time, Staszko shoved all-in. Heinz bowed out and Staszko had climbed up to 122.4 million chips to Heinz’s 83.5 million. ESPN cameras revealed that it was a massive bluff by Staszko, who had just Kd-Qh. Then again, Heinz had air as well – Jd-9c – so the bluff was well timed.
As play continued one thing became clear. Staszko was not going to get bullied by Heinz. Heinz’s game was constant aggression and many people, perhaps even Heinz himself, expect that he would steamroll the more passive Staszko. But for every move Heinz had, the Czech had a counter. He was constantly able to pick off Heinz when he tried to get out of line and was able to reign it in when he needed to play it safe.
Staszko expanded his lead to 141.3 million to 64.6 million, flopping two pair and taking advantage of poorly timed aggression by Heinz on Hand 50. But Heinz did pull back ahead using that same aggression to pull in healthy pots, eventually growing his stack to 123.4 million through Hand 63.
But Staszko, as he was wont to do, held steady and never blinked. He quickly took the lead back and looked like he was starting to run away with the match. On Hand 79, Staszko limped in pre-flop, Heinz checked, and the flop came 3h-Jh-Tc. Both men checked to bring on the turn of Qh. At that, Heinz bet 3 million, Staszko raised to 7.5 million, and Heinz called. After the 6s on the river, Heinz checked and Staszko put the pressure on with a 10 million chip bet. Heinz tanked for a couple minutes until finally calling with Q-2, giving him a pair. Staszko had K-9, though, for the turned straight, giving him the pot.
After Hand 82 at 1:11am ET, Staszko had grown the lead to 150.6 million to 55.3 million and for the first time all night, Heinz was looking frustrated. He just couldn’t figure out Staszko. If Staszko had the best hand, he won. If he had the worst hand, he successfully bluffed. It didn’t help matters that Heinz couldn’t hit a big hand to save his life. As ESPN commentator and poker pro Antonio Esfandiari said at 2:02am ET about Staszko, “His confidence is oozing.”
It all turned, though, on Hand 115, the first hand of a new level, where blinds and antes were 1.2 million/2.4 million/300k. To start the hand, Staszko still had a big lead, 124.75 million to 81.15 million. Staszko limped again, Heinz raised to 7.9 million, and Staszko called, all pre-flop. Heinz led out with an 8.2 million bet on the Tc-7c-Ks flop, only to see Staszko raise him to 17.5 million. After some deep thought, Heinz moved all-in for another 64.75 million. Staszko looked like he wanted to vomit. It was apparent he had something, but he didn’t know if it was something worth the extra 47 million. After a minute or two, he made the call, showing Qc-9c, for a flush draw. Heinz had Ah-Qh and the lead, but it was almost a coin flip, as Staszko had 12 outs to win the entire tournament. None of those outs showed their faces, though, and Heinz took the biggest lead of the night, 162.3 million to 43.6 million.
Watching the entire heads-up match, it appeared to this writer that while both players played great poker, Staszko had outplayed Heinz overall. But this is poker, and fortunes can change at the snap of a finger. Such was the case here. Staszko tried to hold on and make a comeback, but it wasn’t “in the cards,” if we may use a corny pun.
On hand 123, played at 3:11am ET/12:11am PT, Staszko went all-in right away pre-flop for his last 39.8 million chips. Heinz called quickly and the two showed their cards:
Heinz: As-Kc
Stasko: Tc-7c
All things considered, Staszko wasn’t in terrible shape. He had two suited cards (though one club was taken by Heinz) and both cards were live. After making sure everything was in order, the dealer began to lay out the community cards:
FLOP: 5c-2d-9s
TURN: Jh
RIVER: 4d
And just like that, after being down and out and seemingly a bit lost, Pius Heinz was the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event champion and $8,715,638 richer. He became the first German to win the Main Event, the second youngest Main Event winner at 22-years old (Joe Cada won just shy of his 22nd birthday in 2009), as well as the fourth straight champion under the age of 25.
For Martin Staszko’s part, he was the first player from the Czech Republic to ever make the final table of the Main Event. And in what has become a young man’s game with the crazy hours players have to put in to win big tournaments, it says something that a “senior citizen” at age 35 could perform so well for so long.
The heads-up portion of the 2011 WSOP Main Event was one of the greatest battles we have seen in some time. At 119 hands, it was the longest in about a decade. Both players were at the tops of their games, both sticking to the styles that had worked for them to that point. Both were down, both were up, but neither gave in. After a rough year for poker, Pius Heinz and Martin Staszko shined a bright light on a great game, making this a final table to remember.
2011 World Series of Poker Main Event – Final Table Results
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