The six players to exit Sunday and their respective winnings are:

4th Matt Giannetti $3,011,655
5th Phil Collins $2,268,909
6th Eoghan O’Dea $1,720,396
7th Badih Bounahra $1,313,851
8th Anton Makiievskyi $1,009,910
9th Sam Holden $782,115

That left Pius Heinz, Martin Staszko and Ben Lamb left from the starting field of 6,865 players to fight it out for the title on Tuesday night.

It didn’t take long for the fireworks to begin. On hand #1, Ben Lamb on the short stack, pushed all in with KJ off suit and was called by Staszko’s pocket sevens. The sevens held up and Lamb is crippled with just 10 big blinds left.  On hand #4 Lamb has little choice but to shove with Q6 off and is called again by Staszko’s pocket pair, this time jacks. They hold up and Lamb finishes in third.

Heads up between the 22 year old Heinz and the 35 year old Staszko then begins on hand #5 with the blinds at $800,000/$1,600,000 and a $200,000 ante. Heinz, the more aggressive of the two is looking to become the 2nd youngest player to win the WSOP main event. (Joe Cada age 21 in 2009)

Heinz had trouble making hands in heads up play and fell behind to Staszko but the aggressive Heinz hung in and eventually pulled ahead.

The final hand saw Staszko,  down to just over $44,000,000 in chips, pushing all in with 10c-7c  against the As-Kc of Heinz. When neither player hit a pair, Heinz was the champion, winning $8,715,618. Staszko collected $5,433,086 for second.

The chip leader, Martin Staszko (40.1 million in chips) — A professional poker player for about one year, is 35 years old and admits that he plays much more online than live. In fact, since arriving in Vegas on June 2, he has played 15 tournaments, which he says is more than he has played in his entire life. He is the first player from the Czech Republic to make the final table.

In second is, Eoghan O’Dea (33.9 million) — He is a 26-year-old pro who has cashed in big tournaments before and his father, Donnacha, has also won a bracelet and cashed in the main event six times.

Next is Matt Giannetti (24.7 million) — A 26-year-old pro from Las Vegas, Nevada well-known in poker circles for his cash game play.

Phil Collins (23.8 million) — another 26 year old from Las Vegas, is in 4th place.

In fifth place is Ben Lamb (20.8 million) — He is considered by many, the best player at the table. He has already won a bracelet, made two other final tables and taken home $1.2 million before the main event.

In the sixth place is Badih Bounahra (19.7 million) — who at 49 is the oldest player of the nine. He is also an amateur and strictly a live player. He’s also the first player from Belize to make the final table at the WSOP.

In seventh is Pius Heinz (16.4 million) — He is 22 years old and is the first German player to reach the November Nine.

In eighth is Anton Makiievskyi (13.8 million) — The youngest player at the final table, the 21-year-old Ukrainian can become the youngest WSOP main event champion if he wins in November.

In ninth is Sam Holden (12.3 million) –a 22-year-old native of Canterbury, England who survived being short stacked for most of Days 6 and 7.

Seating for this year’s November Nine are as follows:

Seat 1:  Matt Giannetti (Las Vegas, NV) – 24,750,000 in chips

Seat 2:  Badih Bou-Nahra (Belize City, Belize) – 19,700,000 in chips

Seat 3:  Eoghan O’Dea (Dublin, Ireland) – 33,925,000 in chips

Seat 4:  Phil Collins (Las Vegas, NV) – 23,875,000 in chips

Seat 5:  Anton Makiievskyi (Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) – 13,825,000 in chips

Seat 6:  Sam Holden (Sussex, UK) – 12,375,000 in chips

Seat 7:  Pius Heinz (Cologne, Germany) – 16,425,000 in chips

Seat 8:  Ben Lamb (Tulsa, OK) – 20,875,000 in chips

Seat 9:  Martin Staszko (Trinec, Czech Republic) – 40,175,000 in chips

The players are now on a three and a half month break before play resumes on November 5th. They will then play until only two players left and after a day off, will resume to determine the next No-Limit Hold’em World Champion.

The chip leader, Jonathan Duhamel (65.9 million in chips) is a 22-year-old from Montreal who finished 10th last December in EPT Prague.

Next is John Dolan (46.2 million in chips) who is a 24-year-old from Bonita Springs, Fla. He is in great position to win, especially considering that starting Day 8, he had only 2 million in chips and was 24th out of 27 players.

In third place is Joseph Cheong (23.5 million in chips) and another young full-time player who is only 24 years of age. Joseph said he has played over 10,000 poker tournaments the last few years and feels this experience plays to his advantage. He says, “There are a lot of solid guys here, but I think I’m going to win this tournament.”

In fourth place is John Racener (19.0 million in chips) has been traveling the poker circuit for the past few years and has already had success, including  11 WSOP cashes (including this main event)

Fifth place is occupied by Matt Jarvis (17.6 million in chips) a 25-year-old Canadian, who’s been making his living online and has only one five-figure cash in live play to his credit, but is still confident about his chances at the final table.

In sixth is Filippo Candio (16.4 million in chips) who is a 26 year old well-respected pro from Sardinia, Italy. He plays in a number of events and he won the Italian Poker Tour Campionato Italiano in 2009.

Seventh place is held by Michael Mizrachi (14.4 million in chips) who is a Miami native and one of the best known players in the world, with more than $8.8 million in live tournament earnings. Michael has already had a great 2010 WSOP by virtue of his winning the $50,000 Players’ Championship.

In eighth place is Soi Nguyen (9.6 million in chips) who is a 37-year-old amateur from Santa Ana, Calif. This is only his fourth live tournament and he is soaking up the experience.

The final seat is occupied by Jason Senti (7.6 million in chips) is a 28 year old Minneapolis native who has been playing poker professionally for three years.

Congratulations to all nine.

Here is the 2010 November Nine Seating Chart with Chip Counts followed by the Payouts:

Seat 1: Jason Senti — 7,625,000
Seat 2: Joseph Cheong — 23,525,000
Seat 3: John Dolan — 46,250,000
Seat 4: Jonathan Duhamel — 65,975,000
Seat 5: Michael Mizrachi — 14,450,000
Seat 6: Matthew Jarvis — 16,700,000
Seat 7: John Racener — 19,050,000
Seat 8: Filippo Candio — 16,400,000
Seat 9: Soi Nguyen — 9,650,000

Main Event Final-Table Payout:

1: $8,944,138
2: $5,545,855
3: $4,129,979
4: $3,092,497
5: $2,332,960
6: $1,772,939
7: $1,356,708
8: $1,045,738
9: $811,823

The 41st annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) is set to begin on Thursday, May 27, 2010. As every poker fan knows the WSOP is
an annual event that began back in 1970.

That year, Johnny Moss was awarded the championship by votes of the other players in the event. It became the freeze-out event that it is today in 1971 and Moss won again.

Today the fields are considerably larger and the number of events have grown over the years to the current total of 57, with a gold bracelet being awarded to the winner of each event.

This year’s events will run from May 27 to July 17, 2010. The World Series of Poker will have the following events and more;  limit, pot-limit and no-limit hold ‘em, seven-card stud, pot-limit Omaha, Omaha high-low split eight-or-better, seven card stud high-low eight or better, 2-7 triple draw, HORSE, Razz and of course, the main event which will be held from July 5 to
July 17, 2010.

The main event will not conclude on July 17, but it’s expected that on that date the final table will be determined, at which time play is halted and the players who make up the final nine (now known as the “November Nine”) will be brought back together in early November to play for the championship.

What do you need to be able to play in an event? Twenty-one or more years on your age meter and of course, the buy-in. If you don’t have the full amount you need for the buy-in, you could always try to satellite your way in. What do you need to win a bracelet? All of the above and a lot of skill, focus, determination and endurance. And oh, yes, a little more than an
average amount of luck.

If you’re even a little serious about poker, then winning one of the many gold bracelets that are awarded each year has to be at the top of your poker wish/want list, so if you decide to play in one of this year’s events, good luck! And if you can’t get to Vegas, you can always watch the events on ESPN with the rest of us.

11. Who is the only poker player to win a WSOP (World Series of Poker) bracelet, a WPT (World Poker Tour) title and an EPT (European Poker Title) event?

12. In what year did the WSOP award its first million dollar cash prize?

 Scroll down for the answers.

10. Mansour Matloubi. (Hey, no one said they were all going to be easy)

11. Gavin Griffin is the only player to hold all three.

12. One million dollars was first awarded at the WSOP in 1991.

 7. In what year did the World Series of Poker (WSOP) add a Ladies World Championship to the poker menu? 

8. In 1983, this tournament director is credited with coming up the idea of the poker satellite. What was his name?

9. Who was the first WSOP main event winner to qualify through a satellite?

Scroll down for the answers.

7. 1982 was the year a Ladies World Championship was added.

8. Eric Drache was the tournament director.

9. Tom McEvoy won the main event in 1983 by entering through a satillite in the first year they were offered.

5. The World Series of Poker saw many changes in 1978. To start, it was the first year that the main event’s prize money was divided up, with the top five finishers all received a cash payout. It was also the first year a woman entered the WSOP. Who was she?

6. The year was 1979 and it was the first year that the World Series of Poker’s main event was won by an amateur player. What was his name?

Scroll down for the answers.

4. Seven-card stud, razz, deuce-to-seven draw, and a lower buy-in no limit hold’em event.

5. Barbara Freer became the first player to break the sex barrier, taking her place in what had been an all-male poker fraternity.

6. Hal Fowler was the first amateur champion.

This is the first poker trivia post in a series of posts dealing directly with World Series of Poker history.  (WSOP) Let’s start off with an easy one.

1. Who are the only three time winners of the World Series of Poker main event?

2.  The World Series of Poker (WSOP) main event has had four back to back champions. Who were they and what years did they win their back to back championships?

3. The WSOP inaugural world champion did not even win a poker tournament. He was elected “best all-around player” in a vote by his peers after several days of high-stakes card playing. So what year was the WSOP first played as a freeze-out?

Scroll down for the answers.

1. Johnny Moss won the World Series of Poker main event in 1970, 1971, & 1974. Stu Unger also won the event three times, winning in 1980, 1981 and 1997.

2. Along with Johnny Moss and Stu Unger, Doyle Brunson (1976 and 1977) and Johnny Chan (1987 and 1988) were also back to back champions.

3. 1971. In it’s second year, the WSOP was played as a freeze-out. Seven poker players posted a $5,000 entry fee and Johnny Moss won, retaining his title as world champion.