Ben Lamb Finishes Third, Makes POY Official

Lamb, who won his first bracelet in the $10k PLO championship this summer, in addition to a second-place finish in the $3k PLO event and a final table in the $50k Players Championship, brought his lifetime earnings to over $6.5 million in Las Vegas this evening.

Returning to battle Pius Heinz and Martin Staszko for the title and $8.7 million, Lamb only made it four hands before busting in third place.

On the very first hand Lamb four-bet shoved K♥ J♦ and got called by Martin Staszko with pocket sevens.

“I wanted to set my presence that I wasn’t going to messed with,” Lamb told the assembled media shortly after exiting the stage.

“I wanted to win the tournament more than get second place because the pay jump is almost three times as big between first and second and second and third.

“I wanted to give myself the best chance to accrue chips early and have a good stack to take into heads-up.”

“I wouldn’t have done it with king-five but I had king-jack and I thought if he folds it would set me up to be in a good spot and if he calls I’m going to have some equity most of the time,” he said.

Lamb managed just four hands of three-handed play before busting.

 

Lamb was upbeat talking about his experience, a stark contrast to Matt Giannetti who busted in fourth place and took the elimination very hard.

“Every poker player dreams about having a year like I’ve had so I’m not going to sit here and have people cry for me,” said Lamb.

“I’ll be okay,” he said.

And although Lamb was stunned by his quick exit, he had no trouble expressing how much this result means to him.

“It was a great experience with all my friends and family here and we’re going to have a lot of fun tonight and I’ll be okay in 20 or 30 minutes,” he said.

“I’m still in shock from going from such an emotional high to such a low,” he added.

After doubling up Martin Staszko on the very first hand of the evening Lamb wasted no time putting the rest of his stack in play. On the fourth hand Lamb open-shoved his last 10.9 million from the small blind with Q♠ 6♥ and got snapped off by Martin Staszko in the big blind with pocket jacks.

Lamb got no help from the board cards and Staszko’s pocket jacks were good, eliminating Lamb in third and setting the stage for his heads-up battle with Germany’s Pius Heinz.

Martin Staszko and Pius Heinz both have the chance to become the first person from their country to win the WSOP Main Event. Follow the action live with PokerListings.com.