Ben Lamb Eliminated in 3rd Place at WSOP Final Table
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Ben Lamb’s storybook World Series of Poker has come to an end, as the WSOP Player of the Year was eliminated quickly on Tuesday night in 3rd place in the Main Event.
Amazingly, the key hand for Lamb proved to be the very first hand of the three-handed session – so just one hand after he flopped quads to eliminate Matt Giannetti and end play on Sunday night. In the hand, Lamb raised to 3.0 million from the small blind, and Staszko responded by reraising from the big blind to 7.5 million.
Lamb thought for a bit, then reraised all-in for Staszko’s entire stack of 42.7 million. Staszko made the call, revealing a classic coin flip: Staszko’s pocket sevens vs. the KJ offsuit for Lamb. Lamb needed to improve, but couldn’t hit anything on the board, handing Staszko an enormous pot, and leaving Lamb with just 12.7 million, or about 10 big blinds.
The end came just three hands later. Lamb raised all-in from the small blind, and unfortunately for him, ran into a monster, as Staszko immediately called from the big blind with pocket jacks. Lamb wasn’t entirely dead, as he held a Q6, giving him one overcard. Unfortunately, Lamb couldn’t hit a queen or otherwise worm his way out of trouble, and he was eliminated in 3rd place.
Lamb’s finish comes with a prize of $4,021,138. While not winning the title must be a disappointment for the young American pro, it does cap off one of the most impressive WSOP runs in several years. Lamb won a bracelet in the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Championship, as well as finishing second in another $3,000 PLO tournament. He also cashed in 12th place in the $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Six Handed Championship, and finished 8th in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship. The impressive string of high finishes earned Lamb the Player of the Year title, narrowly beating out Phil Hellmuth for the honor.
This was not Lamb’s first deep run in the WSOP Main Event. In 2009, Lamb finished in 14th place in the tournament, winning $633,022. He also cashed in the Main Event back in 2007, finishing in 156th.
The elimination of Lamb left just two players remaining, with Staszko and Pius Heinz set to battle heads-up for the title.