Phil Collins raised to 725,000 from under the gun, then Bryan Devonshire reraised all in from the button for about 6.5 million total. The blinds got out, and after a short pause Collins tossed his cards away. Devonshire's vocal rail was delighted, chanting "Devo" and "Crack that whip" afterwards.
Devonshire chips up to 7.65 million, while Collins has 17.5 million.
Action folded to Ben Lamb in the small blind and he raised to 750,000 and Samuel Holden folded in the big blind to give Lamb the blinds and antes.
On the next hand, Holden didn't make things as easy for Lamb. Action folded to Lamb on the button and he raised to 675,000. Holden three-bet from the big blind to 1.8 million and won the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
28,580,000
55,000
|
55,000 |
|
||
|
9,630,000
675,000
|
675,000 |
From the button, Matt Giannetti raised to 675,000. John Hewitt was in the big blind and three-bet to 1.5 million to take down the pot.
Ben Lamb opened to 675,000 from the cutoff, and took down the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
28,525,000
650,000
|
650,000 |
|
|
||
Play has resumed at the 2011 WSOP Main Event. There is one hour and 20 minutes left in this level. After two more eliminations, the remaining 10 players will redraw and reassemble around a single table.
We're about 20 minutes away from play resuming. Meanwhile, here are a few details about each of the 12 players who have made it past the dinner break on Day 8 of the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event.
Badih Bounahra is a 49-year-old businessman and father of three originally from Lebanon now residing in Belize City. He says he learned poker from television, and cheekily names seven-deuce offsuit as the "best hand in my eyes." He has a few cashes to his credit, including one WSOP cash from 2008 in a $2,000 NLHE event.
Phil Collins is a 26-year-old poker pro originally from Rockford, Illinois who now calls Las Vegas home. As his online handle "USCphildo" indicates, he went to the University of South Carolina where he met his wife, Katie. In addition to his numerous online successes, Collins has a number of live cashes to his credit (including one at this year's WSOP), although his payday for this year's Main Event will well exceed all of those.
Bryan Devonshire is a 29-year-old poker pro from Arcadia, CA who currently lives in Henderson, NV. Devonshire is a former youth pastor and whitewater rafting guide who has made his living from poker since 2003. He's also engaged (to his best friend) and intends to get married in Aug. 2012. Devonshire has over $1.2 million in career tourney winnings, including two runner-ups in WSOP bracelet events -- the $1,500 PLO8 event in 2007 and the Casino Employees event in 2006.
Matt Giannetti of Las Vegas is a 26-year-old poker pro who previously attended the University of Texas. He has a number of cashes to his credit dating back to 2006 totaling nearly half a million dollars, including 10 at the World Series of Poker. His best previous finish in the Main Event was 521st in 2006 (for $22,266).
Pius Heinz of Cologne, Germany is a 22-year-old student who first learned poker via home games with friends. This marks his first WSOP, and it has been a successful one, including a final table in Event No. 48 ($1,500 NLHE) where he finished seventh to earn $83,286.
John Hewitt was born in Chicago, but lists San Jose, Costa Rica as his hometown. The 23-year-old poker pro has one cash thus far at this year's WSOP, a 35th-place finish in Event No. 18 ($1,500 NLHE) for which he earned $17,005.
Sam Holden is a 22-year-old poker pro from Canterbury, England. The former student is making his WSOP debut this year, and this marks his first WSOP cash. He has a few scores from the UK & Ireland poker tour, including a first-place finish last month in a NLHE six-handed event, though no previous cashes above four figures.
Ben Lamb's poker resume is easily the most extensive of the remaining 12 players, including more than $2.5 million in career winnings and numerous WSOP successes. "Benba" earned his first WSOP bracelet this summer in Event No. 42, the $10,000 PLO Championship, and added a couple more final tables to put himself in first place in this year's WSOP Player of the Year race. Today Lamb ensured he'd surpass his previous best showing in the WSOP Main Event, a 14th-place finish in 2009.
Anton Makiievskyi of Dnipropetrousk, Ukraine is playing in his first-ever WSOP. He's looking to be the fifth Ukrainian to take home a WSOP bracelet this year, which would pull Ukraine into a tie with Canada for the second-most bracelets of any country behind the U.S.
Khoa Nguyen of Calgary (Alberta, Canada) is a 29-year-old poker pro and businessman who has earned a university degree in electrical engineering. He has three previous WSOP cashes, including one this summer in Event No. 45, one of the $1,000 NLHE events.
Eoghan O'Dea of Ireland is a 26-year-old student who says he first learned poker from the popular U.K. show "Late Night Poker." His poker resume includes a number of cashes dating back to 2005, including three already at this summer's WSOP. He's the son of the famous poker player Donnacha O'Dea, member of the European Poker Players Hall of Fame.
Martin Staszko is a 35-year-old poker pro from Trinec of the Czech Republic who previously worked in the automotive industry. Stasko has four cashes at the WSOP already this summer, his best finish being 39th in the $1,500 PLO8 Event No. 51.
| Table | Seat | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main Feature | 1 | --empty-- | -- |
| Main Feature | 2 | Ben Lamb | 27,875,000 |
| Main Feature | 3 | Samuel Holden | 8,955,000 |
| Main Feature | 4 | --empty-- | -- |
| Main Feature | 5 | Pius Heinz | 12,395,000 |
| Main Feature | 6 | Matt Giannetti | 9,140,000 |
| Main Feature | 7 | Badih Bounahra | 12,205,000 |
| Main Feature | 8 | --empty-- | -- |
| Main Feature | 9 | John Hewitt | 25,485,000 |
| Secondary Feature | 1 | Bryan Devonshire | 6,755,000 |
| Secondary Feature | 2 | Khoa Nguyen | 4,550,000 |
| Secondary Feature | 3 | Eoghan O'Dea | 36,255,000 |
| Secondary Feature | 4 | Phil Collins | 18,430,000 |
| Secondary Feature | 5 | Anton Makievskyi | 27,275,000 |
| Secondary Feature | 6 | --empty-- | -- |
| Secondary Feature | 7 | --empty-- | -- |
| Secondary Feature | 8 | --empty-- | -- |
| Secondary Feature | 9 | Martin Staszko | 16,650,000 |
The dinner bell has rung. Two hours to refuel and relax.
Of the 6,865 players who began the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event, just a dozen remain. Over the last level-plus-40-minutes three more players have hit the rail.
Not long after the first break of the day, the Russian Andrey Pateychuk was eliminated in 15th place after losing a race with 
versus Pius Heinz' pocket jacks. At that point players took an extra hour break in order to accommodate this evening's schedule for the televised coverage. When they returned Anton Makievskyi was still the leader with 31.9 million, with Eoghan O'Dea (26.4 million) and Pius Heinz (24.9 million) his nearest challengers.
Soon Scott Schwalich of Ohio lost the bulk of his stack to Bryan Devonshire after his 
failed to improve versus Devo's pocket tens. Then Schwalich pushed with 
, got looked up by O'Dea with 
, and couldn't catch up to be knocked out in 14th.
Konstantinos Mamaliadis would next go in 13th after becoming short and then taking his chances with 
against O'Dea's pocket sevens. An eight did arrive on the river for Mamaliadis, but it completed a straight for O'Dea and the South African hit the rail.
Meanwhile, O'Dea, WSOP Player of the Year points leader Ben Lamb, and John Hewitt have moved up to join Makievskyi at the top of the leaderboard. They'll return to the biggest post-dinner stacks, while short stacks Samuel Holden and Khoa Nguyen will have the least room to maneuver.
Play resumes at 8:30 p.m. Vegas time. Grab a bite, read back through today's action, and come back then as we find out who among these 12 will form this year's version of the November Nine.
Ben Lamb opened to 675,000 on the button, and Pius Heinz defended his big blind. The dealer fanned 
, and both players checked.
The turn was the 
, and both players knuckled again.
The river was the suicide king (
), Heinz checked, and Lamb bet 3 million. Heinz snap-mucked, and Lamb picked up the last pot before dinner.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
27,875,000
455,000
|
455,000 |
|
|
||
|
12,395,000
-835,000
|
-835,000 |
|
||
Phil Collins raised to 725,000 from middle position and received a call from Khoa Nguyen in the big blind. Nguyen proceeded to check-fold to Collins' 650,000 bet on the 
. Nothing too special, but Collins added some to his stack while Nguyen went in the opposite direction.
