The November Nine

This past Sunday, I watched ESPN's near live coverage of the 2011 WSOP Main Event Final Table (it was broadcast on a 15 minute delay).  Coverage began at 3:30pm EST and I watched it straight through until the dinner break at 10pm.  By that time, I was spent from being up until 6am and 3am respectively on Friday and Saturday, so I didn't see any of the footage from 11:30 (when play resumed) on.  Of the footage I did see, however, I was both impressed and inspired by the high level of play from the finalists.  Not that I expected any of them to be slouches, but all clearly proved that they deserved to be there.

I didn't do any betting on the November Nine, but had I done so, I would've bet Matt Giannetti to win the tournament (defeating Eoghan O'Dea heads-up).  I also would've bet the ever-popular Ben Lamb to finish somewhere in the the middle of the pack and the uber-aggressive Pius Heinz to be first eliminated.

I'm glad I didn't make any of those wagers.

Despite not being invested in any of the players, this was an enjoyable Final Table to watch.  ESPN was smart to add Antonio Esfandiari and Phil Hellmuth to the commentary, as both were well spoken and fantastic in their analysis.  Not only did they try to narrow down the players' possible holdings (they were pretty darn accurate most of the time), they studied the players' body language and expressed how comfortable they thought each player was with their hand.  I, for one, appreciated the deeper insight into the game.  Lon McEachern and Norman Chad are great and all, but I really hope ESPN brings Esfandiari and Hellmuth (or other professionals) back for future broadcasts.

As for the tournament itself, I think it will go down as one of the most memorable Final Tables in WSOP history (and that's saying something considering the remaining 3 players have yet to play things out as of this writing).  Sure, the play was sluggish at first, but things really got interesting during the big confrontation between O'Dea and Heinz (AQ vs. QQ).  O'Dea had been in control up until that hand and the momentum suddenly shifted to Heinz's favor.  Soon after, Benba got a hold of some chips after eliminating the short stack Sam Holden (AK > AJ) and Heinz continued his ascension up the leaderboard with his elimination of Anton Makiievskyi.  Poor Anton couldn't get anything going at the Final Table and suffered a heartbreaker when he was All-In against Pius (KQ vs 99).  He flopped a King, but a 9 came on the Turn to send him to the rail.  Adding further to the drama, Phil Collins - who was struggling with his limp strategy - overcame the odds (Qh Jd > AQc) when All-In against Ben Lamb and 4 diamonds ran out on the board.  That hand slowed Benba down for the time being until an incredible hand against Eoghan O'Dea literally made my jaw drop.  O'Dea raised from the cutoff with Ac 9d and Lamb pushed All-In over the top from the BB.  O'Dea barely had Lamb covered and contemplated his decision for what seemed like forever.  Finally, Eoghan made an amazing call and was slightly ahead when Ben revealed Q8d.  The Flop offered a good sweat with 2 diamonds on the board.  The Turn was a blank and had Benba at the risk of elimination with one card to come... until an 8 fell on the River to give Lamb a pair and the winning hand.  O'Dea was crippled and finished in 6th place soon after.  The final sweat that I saw happened during Phil Collins' elimination.  Pius Heinz raised to 2.1 million and Collins moved in from the BB for about 16 million more.  Heinz made the call and was ahead (99 vs. A7d) until the Flop gave Collins an open-ended Straight draw and the Turn brought him even more outs with a Flush draw.  Fortunately for Heinz, Collins bricked the River and was eliminated in 5th place.

I didn't catch much of 4-handed play afterward, but I thought Matt Giannetti and Martin Staszko both played great from the outset of the Final Table.  It sucks that it didn't work out for Giannetti because the consensus seems to be he played the best out of anyone at the table.  Regardless, the final 3 players - Heinz (107 mil), Lamb (55 mil) and Staszko (42 mil) - return to the felt tonight to battle it out for the coveted WSOP gold bracelet and 8.7 million dollar first prize.  Lamb is everyone's favorite to put a storybook ending on his 2011 WSOP, but with more than half of the chips in play, I'd put my money on Heinz.  Then again, wouldn't it be something if Staszko pulled it off?

I guess we'll find out tonight.  Hopefully, I don't miss much when I flip over to watch Sons of Anarchy from 10 - 11pm...