Pius Heinz Is The World Champion That Poker Was Pining For

Young German pro Pius Heinz prevailed in a marathon heads-up battle with Martin Staszko to claim the coveted WSOP Main Event crown. Our columnist Sam Miranda reflects on the epic encounter.

Heinz with his cool $8.7 million

Setting the Scene

Three players returned to the Rio Hotel and Casino last night to contest what has been the most enthralling edition of the WSOP November Nine yet.

The Phil Collins entourage may have been missing, but there was still a vibrant atmosphere inside the Penn and Teller theatre, with Ben Lamb enjoying the support of a partisan US crowd. One over-zealous supporter even had to be escorted from the arena for donning an entire lamb costume.

WSOP fever had spread to Twitter, with Tony G humorously rooting for Zasko (the name of his dog) to feast on some "Lamb with Heinz ketchup".

After the trauma of Black Friday and the subsequent Full Tilt Poker fallout, as well as the Epic Poker League fiasco, poker needed a captivating November Nine to restore some of its integrity.

Irrespective of Eoghan O'Dea and Matt Giannetti falling in somewhat unfortunate circumstances, it was tough to question the calibre of the remaining three. Staszko displayed great poise to stay in contention, while Ben Lamb had shifted through gears expertly to claim his final three berth. Pius Heinz, meanwhile, had dazzled with his fearless, enterprising brand of poker.

Lamb Leaves, Heinz Conquers

In stark contrast to yesterday's cautious opening, fireworks exploded on the first hand: Staszko 3-bet with pocket sevens and Lamb 4-bet shoved with K-J. After some deliberation, Staszko called. The board offered no help to Lamb and the WSOP Player of the Year was sent to the rail shortly after, when his Q-6 shove was picked off by Staszko's J-J.

Explaining his decision to the glamorous Kara Scott, Lamb stated he was looking for an early break so he could dictate proceedings.

With heads-up play set to commence, Sasquatch entered the arena with $8.7 million in bundles of cash. However, neither man nor beast could have predicted the war of attrition that would unfold.

Both players impressed in a nip and tuck tussle that lasted 130 hands, and saw the chip lead change eight times. The outspoken Daniel Negreanu had his say on proceedings, describing a hand where Staszko bluff shoved with K-Q on a 7-2-10-A board as the "play of the tournament". This was despite Negreanu proclaiming that he had a "monster read" on the stony-faced Czech.

Despite reservations surrounding his live pedigree coming into the November Nine, chess expert Staszko defied critics with his controlled aggression. His only mistake came when holding Qh-6h on a Jd-5h-4h board, he refused to call Heinz's (10d-5d) all in. This was a baffling decision given that even if Heinz held the Jack, Staszko had 90 million chips to fall back on and was looking at a virtual coin flip to put the tournament to bed.

Staszko opted to gamble with his next flush draw, this time with a gutshot to boot, but was crippled when the turn and river were bricks. After nearly six hours of disciplined poker, the robust Czech was finally felted when his 10c-7c was ousted by Heinz's As-Kc.

2011 WSOP Main Event champion Pius Heinz revels in the limelight

Heinz: "I Did it For Germany"

A jubilant Heinz described his triumph as an "unreal experience... the happiest moment of my life", claiming the key to his success was exerting pressure on his opponents and putting them to tough decisions.

So, what are the implications of Pius Heinz's triumph?

Heinz will be hoping that unlike Jerry Yang and Jamie Gold, he won't just be consigned to the annals of poker history, but will forge a successful career. As the low key careers of recent winners Joe Cada and Jonathan Duhamel have illustrated, the mantle of Main Event champion is not an easy one to carry.

Without any disrespect to Staszko, Heinz is the World Champion that poker was pining for. Staszko is the more mechanical player; the less flamboyant character. Heinz embodies the new breed of aggressive youngster, and his relaxed approach on poker's biggest stage bodes well for his career with Team PokerStars. His victory will come as no surprise to fellow PokerStars pro Micky Petersen, who tipped Heinz for Main Event glory on the basis of his online exploits.

Following Schleswig Holstein's passing of a more liberal gambling law in September, Heinz's victory caps off a positive few months for the German poker community. Despite its size, the community has perhaps lacked a flagship pro with genuine, international appeal.

After all the turmoil of the past six months, poker can be proud of its three latest ambassadors.

Read about the key turning points in the November Nine climax here.

The final WSOP 2011 hand: