Martin Staszko, of the Czech Republic, competes at the final table of the World Series of Poker Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2011, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken)
Martin Staszko, of the Czech Republic, competes at the final table of the World Series of Poker Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2011, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken)
Pius Heinz, of Germany, competes at the final table of the World Series of Poker Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2011, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken)
Martin Staszko, of the Czech Republic, competes at the final table of the World Series of Poker on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2011, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken)
Martin Staszko, of the Czech Republic, competes at the final table of the World Series of Poker on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2011, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken)
Pius Heinz, of Germany, competes at the final table of the World Series of Poker Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2011, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken)
LAS VEGAS (AP) ? Las Vegas poker professional Ben Lamb was eliminated from the World Series of Poker main event Tuesday night in four hands ? leaving Pius Heinz of Germany and Martin Staszko of the Czech Republic battling for the $8.72 million title.
Lamb pushed all-in on the first hand of play with a king-jack, hoping to induce Staszko to fold pocket sevens.
But Staszko called and kept his marginal advantage as the five community cards were dealt.
"I got the sense he wasn't like super strong, but he actually was stronger than I thought he was," Lamb said.
That left Lamb very short on chips, and he pushed all-in again three hands later with a queen-six. This time, Staszko had pocket jacks and eliminated Lamb.
"I wanted to come in aggressive, and I did," Lamb said.
"Every poker player dreams of having the year I had, so I don't want to sit here and have people like cry for me," he said. "I'll be OK."
The 26-year-old Lamb won $4 million for finishing in third place. The hands pushed Staszko to a chip lead over Heinz.
Heinz, 22, of Cologne, Germany, and the 35-year-old Staszko of Trinec, Czech Republic, were each guaranteed a payday of at least $5.43 million.
Heinz led at the start with just over half the chips in play, but Staszko quickly took that lead away as the players began trading chips.
There were eight lead changes over the first three hours of play, the eighth coming just after a break when Staszko responded to a 20 million chip bet from Heinz by announcing a re-raise. Heinz immediately folded.
Staszko at one point had a 2-1 chip advantage, but that was gone within minutes.
Each player must lose all his chips to be eliminated from the no-limit Texas Hold 'em tournament, and win all the chips in play to take the crown.
Heinz, who said he had a rough six-month run in poker before the series and was thinking about whether to go back to college, aggressively stormed from seventh in chips to first at the nine-hand final table on Sunday.
He went from 16.4 million in chips to 107.8 million in just more than 7? hours of play, propelling to a higher finish than at least six of his competitors.
Lamb, an experienced professional who made his mark at the 58-tournament series this year by winning Player of the Year honors, had a large contingent of rowdy supporters and a smaller group of friends and poker experts feeding him information about his play and his opponents.
He didn't last long Tuesday night.
For the first time, every hand at the final table was playing out nearly live on ESPN, including tense stretches of several minutes during which players mulled difficult decisions.
The play was being aired on a 15-minute delay with hole cards revealed once hands ended ? enough time to ensure gambling regulators that players couldn't cheat.
Staszko said it was an element that wouldn't affect play too much ? the game had already changed with three players left compared with nine, he said.
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Oskar Garcia can be reached at http://twitter.com/oskargarcia
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