Black Belt Blog: O'Dea & Holden Make November Nine

On July 7, 2011, the third largest tournament in poker history kicked off, as a soon-to-be field of 6,865 commenced their journey through the $10,000 WSOP Main Event mindfield in the hopes of realising their dreams and snapping up bracelet gold.

As has been the tradition since 2008, the route to victory is a two-step process, with the first goal being to become one of nine last men standing, who will then return in four months time to battle for the honour of having their picture adorn the Amazon Room walls.

After a near two weeks of blood, sweat and tears, our November Nine finally emerged from the smoke, all guaranteed a minimum payout of $782,115 and a permanent spotlight beaming above their heads for the remainder of the year. And what an eclectic bunch; no fewer than six nations represented with Martin Staszko of the Czech Republic leading the way with a whopping 40,175,000.

Thankfully, the United Kingdom are represented once again after an unwelcome hiatus last year, Sam Holden of Canterbury, England looking to go one better than Julian Gardner in 2002 and become his country's first ever WSOP Champion. However, he's facing a steeper incline than his opponents, echoing the position of James Akenhead two years prior as the short stack of the table with 12,375,000.

A student turned full-time poker pro, 22-year old Sam made his first trip to Vegas last September, but this was his debut at the World Series of Poker. His prior tournament experience has been predominately in UKIPTs, winning a side event in Newcastle and finishing 12th in the Edinburgh Main Event. Meanwhile, he has also been playing on Black Belt Poker, reaching as high as Green Belt in the Belt-Up Rewards system.

Commencing Day 8 with 4,740,000, Sam was near the bottom of the pack, but enjoyed a lucrative start when he doubled through Ben Lamb with A-J verses A-8. He then eliminated Ryan Lenaghan with A-Q versus A-8 to surpass the ten million mark before an uncontested four-bet shove gave him enough chips to eek into the final ten in eighth place with 12,925,000.

As expected, the bubble would prove a lengthy process and despite starting fifth in chips, it would be American Jason Hewitt who would feel its splash doubling up both Matt Giannetti and Badih Bounahra, before being out-flipped with 3-3 versus K-J on a Q-T-7-A-K board.

The most nerve-wracking moment, however, was endured by Giannetti: with Ben Lamb three-betting Pius Heinz's open of 1.1 million to 3.1 million, Giannetti shoved 8.4 million with Js-Jc and was called by Lamb's Kh-9s. The Th-6d-3h flop seemed safe enough, but the 7h turn gave him the sweat of his life. Nevertheless, the As river was a blank and he doubled through. After heading in as the short stack, he ended in third with 24,750,000.

Sam, meanwhile, proved that despite his tender years, he was as fearless as they come, nonchalantly soaking up the gleam of the camera lens and never allowing the gravity of the occasion to get the better of him. Over the four hours, he kept a relatively low profile, getting an early three-bet push through and a further squeeze to survive the most expensive bubble in poker.

Crossing the Irish Sea, Dublin will have been going bananas yesterday as Eoghan O'Dea also made the November Nine, ending proceedings second in chips with 33,925,000. He started the bubble as chip leader with 41,600,000, but slipped into second after a few three-bets went awry. Regardless, he's still in great shape, and will be well-supported come November when he vies to echo Noel Furlong's achievement from 1999.

On this particular O'Dea, Sam and Eoghan knew when to Holden. We wish them both the best of luck on their return trip to Vegas.

The final chips counts for the November Nine are:

Martin Staszko (Czech Republic) -- 40,175,000
Eoghan O'Dea (Ireland) -- 33,925,000
Matt Giannetti (United States) -- 24,750,000
Phil Collins (United States)-- 23,875,000
Ben Lamb (United States) -- 20,875,000
Badih Bounahra (Belize) -- 19,700,000
Pius Heinz (Germany) -- 16,425,000
Anton Makievskyi (Ukraine) -- 13,825,000
Samuel Holden (United Kingdom) -- 12,375,000