Day 8 of the World Series of Poker Main Event has been completed, and we have our final nine players. These players will return in November to compete for the coveted Main Event bracelet and a huge final table prizepool. Ninth place is already guaranteed $782,115, with first place taking home $8,711,956.

Before reading our report below, you may want to have a look back at Main Event day 5 or Main Event day 6.  You can also try and qualify for the 2012 WSOP.  The best place to qualify is Bodog Poker. Use this link to get up to $1100 in free poker money from Bodog.

2011 WSOP Final Table and Chip Counts
Martin Staszko 40,175,000
Eoghan O’Dea 33,925,000
Matt Giannetti 24,750,000
Phil Collins 23,875,000
Ben Lamb 20,875,000
Badih Bounahra 19,700,000
Pius Heinz 16,425,000
Anton Makiievskyi 13,825,000
Samuel Holden 12,375,000

Players Eliminated in Day 8 (With Payouts)
10 John Hewitt $607,882
11 Khoa Nguyen $607,882
12 Bryan Devonshire $607,882
13 Konstantinos Mamaliadis $478,174
14 Scott Schwalich $478,174
15 Andrey Pateychuk $478,174
16 Ryan Lenaghan $378,796
17 Sam Barnhart $ 378,796
18 Kenny Shih $378,796
19 Aleksandr Mozhnyakov $302,005
20 Gionni Demers $302,005
21 Chris Moore $302,005
22 Lars Bonding $302,005

As you can imagine, there were tons of big stories from day 8 of the World Series of Poker Main Event.  With 22nd place taking home over $300,000 and first place taking home over 8.5 million, the tension was thick all day long.  Below we will present what we think are three of the biggest stories from day 8 of the 2011 WSOP.

Hewitt Makes Worse Call in WSOP History?
John Hewitt will forever be remembered for his terrible call with ten players left in the 2011 Main Event. The hand occurred against the tightest player remaining, Badih Bounahra. Though this hand didn’t eliminate Hewitt, it left him crippled. He would be eliminated soon after.

John Hewitt opened the pot with a raise to 1.1 million.  Badih Bounahra moved all in for 9.3 total.  After a bit of tanking Hewitt finally called and tabled K-Q. Wow, what? Call an 8 million chip raise against the tightest player at the table? Calling this hand on the November 9 bubble?  Bounahra tabled K-K, with the only surprise being it wasn’t aces.

This hand from the 2011 Main Event will go down as one of, if not the, worst calls in the World Series of Poker. We will never know for sure, but Hewitt likely makes the final table if he doesn’t make this call.  The bubble from 10th to 9th is huge in the Main Event. All of the players are heavily promoted for a few months until they return for play in November.  This was a blowup of epic proportions.

Staszko Runs 6.4 Million into Over 40 Million
Martin Staszko is perhaps one of the least talked about chip leaders in Main Event history. He started the day on a short stack of 6,380,000. He ended the day as the chip leader with over 40 million. His chip lead is more than 6 million, and he has almost double the chips of 5th place Ben Lamb.

To make such a move on day 8 of the World Series of Poker Main Event is incredible.  Staszko played excellent poker all day and all night. He was a beast at the table, and the rest of the players seemed to fear him.  His reads seemed to be spot on all day, as he raised and re-raised his way into the chip lead.

Pius Heinz Huge Suckout Leads to 2011 Final Table
Unfortunately for John Hewitt this is our second of two stories that include him. This one didn’t end well for him either, though he got his money in great. The other half of this story is Pius Heinz. I have to say I have been rooting for Heinz. I watched most all of the broadcasts, and I thought Heinz played great poker up until this point.

However, Heinz got it in really bad on this hand. In this hand Hewitt opened with a raise to 650,000. Heinz then reraised all in for 8.06 million.  Hewitt called and revealed A(hearts)-K(spades).  Heinz revealed K-J of clubs and was in terrible shape.

The flop was a pretty good one for Heinz. It was 10-8-7 with one club and two hearts. Heinz picked up a straight draw, and a backdoor flush draw. He could win with a 9, a jack, or running clubs.

The turn was a bad one for Heinz as the 6 of hearts hit the felt.  This card meant that the 9 of hearts or Jack of hearts were no longer good cards for Heinz. Both of those cards would now complete the flush for Hewitt. This left Heinz drawing to five outs. The only cards that could help him were three of the nines (diamonds, spades, and clubs) and two of the jacks (spades and diamonds).

The river was dealt, and it was the nine of diamonds.  Heinz had been on the brink of elimination, but was now up to almost 17 million.  Hewitt dropped down to 18 million and continued to tumble until the blowup we listed above.

Day 7 of the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event is now complete. Action at the Rio in day 8 is just getting underway.  Day 7 of the Main Event began with 57 players, and after the day just 22 remain.  You can read our Day 7 report below, and you can also have a look back at Day 4 and Day 5.

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Chip Counts after Main Event Day 7
Anton Makievskyi 21,045,000
Eoghan O’Dea 19,050,000
Khoa Nguyen 16,435,000
Andrey Pateychuk 16,245,000
Ben Lamb 14,690,000
Phil Collins 13,805,000
John Hewitt 13,265,000
Ryan Lenaghan 10,415,000
Matt Giannetti 8,920,000
Konstantinos Mamaliadis 8,195,000
Pius Heinz 7,510,000
Aleksandr Mozhnyakov 7,075,000
Scott Schwalich 6,920,000
Martin Staszko 6,380,000
Bryan Devonshire 6,190,000
Sam Barnhart 4,935,000
Samuel Holden 4,740,000
Gionni Demers 4,655,000
Kenny Shih 4,530,000
Lars Bonding 4,140,000
Badih Bounahra 3,835,000
Chris Moore 3,040,000

Notable Players Eliminated in Day 7
Tom “tommyboy” Koral
David Bach
Erick “Edog” Lindgren
Tony Hachem (brother of former Main Event Champ Joe Hachem)
John Esposito
David “Doc” Sands
Erika Moutinho (girlfriend of Doc Sands)
JP Kelly

Top Story from Day 7 – Boyfriend/Girlfriend Combo Eliminated
Erika Moutinho and her boyfriend David “Doc” Sands were both still alive at the beginning of Day 7 of the Main Event. This was an incredible story that unfortunately came to an end on Day 7. Sands was eliminated from the 2011 WSOP in 30th place, and his girlfriend Erika was the next player eliminated in 29th place.

They were quite the story during this year’s Main Event. On Day 7 they spent most of their time together at the featured table.  Not only that, they were seated side by side at the table. They only played one small pot together, with Moutinho raising from the small blind and taking down the big blind of Sands.

Both were knocked out with similar holdings.  Sands pushed all in before the flop with J-10 and was called by A-J, and received no help. Moutinho pushed all in with Q-10 and was called by A-Q, and like Sands she received no help.

Though I’m sure they were both disappointed not to advance further, they put on quite the show.  They took home a combined half a million for their WSOP runs. I look forward to following them both in the 2012 Main Event.

Story to Watch for Day 8 – The International Flair
Over the last few years the Main Event of the World Series of Poker has become an international affair. This has been especially true in 2011 as you see players from all over the world making deep runs in the Main Event. Poker is truly becoming more of an international game.

The top of the leaderboard contains players from four different countries. Leading the pack is Anton Makiievskyi from Ukraine, followed by Eoghan O’Dea from Ireland.  Third place in the chip counts is Khoa Nguyen from Canada, and fourth in the chip counts is Andrey Pateychuk from Russia.

This international flair is great for the game of poker.  Poker is already huge in the United States, and has been growing rapidly in other parts of the world.  This great showing for international players is sure to help poker grow even more overseas.  I would love to see a November Nine with players from four or five different countries.

There are now 57 players remaining in the Main Event of the 2011 World Series of Poker.  Day 6 began with 142 players, and when the chips were bagged and tagged at the end of the day there were 57 still standing. Below you will find the top chip counts after Day 6, notable players still remaining, and notable players that hit the rail during WSOP Day6.

You may also want to read our Day 5 report or our Day 4 report. If you want to try and qualify for the 2012 Main Event check out Party Poker or Bodog Poker.  Please note that Party Poker does not accept American players.

Top Main Event Day 6 Chip Counts
Ryan Lenaghan 12,865,000
Ben Lamb 9,980,000
Matt Giannetti 7,940,000
Andrey Pateychuk 7,255,000
Phil Collins 7,240,000
Hilton Laborda 7,160,000
Nelson Robinson 6,420,000
Tri Huynh 6,295,000 295,000
Aleksandr Mozhnyakov 6,070,000
Bryan Devonshire 5,970,000

Notable Players Advancing from World Series Day 6
JP Kelly (Team PokerStars Pro)
Tom “tommyboy” Koral
Lars Bonding
David “Doc” Sands
Erika Moutinho (girlfriend of Doc Sands)
Andrew Brokos (Team PokerStars Pro)
Tony Hachem (brother of Main Event champ Joe Hachem)
Erick “Edog” Lindgren
David Bach
Steve Brecher
Frank Sinopli
Minh Nguyen

Notable Players Eliminated During Day 6
Jean-Robert Bellande
Allen Cunningham
Peter Feldman
Joseph Cheong (final table last year)
Sami “LarsLuzak” Kelopuro
Eli Elezra
Aaron Jones
Sorel Mizzi
Christian Harder
Darryl Jace (2nd in chips after Day 3)
Claudia Crawford
Amanda Musumeci

To begin the day there were three women remaining in the field. As you can see by the above notable eliminations both Claudia Crawford and Amanda Musumeci were eliminated during Day 6.  That means that there is one woman moving on to Day 7 of the 2011 World Series of Poker.  She is the better half of our top story from Day 6.

Top Story WSOP Day 6 – Girlfriend and Boyfriend Advance in Main Event
Doc Sands and Erika Moutinho have both advanced into Day 7 of the 2011 World Series of Poker. This is the longest that I can remember any boyfriend/girlfriend or husband/wife pair lasting in the Main Event. For a short time they were both seated at the ESPN featured table together. I imagine that is a pretty special experience getting to play with your significant other on live television.

Erika Moutinho began the day with 878,000 in chips. By the end of the day she had chipped up to over two million.  To see Erika check out the Wicked Chops Erika Moutinho gallery. Coming into the Main Event Erika only had one live poker tournament cash. She finished 416th in a smaller no limit holdem even at this year’s World Series of poker. The cash in that tournament was for $1812, and she is already guaranteed at least $130,997 in the Main Event.

Erika was taught how to play poker by her longtime boyfriend Doc Sands. Doc will start play in Day 7 with a little over 2.7 million in chips.  David “Doc” Sands has a much more extensive poker tournament resume, with over a million dollars in cashes.  The Main Event will be the 5th cash for Doc Sands in the 2011 World Series of Poker.  His best finish in this year’s WSOP was third place in a pot limit Omaha event for $113,000.

It was already a successful WSOP for Sands, but this experience is undoubtedly a once in a lifetime event.  It would make for some really great theater if both Sands and Moutinho could advance to the final table. I think that a lot of people will be rooting for them. I know that I will be.

Day 5 of the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event was completed late last night in Las Vegas.  There were 378 players who started the day with dreams of a championship still in tact.  After the day was finished there were only 142 players remaining chasing the elusive Main Event bracelet.  Read our full report below, or you can look back at our Day 4 recap or our Day 3 recap.

You may also want to qualify for the 2012 World Series of Poker. The best site for non US players to qualify is Party Poker. The best site for those living in the United States is Bodog Poker.

Top Main Event Day 5 Chip Counts
David Bach 4,706,000
Pius Heinz 4,699,000
Kyle Johnson 4,654,000
Phil Collins 4,109,000
Ben Lamb 4,032,000
Aleksandr Mozhnyakov 3,462,000
Sebastian Ruthenberg 3,354,000
Lars Bonding 3,352,000
Bryan Devonshire 3,292,000
Thomas Grey 3,262,000

Notable Players Moving on From WSOP Day 5
Joseph Cheong (final table in Main Event last year)
Allen Cunningham (multiple bracelet winner)
Erick Lindgren (former WPT Champ)
Ben “run like God” Lamb (on fire during 2011 WSOP)
Aaron (aejones) Jones (online player)
Christian Harder (online turned live poker pro)
Sorel Mizzi (cheater)
Eli Elezra (live cash game player)
Jean Robert Bellande (super degen)
Tony Hachem (brother of former Main Event champ Joe Hachem)
Sami “LarsLuzak” Kelopuro (online player)

Notable Players Eliminated in Day 5
Daniel Negreanu
Freddy Deeb
Kevin Saul
“Miami” John Cernuto
Jon Turner
Mark Newhouse
Carter King
Peter Jetten
Alex Kamberis

There are also three women advancing into Day 6 of the 2011 World Series of Poker. The three women remaining in the Main Event are Claudia Crawford, Amanda Musumeci, and Erika Moutinho. It would be great for poker if one of these women could advance to the November nine.

There has only been one woman to ever advance to the final table of the World Series of Poker Main Event. Barbara Enright made the final table in 1995. There hasn’t been a woman to advance to the final table in the post Chris Moneymaker days. The fields have been much, much larger since Moneymaker took home the title in 2003. It would be quite the feat for a woman to make the final table in 2011.

Top Story from WSOP Day 5 – Chipleader Implodes
Coming in to Day 5 of the 2011 World Series of Poker the chip leader was Manoj Viswanathan. He came into the day with 2,115,000 in chips. He was the only player to begin the day with over 2 million chips. He would not make it to the dinner break in Day 5.

This blowup was one of epic proportions, and it was shown on live television (actually with a 30 minute delay) on ESPN2.  It was painful to watch, and I felt really badly for Manoj while watching this trainwreck in progress.

He got his chips in the middle while behind time and time again.  He was attempting silly bluffs, and making silly calls.  He looked extremely uncomfortable during the broadcast on television.  I can’t imagine what he felt like after the meltdown was complete.

It was clear to those watching that the rest of the players were licking their chops. He was isolated repeatedly, as every other player at the table felt comfortable they could outplay him in a heads up pot.  Hopefully Manoj can learn something from this Day 5 performance, and come back to the 2012 WSOP ready to play.

Day 4 of the 2011 World Series of poker is now in the books. Day 4 of the WSOP began with 852 players, and after the day was finished there were 378 players remaining.  We reached the money in Day 4, as 693 places are paid in this year’s Main Event.  You can read our full recap below, or you can take a look back at our Day 3 Main Event Report. You can also check out latestpokernews.net for some other breaking poker news.

Top Chip Counts from Main Event Day 4
Manoj Viswanathan 2,115,000
Sam Barnhart 1,925,000
Pius Heinz 1,887,000
Stephane Albertini 1,867,000
Daryl Jace 1,849,000
Lars Bonding 1,813,000
Kyle Johnson 1,761,000
Matthew Kay 1,756,000
Mazin Khoury 1,707,000

Players Advancing from 2011 WSOP Day 4
Bryan Devonshire
Ben “benba” Lamb
Daniel Negreanu
Jean-Robert Bellande
Mark Newhouse
Peter Feldman
Joseph Cheong (final table last year)
Eli Elezra
Sorel Mizzi
Tony Hachem (brother of former champ Joe Hachem)
Allen Cunningham
Erick Lindgren
Sami “LarsLuzak” Kelopuro
Freddy Deeb
Peter Jetten
Tom “tommyboy” Koral
Jon “pearljammer” Turner
David Levi

Notable Eliminations from World Series Day 4
Vanessa Rousso
Robert Varkonyi (past Main Event Champ)
Todd Brunson (son of poker legend Doyle Brunson)
Bryan “The Icon” Micon
Dennis Phillips
Phil Hellmuth
Jeffrey Lisandro
Humberto Brenes
Berry Johnston (cashed in at least one WSOP tournament for 30 consecutive years – streak ended this year)
Shannon Shorr

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Top Story from World Series of Poker Day 4 – Rousso on a Yo Yo
Day 4 of the 2011 World Series of Poker is a day Vanessa Rousso would probably like to forget. Rousso started the Day with an above chip stack of 298,500. She was quickly able to build her chip stack up to over a million, vaulting her into the top ten in chips. Vanessa Rousso looked primed to make a deep run in the 2011 Main Event.

Then disaster struck for Rousso.  She lost three big hands that led to her busting out of the World Series of Poker in 511th place.  This was truly a shocker for someone that had vaulted into the top 10 in chips.  All three big hands were lost to the same person, David Bach. Summaries of the 3 big hands can be found below.

• Bach gets it all in preflop with pocket aces and is called by the Ace-King of Rousso. The aces hold for Bach and Rousso loses about 200,000 on the hand.
• Bach gets it all in on a flop of 10-9-6 rainbow holding Q-J. Rousso calls with pockets sixes as she had flopped a set. Bach nails the straight on the turn to take another 450,000 from Rousso.
• Rousso is now down to 273,000 as the action heats up on a board reading 5-J-6-9. Rousso gets it all in with Q-J and and is up against the pocket aces of Bach. The aces hold and Rousso is sent packing.

This was an amazing and extremely fast crash to busto for an experienced player like Rousso. She got it in good one hand with the set of sixes, but was obviously far, far behind in the other two hands. The ace-king loss was unfortunate and was probably the correct play, but Rousso has to be kicking herself for the Q-J offsuit hand.

Day 5 action is now underway at the Rio in Las Vegas.  It is sure to be an entertaining day as there are plenty of big name players left in the field.  Come back tomorrow to check out our recap of today’s action.