Ben Lamb Dramatically Exits 2011 WSOP Main Event
November 9, 2011 10:03 amGoing into last night’s exciting finale to the 2011 WSOP Main Event, Ben Lamb had high hopes of capturing the most prestigious prize in the whole of poker.
The 2011 WSOP Player of the Year was finely poised in 2nd place (55.4m) ahead of Martin Stszko (42.7m) but with some work to do if he was to catch the chip leader Pius Heinz on a 107.8m stack.
However, in one of the most dramatic eliminations in the final session of the Main Event, Ben Lamb found himself out within hand 4 or roughly 15 minutes of play.
Much of the damage was done after just the first hand, however, with the blinds at 600K/1.2M and an ante of 200K. Ben lamb was dealt Kh-Jd and decided to push all-in over the top of Staszko’s raise, who then made the call with pocket sevens.
“I got the sense he wasn’t like super strong, but he actually was stronger than I thought he was,” explained Lamb, who was then reduced to just 12.7 million chips.
Ben Lamb said he was taking a particularly aggressive stance from the start on account of the huge separation in payouts between 1st ($8,715,636) and 2nd place ($5,433,086).
“I was trying to give myself the best place I could in the tournament…There was about $1.3 million between second and third place and about $3 million between first and second,” explained Ben Lamb.
Nevertheless, Lamb wasn’t expecting Staszko to pull three pocket pairs in the first four hands of play, and he soon found himself eliminated by hand 4 when he pushed his remaining chips with Q-6 into Martin Staszko’s pocket Jacks.
The board then ran out 5-5-2-2-7 to eliminate the US pro in 3rd for $4,021,138 who, despite his swift exit, deservedly was named the 2011 WSOP Player of the Year.
Ben Lamb’s record at WSOP 2011 now stands at 6 cashes for $5,352,970 including victory at the $10k PLO Championship ($814,436), 3rd place in the $10k Main Event ($4,021,138), 2nd in the $3k PLO event ($259,918), 8th in the $50k Poker Players Championship ($201,338) and 12th in the $10k NL Six Handed ($56,140).
The 26 year old has now won $6,575,016 from live tournament cashes, plus another $1,131,871 playing online as “Benba.”