No ‘Luck of the Irish’ in this Year’s World Championship – Pius Heinz Maintains Chip Lead
Phil Collins Busts Out Just Before Dinner Break -- Only Four Players Remain
Add Ireland to the mix of countries which now have their world championship dreams shattered.Eoghan O’Dea, from Dublin, Ireland became the fourth player to exit from the WSOP Main Event Championship final table -- following Great Britain’s Sam Holden (9th place), Anton Makiievskyi (8th place) and Bob Bounahra (7th place). O’Dea suffered what many would consider to be the final table’s biggest disappointment, given several factors. First, he arrived amidst the final nine with a top poker pedigree. His father, legendary Irish gambler Donnacha O’Dea made it to the Main Event final table twice – finishing sixth in 1983 and ninth in 1991. O’Dea was also viewed by many experts as one of the finale’s best players, illustrated by a number of high finishes in European poker tournaments. Moreover, he came into the Sunday session ranked second in chips. With all due respect to the early chip leader Martin Staszko, this seemed like it very well might be O’Dea’s big day. But as dawn settled over the Las Vegas skyline, O’Dea’s dreams went dark. His final half hour at the final table was something of a nightmare, given what might have happened in the Irish poker pro’s alternative universe, dreaming of a possible victory.O’Dea lost an early pot, which severely knocked him down the chip ladder. He was never able to recover and bring about the swagger and confidence normally associated with many top Irish poker pros.O’Dea was knocked out when he lost his final hand against Martin Staszko, who won the 7,000,000 pot with a pair of eights. Accordingly, the Irish poker pro joined the ranks of 6,859 other (eliminated) players who entered this year’s championship, the third largest live tournament ever, who are now forced to look forward to next year, and beyond. O’Dea was eliminated on the 99th hand played at the final table. It took place a few hands after O’Dea had been crippled on a critical losing hand to Ben Lamb. The final fateful hand came as follows: Eoghan O’Dea: Martin Staszko: Flop: Turn: River: O’Dea moved all-in pre-flop with a weak hand, hoping to catch a miracle and stay alive for at least one more round of blinds and antes. Severely short-stacked, he was in a position where he had to make a move in a desperate attempt to double up. His raise was called by Staszko, who had his opponent well covered many times over. O’Dea picked up some extra outs on the turn, but the river was a blank. The middle pair held up.
Nonetheless, O’Dea could certainly take great pride in what was a remarkable accomplishment. He collected his biggest poker payout ever, $1,720,831 for sixth place. Had O’Dea managed to win, he would have become the second Irish poker champion in history. As things turned out, fellow Irishman Noel Furong remains as the sole Irish world champion.
Only moments after O'Dea's exit, Phil Collins followed his November Nine colleague to the rail. Collins, a local fan favorite from Las Vegas went bust just a few hands before the dinner break. UPDATE TO COME.
With four players remaining, there is a still lot more poker to be played. Final table action is expected to last most of the day and will likely play deep into the night (Sunday). Play will be suspended once the final three players have been determined. The last three players will return to the same stage at the Rio on Tuesday night, with the final stage of poker’s world championship starting at 5:30 pm.For the first time in history, poker players and fans everywhere can tune in and watch all the action live. Comprehensive coverage with expert analysis also includes player hole cards being shown to viewers – a WSOP first.CLICK HERE to watch live WSOP Main Event final table action. For those who prefer to read a written account of the action, CLICK HERE to see the live log of every final table hand. To see the latest chip counts of all remaining players, CLICK HERE. Updates will be posted regularly as players are eliminated and chip counts change. The official report of the entire tournament, complete with statistics, historical information, records, and quotes from each of the nine players will be posted to WSOP.com at the conclusion of the tournament.