2011 WSOP Now Heads UP
Tuesday November 8,2011 : Lamb crashes after only four hands in the final table's second day
The three survivors on the 2011 World Series of Poker main event final table, Pius Heinz (22), Martin Staszko (35) and Ben Lamb (26), reconvened for a second day of action in Las Vegas Tuesday evening and almost immediately produced a shock result when Lamb was eliminated after only four hands.
After doubling up Martin Staszko on the very first hand of the evening a still confident Lamb open-shoved his last 10.9 million from the small blind with Queen spades six hearts, only to be busted out in the big blind when there was no help from the board cards and Staszko's pocket jacks held good.
His surprise elimination set the scene for a fierce heads up battle for the $8.7 million main prize between Pius and Staszko which was still going hammer and tongs when InfoPowa went to press late evening Vegas time at hand 234, with Staszko holding the chip lead on 141,000,000, but Heinz closing the gap at 99,000,000.
Lamb's third placing gave him a take-home of $4 million, boosting his career earnings to over $6.5 million; he also had the satisfaction of being named 2011 WSOP Player of the Year.
Although clearly taken aback by his rapid departure, Lamb remained positive, telling reporters: “Every poker player dreams about having a year like I’ve had so I’m not going to sit here and have people cry for me. I’ll be okay.
“It was a great experience with all my friends and family here and we’re going to have a lot of fun tonight and I’ll be okay in 20 or 30 minutes,” he said, adding that he was still reeling emotionally after going from the heights of optimism to the lows of an early defeat.
Now it's down to the young German Heinz vs. his older opponent Staszko from the Czech Republic – both represent the first time a player from their nations has made it to a final table in a WSOP main event.
