UPDATE: It would appear that the WSOP hint that the November Nine would not be returning was, in fact, ambiguous.

The WSOP have now confirmed that the 2012 Main Event will be held one week earlier on Sunday, October 28th, probably in order to accomodate for the U.S. Presidential Elections.

          ———————————

On Tuesday, the World Series of Poker announced a number of changes to their 2012 schedule, with the biggest surprise involving scrapping the November Nine format. As the  WSOP Twitter account read:

“A few hints on WSOP schedule coming tomorrow…you won’t find the November Nine returning.”

The four month Main Event final table delay was originally introduced in 2008 as a means to build excitement ahead of the  tournament’s recorded televised show, while also ensuring the viewers’ enjoyment wasn’t spoilt by knowing the result before the programme aired.

Another spin-off from the November Nine delay included enabling the finalists to play their best game by providing them with recovery time from the punishing Main Event schedule. Additionally, finalists could use the time to study their opponents, while also securing lucrative sponsorship deals.

Nevertheless, despite being theoretically sound, the November Nine concept ran into a great deal of criticism as it was seen as  changing the overall dynamics of the tournament.

One of its most outspoken critics was none other than the WSOP Communications Director Seth Palansky, while 2008 November Niner Ylon Schwartz also launched an attack on the format, when he stated:

“It ruins the integrity of the tournament. The purity of old-time Las Vegas is gone. The antiquity and purity of the tournament have been liquidated into pure greed and capitalism.”

However, since 2011 when the WSOP and ESPN introduced full final table coverage with just a fifteen minute delay, the November Nine concept was subsequently rendered obsolete.

Full details of the 2012 WSOP schedule is expected to be released soon, but other details hinted at by the organization via their twitter account include the following:

“The 43rd Annual WSOP will take place from May 27 to July 16, 2012 at @RioVegas. Full schedule comes at 1 PM ET Wednesday.”

“For the 2012 WSOP, an expected 470 poker tables will be utilized…nearly 100 more than last year!”

“Another good change coming to WSOP in 2012…no off day during Main Event.”

Taking place between July 1-3, 2012, at the Rio in Las Vegas, the ultra high-stakes tournament is the creation of Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté. Importantly, $111,111 from each entry fee will be earmarked for Laliberté’s charity One Drop, whose mission is:

“To fight poverty by providing access to water and raising awareness among individuals and communities about the need for mobilization in order to make safe water accessible to all, in sufficient quantity, today and tomorrow.”

The tournament itself will be capped at 48 players which, if reached, would see the huge prize pool then being shared out amongst the top nine or ten players. It is also expected that the first place prize will be biggest ever awarded, even eclipsing that of the $12 million won by the 2006 WSOP Main Event winner Jamie Gold.

In accordance with the WSOP standard of three times the buy-in, each player will begin with a three million stack with each level lasting 60 minutes.

So far several extremely wealthy businessmen have already committed to playing in the ‘Big One,’ including Andy Beal, Phil Ruffin, Sean O’Donnell and, of course, Guy Laliberté.

Amongst the poker pros who have reserved a place at the WSOP event, are Bobby Baldwin, Patrik Antonius, Gus Hansen, Johnny Chan, Tom Dwan, Antanas “Tony G” Guoga, Jonathan Duhamel, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Dan Shak and Daniel Negreanu.

Commenting on the $1 million WSOP Event, Negreanu said:

“A million dollar buy-in seems crazy, and well, it is, but when you factor in a great cause like ONE DROP getting a percentage of the prize pool, all of a sudden it seems like a fantastic idea, and a great way to raise money for charity. Count me in.”

Here are some key facts and results from the 2011 Main Event which concluded Monday night at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas:

1: The Main Event field of 6,865 entrants was the 3rd largest ever recorded at the tournament. Represented were players from 85 different countries, with 4,604 participants from the U.S. and 2,261 from the Rest Of the World (ROY).
 
2: Male participants made up 96.5% of the field, with this year’s last woman standing being Erika Moutinho (USA) who finished in 29th for $242,636.

3: Pius Heinz became the first German player ever to make a final table of the Main Event, let alone take down the whole tournament. He also became the competition’s fourth straight winner to be 23 years old or younger.

4: Pius Heinz received $8,715,638 for his first place finish, the 4th biggest amount ever received by a Main Event Champion. The largest prize was won in 2006 by Jamie Gold ($12m), followed in 2008 by Peter Eastgate ($9,152,416) and in 2010 by Jonathan Duhamel ($8,944,310).
 
5: German pro Pius Heinz became the 7th non-American player to win the Main Event since it started in 1971. ROY winners are as follows:

1990: Mansour Matloubi (UK) for $895,000
1999: Noel Furlong (Ireland) for $1m
2001: Carlos Mortensen (Spain) for $1.5m
2005: Joe Hachem (Australia) for $7.5m
2008: Peter Eastgate (Denmark) for $9,152,416
2010: Jonathan Duhamel (Canada) for $8,944,310
2011: Pius Heinz (Germany) for $8,715,638

6: At the 2011 Main Event, from the starting field of 6,865 players, those players finishing between 693rd and 622nd received the minimum pay-out of $19,359. Some of the notable names who rode high at this year’s event included 2005 Winner Tony Hachem in 37th ($196,174), Erick Lindgren in 43rd ($196,174) and Allen Cunningham in 69th ($108,412).

7: Noone since 1997 has managed to win the WSOP Main Event more than once, and this year was no exception. Players who have managed to achieve this remarkable feat in the past are Johnny Moss (1971, 1974), Doyle Brunson (1976, 1977), Stu Ungar (1980, 1981, 1997) and Johnny Chan (1987, 1988).

8:  Lastly, here are the final 50 finishing positions at the WSOP 2011 Main Event:

1st   Pius Heinz    $8,715,368    
2nd   Martin Staszko    $5,433,086    
3rd   Ben Lamb    $4,021,138    
4th   Matt Giannetti    $3,012,700    
5th   Phil Collins    $2,269,599    
6th   Eoghan O’Dea    $1,720,831    
7th   Badih Bounahra    $1,314,097    
8th   Anton Makiievskyi $1,010,015
9th   Sam Holden  $782,115   

10th  John Hewitt    $607,882     
11th  Khoa Nguyen    $607,882     
12th  Bryan Devonshire    $607,882     
13th  Kosta Mamaliadis    $478,174     
14th  Scott Schwalich    $478,174     
15th  Andrey Pateychuk    $478,174     
16th  Ryan Lenaghan    $378,796     
17th  Sam Barnhart    $378,796     
18th  Kenny Shih    $378,796     
19th  Aleksandr Mozhnyakov    $302,005 

20th  Gionni Demers    $302,005    
21st  Chris Moore    $302,005    
22nd  Lars Bonding    $302,005    
23rd  Andrew Hinrichsen    $302,005
24th  Gregory Kaplan    $302,005    
25th  Jerry Van Strydonck $302,005
26th  John Paul Kelly    $302,005    
27th  Kyle Johnson    $302,005    
28th  Philipp Gruissem    $242,636    
29th  Erika Moutinho    $242,636

30th  David Sands    $242,636    
31st  Steve Brecher    $242,636    
32nd  John Esposito    $242,636    
33rd  Nelson Robinson    $242,636    
34th  Nicolas Fierro    $242,636    
35th  Guillaume Darcourt    $242,636
36th  Hilton Laborda    $242,636    
37th  Tony Hachem    $196,174    
38th  Frank Sinopoli    $196,174    
39th  Mario Silvestri    $196,174

40th  James Page    $196,174    
41st  Tri Huynh    $196,174    
42nd  Fabio Sousa    $196,174    
43rd  Erick Lindgren    $196,174    
44th  Ruben Visser    $196,174    
45th  David Bach    $196,174    
46th  Stephane Albertini $160,036
47th  Thomas Koral    $160,036    
48th  Stuart Tuvey    $160,036    
49th  Feming Chan    $160,036    
50th  Matthew Kay    $160,036

The 22 year old from Cologne cashed in at his first $3 low buy-in online tournament back in Nov, 2007 and has a profile on PocketFives which describes his hobbies as “playing unlimited Hold’em donkaments, partying, and what not,”

The online player has since amassed $708,984 online under the screen name ‘MastaP89,’ with his victories including a 1st place finish  at the Full Tilt Poker Sunday Mulligan for $61,000 and victory at PokerStars $150,000 Guaranteed for $29,000.

Making the switch to live tournaments, Pius Heinz then came an impressive 7th at this year’s WSOP $1,500 NL Event for $83,286, and in between waiting for the November Nine to resume, also took down an EPT Barcelona €1,000 NL Turbo Bounty for $25,140.

Pius Heinz has been described as a game theory specialist with a near unexploitable tournament game which prevent his competitors from gaining an advantage over him in the long run. The young pro can now look forward to applying his considerable poker skills with a new confidence as the latest recruit to German Team PokerStars. He will now be competing in various top upcoming tournaments from around the globe starting December 5th at the EPT Prague.

Commenting on his remarkable victory last night at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, in Las Vegas, Pius Heinz said:

“I tried not to lose my nerve. At some point I was not making a hand. I was getting frustrated, honestly. I just tried to play my game…I just tried to focus and not make mistakes.”

The young German player also added:

“It’s got to be the happiest day of my life. But I can’t believe what happened – it’s unreal…It was just awesome to have so many of your friends and family following you, cheering you.”

Making it through to Tuesday’s final play was eventual champion Pius Heinz, 22, of Germany, who started Sunday in 7th place and at one stage slipped to 9th spot, before finishing the day in pole position.

Whereas Heinz continued to use his aggression and skill to jostle himself into position, start of the day chip leader Martin Staszko, 35, from the Czech Republic was practically card dead throughout the day, but managed to play a consolidated and patient game to ensure his place in the final three.

Lastly, an in form and running well Ben Lamb managed to advance from 5th to 2nd
by the day’s end, helped along by being several times all-in and behind only to
then hit his cards.

It was an interesting contrast in play going into the final three, ranging from aggressive to even-keeled to perhaps, extremely lucky.

Unfortunately for Ben Lamb, his winning streak came to an end in dramatic fashion as he tried to push the players around and ride his luck. Instead, he walked into Martin Staszko, who had been dealt three pocket pairs in the first four hands of play, and totally mistimed the situation to be eliminated within just four hands.

Lamb explained his fateful K-J shove over Staszko’s pocket sevens raise as a misread as to his opponent’s strength, yet Ben Lamb’s final session play has been criticised as amateurish. Apparently, Staszko had previously been giving off ample tells with Daniel Negreanu calling him a ‘tell box.’ One commentator also said it was painfully obvious Staszko had a hand the way he flashed a wry little smile before reaching to make a raise.

The final analysis is that Ben Lamb never managed to produce his A game in the match and was eliminated in 3rd place ($4,021,138) when his luck finally ran out.

By contrast, the heads-up battle between Pius Heinz and Martin Staszko was a more considered affair in which Heinz had the sort of hands Staszko was subjected to on his card dead Sunday grind.

Pius Heinz had sufficient aggression in his game to ride the tide against him, and was able to make things happen by applying constant pressure on his opponent.

“You can’t be afraid. I was good at playing my game and being fearless. That’s one of my biggest strengths,” explained Heinz.

However, Heinz would repeatedly lose a big pot after winning several smaller ones to set his efforts back over the 6 hour heads-up battle. In the meantime, Staszko was playing his patient, even-keeled game and was assisted by a favourable deck. As Heinz explained:

“He knows that the biggest part of my game is preflop aggression and by limping a lot he kind of took that away from me. I wasn’t able to punish his limps as much because when he limps your big blind and you’ve 5-3 off-suit every time there’s not much you can do about it. So I was forced to try to outplay him post-flop but he played very well post-flop also.”

Nonetheless, Heinz was able to draw confidence from the new format which enabled the players to view each other hands during breaks:

“It was good to know that Martin just had a hand every time he made a big bet or a big raise because when you think you’re getting bluffed or outplayed it messes with your confidence,” said Heinz.

Consequently, Pius Heinz continued to play his tenacious,aggressive game to eventually emerge deserved champion at this year’s WSOP Main Event. For his part, Staszko played very well indeed, but with a little inexperience creeping into some decisions in the final spell of play.

Here are the final payouts for the final table:

1st – Pius Heinz – $8,715,638
2nd – Martin Staszko – $5,433,086
3rd – Ben Lamb – $4,021,138
4th – Matt Giannetti – $3,012,700
5th – Phil Collins – $2,269,599
6th – Eoghan O’Dea – $1,720,831
7th – Bob Bounahra – $1,314,097
8th – Anton Makiievskyi – $1,010,015
9th – Sam Holden – $782,115

On Monday night, Pius Heinz won the 2011 WSOP Main Event for $8,715,638 and the poker world has been toasting his stunning victory ever since. However, before clearing the final hurdle, Heinz first had to battle his way through over six hours of heads-up play, at one time trailing in chips by 4 to 1, against Czech player Martin Staszko, before finally overcoming his formidable foe.

Despite the 35 year-old then collecting $5,433,086 for his runner-up finish, an amount which has ensured his financial future, Staszko still couldn’t disguise his dashed hopes and stated:

“I’m disappointed because I had a lot of chips. But he played well…I’m never happy if I don’t win. But it’s not too bad. Second place is OK…I’ll come back next year. I hope I can win a bracelet.”

Nevertheless, if Martin Staszko feels a little deflated after his near victory in Las Vegas, he is being hailed as a hero in his native Czech Republic, where on his return he is to be presented with a commemorative medal by town mayor Vera Palkovska.

Martin Staszko lives in the industrial town Trinec, which has just 37,405 inhabitants and is notable for its iron and steel plant.

The talented mariage and chess player started playing poker in 2007, while working as foreman at the Hyundai Nošovice automobile manufacturing plant in Trinec, and was then able to leave his €1,200 a month job in 2010 after accumulating sufficient winnings both online and live to pursue his new career.

Before becoming one of the November Nine, Martin Staszko had won $91,732 from live tournament, as well as  $180,763 playing online under the screen name “filfedra.”

After his incredible run at the 2011 WSOP Main Event, Martin Staszko has now become a millionaire and moved up to 53rd place on poker’s All Time Money List. Not bad for a player who only turned pro one year ago.

When Martin Staszko left for Las Vegas he was driving a 15 year-old Toyota and lived alone in a small apartment. When he returns he will rightfully be welcomed back as a local hero and may even be granted honorary citizenship of Trinec. As mayor Palkovska explains:

“A world wrestling champion lives in Trinec, as well as the hockey team that won the top league competition last year, but honorary citizenship has been granted to none of them.”

Pius Heinz

Going into yesterday’s exciting finale, the blinds resumed at 600K/1.2M and an ante of 200K, with chip leader Pius Heinz on a 107,800,000 stack, followed by Ben Lamb (USA) on 55,400,000 and Martin Staszko (CZE) on 42,700,000.

Aside from the outcome, however, nothing went the way the German pro had planned and his path to victory hit many a bump along the way.

First, Ben Lamb was eliminated by Staszko within four hands after re-raising all-in with K-J versus pocket sevens before pushing his remaining chips with Q-6 into Staszko’s pocket Jacks.

After Lamb was eliminated in 3rd place ($4,021,138), Martin Staszko became the chip leader on a 117,300,000 stack with Pius Heinz trailing on 88,600,000 chips.

In that moment, Heinz’s advantage going into the last day’s play had evaporated and things didn’t improve much, as Heinz confessed:

“The heads-up, for the most part, just didn’t go my way. I just never made a hand. I just thought I’m going to play my game, play as good as I can and hope the cards eventually fall my way.”

Despite at one point sinking to a 4 to 1 chip disadvantage, Heinz’ tenacity and aggression helped him to ride the waves in a swingy heads-up encounter which saw the lead change nine times.

Eventually coming back from a short-stack to go just 2 to 1 behind, Pius Heinz pulled off a brave bluff with A-Q on 10c-7c-Ks flop, in which he bet out and then re raised all-in against Staszko’ Qc-9c monster draw.

With no help for Staszko on the turn and river, Pius Heinz’s stack shot up to 161,500,000 while Staszko’s dropped to just 44,400,000 chips and twelve hands later he was out after shoving 10c-7c pre-flop into Heinz’ As-Kc, with once again neither player hitting a pair.

Martin Staszko then collected $5,433,086 for his runner-up finish, and commenting after the match said:

“I’m disappointed because I had a lot of chips. But he played well…I’m never happy if I don’t win. But it’s not too bad. Second place is OK…I’ll come back next year. I hope I can win a bracelet.”

Meanwhile, Pius Heinz was crowned the 2011 WSOP Main Event Champion and received a diamond encrusted gold bracelet for his victory plus a cheque for $8,715,638. Commenting on his remarkable win, Pius Heinz said:

“It’s got to be the happiest day of my life. But I can’t believe what happened – it’s unreal.”

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.”

Going into the Mondays’s finale with blinds at 600K/1.2M and an ante of 200K, Pius Heinz started as chip leader on a huge 107,800,000 stack, followed by Ben Lamb (55,400,000) and Martin Staszko (42,700,000).

In an explosive start to the day, the very first hand saw Ben Lamb (Kh-Jd) push all-in over the top of Staszko’s raise with the Czech making the call with his pocket sevens. The board then ran out 9-3-2-3-10 to drop Ben Lamb down to 12.7 million chips

Hand 4 saw Ben Lamb’s incredible run at the 2011 Series finally come to an end after he was dealt Qs-6h on the small blind and shoved his remaining chips into Martin Staszko on the big blind with pocket Jacks. The board of 5-5-2-2-7 was no help to Lamb who was eliminated in 3rd place for $4,021,138.

What then ensued was six hours of heads-up play in which Martin Staszko started with 117,300,000 chips compared to Pius Heinz on a 88,600,000 stack.

Within four hands, however, Heinz was ahead but a little later when the blinds reached 1M/2M ante 300K, Martin Staszko recaptured the lead after winning a 38 million chip pot. Heinz was holding Q-6 on a J-10-3-Q-6, but Staszko (K-9) had made a straight.

Nonetheless, Heinz fought on bravely to go less than 2 to 1 behind, when his fortunes turned around big time. Heinz was dealt A-Q to Staszko’ Qc-9c with Heinz raising pre-flop. The flop then fell 10c-7c-Ks, with Heinz betting out and then going all-in in response to Staszko’ re raise. However, a 3h and 6s on the turn and river failed to complete Staszko’ draws and he was reduced to 44,400,000 chips to Pius Heinz’s 161,500,000.

Twelve hands later, Staszko shoved his remaining chips with 10c-7c into Heinz’ As-Kc and the 5-2-9-J-4 sealed his fate as the Czech player finished the runner-up for a $5,433,086 payday.

In the meantime, Pius Heinz became the first German player ever to win the Main Event and collected $8,715,638 for his outstanding victory.Commenting after his win, Heinz said:

“It’s got to be the happiest day of my life. But I can’t believe what happened, it’s unreal.”

Here is the November 8th schedule ahead of the much anticipated WSOP 2011 Main Event Finale. Please note that the details are given in local Las Vegas time (PST), with (EST) three hours ahead and (GMT) eight hours ahead.

4:15pm

Ahead of the Final Table action, Barry Greenstein and Linda Johnson will be officially inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame at the Rio’s Penn & Teller Theater.

5:50pm

Cards in the air as the three players continue from where play finished on Sunday until the tournament reaches its ultimate conclusion.

The blinds will resume at 600k/1.2m and ante 200k, with the competitors stacking-up as follows:
 
Pius Heinz (Ger) 107,800,000
Ben Lamb (USA) 55,400,000
Martin Staszko (Cze) 42,700,000

In addition, there will be 10 or 15 minute breaks at the end of each level

30 Minutes Post Championship Victory

Interviews with winner and the runners-up in Lobby. Finally, the 2011 Main Event Champion will receive a $8,711,956 first place prize, with $5,433,086 for 2nd place, and $4,021,138 for third.

The other members of the November Nine who were eliminated after Sunday’s action were:

Matt Giannetti In 4th ($3,012,700)
Phil Collins In 5th ($2,269,599)
Eoghan O’Dea In 6th ($1,720,831)
Badih Bounahra In 7th ($1,314,097)
Anton Makiievskyi In 8th ($1,010,015)
Sam Holden In 9th ($782,115)