The 2011 World Series of Poker was the 42nd annual World Series of Poker (WSOP). The WSOP is the most prestigious poker tournament in the world with the winner of the Main Event considered to be the World Champion. It was held at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada between May 31 – July 19, 2011. There were 59 bracelet events, beginning with the WSOP National Circuit Championship and culminating in the $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Championship (also known as the "Main Event"). The November Nine concept returned for a fourth consecutive year, with the Main Event finalists returning on November 6, playing down to three that evening and then adjourning until November 8.

Coverage The 2011 WSOP marked the first time that every event at the WSOP was covered nearly live. Due to the nature of the competition, live coverage was not allowed by the Nevada Gaming Commission. WSOP.com streamed 55 gold bracelet events on a five-minute delay via the internet. ESPN3 streamed the $25K Heads Up, $50K Poker Players Championship and the Main Event online.

ESPN also doubled the airtime given to the WSOP from prior years. For the first time ever, television coverage of the WSOP Main Event was "live" with a 30-minute delay. The "live" coverage of the WSOP Main Event ran for six consecutive days from July 14–19 and offered 32 additional hours of coverage, with Lon McEachern and David Tuchman handling the play-by-play commentary.

Poker PROductions, led by Mori Eskandani, produced the coverage of the 2011 WSOP, with the goal to enact changes that would put poker coverage on par with the coverage delivered for live sports. It was the first year for Poker PROductions producing the WSOP.

The final table of the WSOP Main Event was televised in its entirety on ESPN. As per Nevada Gaming Commission stipulations, play was broadcast with a 15-minute delay and the hole cards were not shown to the television audience until after the hand was over.

WSOP Circuit National Championship Since 1970, the WSOP was held exclusively in Las Vegas, Nevada. In 2004, Harrah's Entertainment purchased the rights to the WSOP and almost immediately started to expand the name brand. After the purchase, Harrah's introduced Circuit Events around the country. These events were intended to build up hype for the WSOP. In 2011, they introduced WSOP Circuit National Championship.

The WSOP Circuit National Championship was an exclusive tournament, limited to 100 players who qualified through the circuit events. The winner of the championship was awarded a WSOP bracelet. The event, which took place from May 27 through May 29, was won by amateur player Sam Barnhart.

Player statistics Through the first 57 events, the 2011 WSOP: awarded $127,468,010 in prize money. had 68,807 tournament entries. had 98 countries represented. had representation from all 50 U.S. states. had a male participation percentage of 94.7%. had one multiple bracelet winner.

The Main Event: had 6,865 entrants. had 85 countries represented. had representation from all 50 U.S. states. had a male participation percentage of 96.5%. had 4,604 participants from the U.S. had 2,265 participants from other countries.

Events # Event Entrants Winner Prize Runner-up Results Reference 1 $500 Casino Employees No Limit Hold'em 850 Sean Drake (1/1) $82,292 Jason Baker Results 2 $25,000 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Championship 128 Jake Cody (1/1) $851,192 Yevgeniy Timoshenko Results 3 $1,500 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better 925 Francesco Barbaro (1/1) $262,283 Kostas Kalathakis Results 4 $5,000 No Limit Hold'em 865 Allen Bari (1/1) $874,116 Maria Ho Results 5 $1,500 Seven Card Stud 357 Eugene Katchalov (1/1) $122,909 Alessio Isaia Results 6 $1,500 Limit Hold'em 675Harrison Wilder (1/1) $205,065 Thomas Jamieson Results 7 $10,000 Pot Limit Hold'em Championship 249Amir Lehavot (1/1) $573,456Jarred Solomon Results 8 $1,000 No Limit Hold'em 4,178 Sean Getzwiller (1/1) $611,185 Sadan Turker Results 9 $1,500 2-7 Draw Lowball 275 Matt Perrins (1/1) $102,105 Chris Bjorin (0/2) Results 10 $1,500 No Limit Hold'em Six Handed 1,920 Geffrey Klein (1/1) $544,388 Eddie Blumenthal Results 11 $10,000 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better Championship 202 Viacheslav Zhukov (1/1) $465,216 George Lind Results 12 $1,500 Triple Chance No Limit Hold'em 1,340 David Diaz (1/1) $352,808 Anders Meli Results 13 $1,500 No Limit Hold'em Shootout 1,440 Andrew Badecker (1/1) $369,371 Robbie Verspui Results 14 $3,000 Limit Hold'em 337 Tyler Bonkowski (1/1) $220,817 Brandon Demes Results 15 $1,500 Pot Limit Hold'em 765 Brian Rast (1/1) $227,232 Allen Kessler Results 16 $10,000 2-7 Draw Lowball Championship 126 John Juanda (1/5) $367,170 Phil Hellmuth (0/11) Results 17 $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. 963 Aaron Steury (1/1) $289,283 Michael Chow (0/1) Results 18 $1,500 No Limit Hold'em 3,157 Foster Hays (1/1) $735,400 Casey Kelton Results 19 $2,500 Limit Hold'em Six Handed 354 Darren Woods (1/1) $213,431 Stephanie Nguyen Results 20 $1,000 No Limit Hold'em 3,175Jason Somerville (1/1) $493,091Yashar Darian Results 21 $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship 126Bertrand Grospellier (1/1) $331,639Steve Landfish Results 22 $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha 1,071 Elie Payan (1/1) $292,825 Rafael Kibrit Results 23 $2,500 Eight Game Mix 489 John Monnette (1/1) $278,144 Eric Buchman (0/1) Results 24 $5,000 No Limit Hold'em Shootout 387 Mark Radoja (1/1) $436,568 Jeffrey Gross Results 25 $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low-8 or Better 606 Chris Viox (1/1) $200,459 Mike Sexton (0/1) Results 26 $2,500 No Limit Hold'em Six Handed 1,378 Oleksii Kovalchuk (1/1) $689,739 Anton Ionel Results 27 $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship 152 Daniel Idema (1/1) $378,642 Matthew Gallin Results 28 $1,500 No Limit Hold'em 2,500 Andy Frankenberger (1/1) $599,153 Joshua Evans Results 29 $2,500 10-Game Mix Six Handed 431 Chris Lee (1/1) $254,955 Brian Haveson Results 30 $1,000 Seniors No Limit Hold'em Championship 3,752 James Hess (1/1) $557,435 Richard Harwood Results 31 $3,000 Pot Limit Omaha 685 Sam Stein (1/1) $420,802 Ben Lamb Results 32 $1,500 No Limit Hold'em 2,828 Kirk Caldwell (1/1) $668,276 Corbin White Results 33 $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split-8 or Better Championship 168 Eric Rodawig (1/1) $442,183 Phil Hellmuth (0/11) Results 34 $1,000 No Limit Hold'em 3,144 Mark Schmid (1/1) $488,283 Justin Cohen Results 35 $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha Six Handed 507 Jason Mercier (1/2) $619,575 Hans Winzeler Results 36 $2,500 No Limit Hold'em 1,734 Mikhail Lakhitov (1/1) $749,610 Hassan Babajane Results 37 $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship 240 Fabrice Soulier (1/1) $609,130 Shawn Buchanan Results 38 $1,500 No Limit Hold'em 2,192 Arkadiy Tsinis (1/1) $540,136 Michael Blanovsky Results 39 $2,500 Pot Limit Hold'em/Omaha 606 Mitch Schock (1/1) $310,225 Rodney Brown Results 40 $5,000 No Limit Hold'em Six Handed 732 Matt Jarvis (1/1) $808,538 Justin Filtz Results 41 $1,500 Limit Hold'em Shootout 538 Justin Pechie (1/1) $167,060 Dale Eberle Results 42 $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Championship 361 Ben Lamb (1/1) $814,436 Sami Kelopuro Results 43 $1,500 No Limit Hold'em 2,857 André Akkari (1/1) $675,117 Nachman Berlin Results 44 $2,500 Seven Card Razz 363 Rep Porter (1/2) $210,615 Stephen Su Results 45 $1,000 No Limit Hold'em 2,890 Kenneth Griffin (1/1) $455,356 Jean Luc Marais Results 46 $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Six Handed Championship 474 Joe Ebanks (1/1) $1,158,481 Chris Moorman Results 47 $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Low-8 or Better 450 Owais Ahmed (1/1) $255,959 Michael Mizrachi (0/1) Results 48 $1,500 No Limit Hold'em 2,713 Athanasios Polychronopoulos (1/1) $650,223 Simon Charette Results 49 $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball 309 Leonard Martin (1/1) $189,818 Justin Bonomo Results 50 $5,000 Triple Chance No Limit Hold'em 817 Antonin Teisseire (1/1) $825,604 Darryl Ronconi Results 51 $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better 946 David Singontiko (1/1) $268,235 Michael Yee Results 52 $2,500 Mixed Hold'em 580 Matt Matros (1/2) $303,501 Jonathan Lane Results 53 $1,000 Ladies No Limit Hold'em Championship 1,055 Marsha Wolak (1/1) $192,344 Karina Jett Results 54 $1,000 No Limit Hold'em 4,576 Maxim Lykov (1/1) $648,880 Dror Michaelo Results 55 $50,000 Poker Players Championship 128 Brian Rast (2/2) $1,720,328 Phil Hellmuth (0/11) Results 56 $1,500 No Limit Hold'em 3,389 Alexander Anter (1/1) $777,928 Nemer Haddad Results 57 $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better 352 Nick Binger (1/1) $397,073 David Bach (0/1) Results 58 $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Championship 6,865 Pius Heinz (1/1) $8,715,638 Martin Staszko Results

Main Event The $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Championship began on July 7 with the first of four starting days. After reaching the final table of nine players on July 19, the remainder of the tournament was delayed until November 6.

The Main Event drew 6,865 players, creating a prize pool of $64,531,000. The top 693 finishers placed in the money, with first place paying $8,715,638. The Main Event was won by Pius Heinz. There were 301 hands played at the final table, including 119 hands of heads-up play, which was the most in WSOP Main Event history.

Celebrities Several celebrities also participated in the Main Event:

Day 1A: Jason Alexander, Vincent Van Patten Day 1B: Sam Simon, Patrick Bruel Day 1C: Paul Pierce, Brad Garrett, Petter Northug, Audley Harrison, Shane Warne, Ray Romano, Robert Iler Day 1D: Jennifer Tilly, Shannon Elizabeth, Nelly, René Angélil, Mars Callahan, Colson Whitehead Of these celebrities, Sam Simon (500th), Robert Iler (275th) and Mars Callahan (94th) finished in the money.

Performance of past champions Name ChampionshipYear(s) Day ofElimination Doyle Brunson 1976, 1977 1A Bobby Baldwin 1978 2A Tom McEvoy 1983 3 Berry Johnston 1986 4 Johnny Chan 1987, 1988 2A Phil Hellmuth 1989 4 Dan Harrington 1995 2A Huck Seed 1996 3 Scotty Nguyen 1998 2A Carlos Mortensen 2001 3 Robert Varkonyi* 2002 4 (514th) Chris Moneymaker 2003 1C Greg Raymer 2004 1A Joe Hachem 2005 2B Jamie Gold 2006 2B Jerry Yang 2007 1A Joe Cada 2009 3 Jonathan Duhamel 2010 2A * Indicates a player who finished in the money.

Other notable high finishes NB: This list is restricted to top 100 finishers with an existing Wikipedia entry.

Place Name Prize 26th J.P. Kelly $302,005 28th Philipp Gruissem $302,005 43rd Erick Lindgren $196,174 45th David Bach $196,174 55th Sebastian Ruthenberg $130,997 56th Minh Nguyen $130,997 58th Brian Yoon $130,997 65th Jean-Robert Bellande $108,412 69th Allen Cunningham $108,412 94th Mars Callahan $64,531 95th Sorel Mizzi $64,531

November Nine

NameNumber of chips(percentage of total)WSOPBraceletsWSOPCashes*WSOPEarnings* 40,175,000 (19.5%) 0 4 $22,875 33,925,000 (16.5%) 0 5 $37,516 24,750,000 (12.0%) 0 10 $237,249 23,875,000 (11.6%) 0 8 $48,769 20,875,000 (10.1%) 1 12 $2,157,249 19,700,000 (9.6%) 0 1 $7,582 16,425,000 (8.0%) 0 1 $83,286 13,825,000 (6.7%) 0 0 0 12,375,000 (6.0%) 0 0 0*Career statistics prior to the beginning of the 2011 Main Event.

Final table payouts + Place Name Prize 1st Pius Heinz $8,715,638 2nd Martin Staszko $5,433,086 3rd Ben Lamb $4,021,138 4th Matt Giannetti $3,012,700 5th Phil Collins $2,269,599 6th Eoghan O'Dea $1,720,831 7th Badih "Bob" Bounahra $1,314,097 8th Anton Makiievskyi $1,010,015 9th Sam Holden $782,115

References

External links Tournament results at the World Series of Poker