Canada Out of World Series of Poker Main Table Event
Despite a good number of bracelets earned by Canadian players in the World Series of Poker competition this year, no Canadian has made it to the most prestigious panel of all - the November Nine.
These nine men will battle it out for the title of WSOP Main Event winner in November this year, and last night they were named, after two weeks days of intense competition. The field began with 6,865 players, and has been whittled down to a selection of men of assorted ages, nationalities and professional backgrounds.
Khoa Nguyen was the last Canadian left standing in the race, but he was forced to bow out just short of the November Nine line up, when he was defeated by Martin Staszko in 11th place.
Nguyen had entered that day's competition in the hope of bringing the title to Canada for the second year running, following in the footsteps of last year's champ, Jonathan Duhamel.
Unfortunately, he was forced to settle for 11th place - which is not a bad place to be in the grand scheme of things - and $607,882 in his fourth WSOP cash. This is the largest live score of Nguyen's career.
2011 November Nine
These are the 2011 November Nine, in order of their chip value.
Martin Staszko - 40.1 million chips. Plays online more than off and only been pro for a year. His only experience has been in four EPT tournaments and a couple of smaller events. The first Czech player to have made the November Nine.
Eoghan O'Dea - 33.9 million in chips. 26 year old Irish pro who comes from a family of poker professionals and bracelet winners.
Matt Giannetti - 24.7 million in chips. Las Vegas based pro who has a good reputation in the poker world.
Phil Collins - 23.8 million in chips. Yes, that's really his name! This Las Vegas resident has the largest contingent of followers on the floor.
Ben Lamb - 20.8 million in chips. Clearly the best player at the table, with a WSOP bracelet and two final tables under his belt. He has already won $1.2 million prior to the Main Event.
Badih Bounahra - 19.7 million in chips. 49 year old "Bob" is the oldest player to make the WSOP as well as an amateur.
Pius Heinz - 16.4 million in chips. This 22 year old is the first German to reach the November Nine.
Anton Makiievskyi - 13.8 million in chips. This 21 year old Ukrainian is the youngest player at the table, who is proud of his country's success in the WSOP so far.
Sam Holden - 12.3 million. Came through to the November Nine with a particularly short stack, but his patience paid off thanks to his experience at online multi table tournaments.
