2011 WSOP Wrap Up

2011 WSOP by admin on July 26, 2011

It certainly was seven weeks to remember with the action coming thick and fast, fortunes won and lost on the flop of a card, it was enough to make your head spin like a roulette wheel and your insides to shake like dice. Thankfully we’re here to give you a handy Wrap Up of what went on and who did what and made what.

It’s been said many times before that this year’s WSOP was in danger of being a runt with Black Friday, causing some nay-sayers to claim that the 2011 WSOP would be thinned down as Poker players the world over would have the assets unavailable leading to Spartan tables on the floors of the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. But it was a case of “No way Jose!” 2011 WSOP might just’ve been the best yet!

There was no excuse to not watch as 55 of the Bracelet Tables were streamed live (ish) on a five-minute delay via the internet on WSOP.com and the remainder (the $25K Heads Up, $50K Poker Players Championship and the Main Event) were streamed on ESPN3. Plenty watched as the average number of viewers watching the live WSOP Main Event was a stonking 416,000; a double digit increases over last year’s WSOP coverage on ESPN.

With so many mighty men of the cards in attendance it seems unfair to pick out just one of the stars, but one guy deserve it. Mr Ben Lamb. Lamb had a mythical run, at the 2011 World Series of Poker, with four in the money finishes, he also won a WSOP bracelet in the 361-player $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Championship and a prize of $814,436; he finished 2nd in the 685-player $3000 Pot Limit Omaha Event 31 pocketing a prize of $259,918, he finished 12th in the 474-player $10,000 No Limit Hold ‘em / Six Handed Championship Event 46 making $56,140 and finished 8th in the 128-player $50,000 Poker Player’s Championship Event 55 for a prize of $201,338. Lamb won his first bracelet this year, but he’s hardly a dark horse, before that, he was runner up in a $3,000 PLO event and made the final table of the $50,000 Poker Player’s Championship. He is the current leader in the 2011 World Series of Poker Player of the Year points standing, plus he’s certain of at least another $700k to add to the $1.3 million he’s already pocketed this summer, as one of the November Nine?

The big WSOP story is that we’re down to the last nine of the main event will get underway in November. On that table there’ll be; gong all-in for a full house.

Seat 1 – Eoghan O’Dea
Seat 2 – Martin Staszko
Seat 3 – Ben (see above) Lamb
Seat 4 – Phil (not the singer) Collins
Seat 5 – Pius Heinz
Seat 6 – Anton Makiievskyi,
Seat 7 – Samuel Holden
Seat 8 – Badih Bounahra
Seat 9 – Matt Giannetti.

If you have the desire to pick over the stats of WSOP2011, you should know that there have been 57 Bracelets awarded. Brian Rast continued the 11-year streak of someone winning multiple bracelets in the WSOP, (Ben Lamb has a chance to join him, if he picks up the most coveted of bracelets of all by winning the Main Event). Howard “Tahoe” Andrew made it 38 consecutive years played at the WSOP his is the longest streak of activity in WSOP history, as Tahoe has had a seat at every one since 1973. Poker is truly an international joy, twenty-two of the bracelets winners were non-Americans this year, with the final nine showing just how diverse the game has become. There were actually 105 different countries represented this year.