November 05 2011, PokerNews Staff

On Friday, we brought you the first half of the PokerNews Staff’s predictions for the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event Final Table. This is the other half. Only time will tell which half is the better half, but it’s not about who’s better, it’s about being right. Please let one of us be right. One time.

Donnie Peters, Live Reporting Manager

1. Phil Collins
2. Martin Staszko
3. Matt Giannetti
4. Eoghan O’Dea
5. Ben Lamb
6. Samuel Holden
7. Badih Bounahra
8. Pius Heinz
9. Anton Makiievskyi

Who will be the most active player at the final table?

Ben Lamb.

Who will be the tightest?

Badih Bounahra.

How many hours do you think it will take to get to three-handed play on Sunday?

14 hours.

How many hours do you think it will take to get to heads-up play?

three and a half hours.

How many hands will heads-up play consist of?

79 hands.

Give us a bold prediction.

A fan will streak through the Penn & Teller Theater.

Chad Holloway, Senior Writer

1. Matt Giannetti
2. Ben Lamb
3. Anton Makiievskyi
4. Martin Staszko
5. Phil Collins
6. Eoghan O’Dea
7. Badih Bounahra
8. Pius Heinz
9. Samuel Holden

Who will be the most active player at the final table?

I think there will be three players, those being the three listed atop my predictions. Anton Makiievskyi has the most work to do and has shown he isn’t afraid to mix it up on the ESPN broadcasts. I think he’ll do work and put himself in contention.

Who will be the tightest?

If my above prediction of Makiievskyi being the most active proves wrong, he’ll be the tightest, hoping to grind into the biggest cash possible (he is staked for 75 percent); however, I don’t think that will be the case. Instead, I think Eoghan O’Dea will be patient with his big stack, which will result in him playing too tight. I don’t think it’ll be an effective strategy at this final table.

How many hours do you think it will take to get to three-handed play on Sunday?

The stacks are relatively deep, so in all likelihood, it’ll turn into a marathon. For the sake of throwing out a number, I’ll say 16 hours.

How many hours do you think it will take to get to heads-up play?

I’ll say one hour and forty-five minutes, but there might not even be heads-up action (see my bold prediction below).

How many hands will heads-up play consist of?

Less than five. It’s just a wild guess, but I think when heads-up play begins, one player will have such a huge chip advantage that it won’t take too long.

Give us a bold prediction.

I think Anton Makiievskyi making a comeback is pretty bold, but I’ll go even further and suggest something totally outrageous. Since this is the first year three players will return on the last day, as opposed to the final two, I’ll say the final hand of the tournament will be a double elimination. We’ll see some hand like vs. vs. . Kings will hold and it’ll be all over, in favor of Giannetti if my predictions prove true.

Lynn Gilmartin, Producer/Hostess

1. Phil Collins
2. Ben Lamb
3. Matt Giannetti
4. Eoghan O’Dea
5. Martin Staszko
6. Badih Bounahra
7. Anton Makiievskyi
8. Pius Heinz
9. Samuel Holden

Who will be the most active player at the final table?

It’s too hard not to choose the obvious in Ben Lamb. The man is blessed this year, and he’ll probably continue to shock us all in dominating the other eight, but to second place, not first. That’s my prediction!

Who will be the tightest?

I’m going with age on this one and choosing Badih Bounahra.

How many hours do you think it will take to get to three-handed play on Sunday?

A nicely rounded 10 hours.

How many hours do you think it will take to get to heads-up play?

Another three hours.

How many hands will heads-up play consist of?

101.

Give us a bold prediction.

Eoghan O’Dea will go out drinking the night before.

Mickey Doft, Senior Tournament Reporter

1. Eoghan O’Dea
2. Phil Collins
3. Martin Staszko
4. Matt Giannetti
5. Ben Lamb
6. Pius Heinz
7. Badih Bounahra
8. Samuel Holden
9. Anton Makiievskyi

Who will be the most active player at the final table?

I think Eoghan O’Dea is going to really be involved with a lot of three-betting and putting pressure on the rest.

Who will be the tightest?

Badih Bounahra. I think he is just overmatched and will find it difficult to get involved with a such an aggressive group of opponents.

How many hours do you think it will take to get to three-handed play on Sunday?

Seven hours.

How many hours do you think it will take to get to heads-up play?

One hour.

How many hands will heads-up play consist of?

36 hands.

Give us a bold prediction.

Eoghan O’Dea is going to run an absolute sick bluff. I’ve covered him in tournaments abroad before the WSOP and was always impressed with his play. This is his time to shine.

Danielle Barille, Director of Strategic Development

1. Phil Collins
2. Matt Giannetti
3. Eoghan O’Dea
4. Martin Staszko
5. Pius Heinz
6. Anton Makiievskyi
7. Ben Lamb
8. Badih Bounahra
9. Samuel Holden

Who will be the most active player at the final table?

I think Eoghan O’Dea will be fairly active at the final table. He has the chip stack to be involved in a ton of pots and has the ability to see quite a lot of flops.

Who will be the tightest?

I think Matt Giannetti will play rather tight, and based on that, I have him going all the way to the final two.

How many hours do you think it will take to get to three-handed play on Sunday?

This is my first November Nine, so I’m not really sure what to expect. I think since they play down to three-handed, it will take a little less time as opposed to playing down to heads-up. I am going to go with nine hours and 45 minutes.

How many hours do you think it will take to get to heads-up play?

This would vary depending on who makes it to heads-up. If we go with my predictions (Phil Collins v. Matt Giannetti) then I imagine it will be a long battle unless someone goes into heads-up play short stacked. I’ll go with two hours and 30 minutes. I guess it could be a little longer if Phil Collin’s rail sings a song every time he wins a hand – I mean that could nearly double the time it takes to play heads-up.

How many hands will heads-up play consist of?

Wow, this is getting pretty specific. On the low end I would say maybe something like seven. On the high end, I’ll go with 64.

Give us a bold prediction.

I feel pretty confident that an American will be the Main Event champion this year.

Be sure and follow our Live Reporting Coverage on Sunday to find out if any of us got it right. What do you think? Let us know below, and as always, follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.

November 05 2011, Matthew Kredell

There was a lot of anger in the poker community back in 2006 when PartyPoker pulled out of the U.S. market after the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.

For years, it appeared that Party had made a huge mistake. The site’s market share tumbled along with the company’s stock price. PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker took over as the top dogs of online poker and thrived.

It’s a much different story today. Perhaps PartyPoker knew what it was doing after all.

An agreement was announced Monday that Bwin.party would team up with U.S. casino operators MGM Resorts and Boyd Gaming if online poker is ever explicitly legalized in the country.

The move indicates a probable return to the U.S. market for PartyPoker if online poker legislation passes in coming years. The partnership is likely to still receive some scrutiny, but support from the influential and respected MGM should help.

It’s the same sort of agreements made early this year by PokerStars with Wynn Resorts and Full Tilt Poker with the owner of Station Casinos. Those ties were severed after owners of PokerStars and Full Tilt were indicted by the Justice Department on Black Friday, an event that forced the sites out of the U.S.

PartyPoker avoided all of that trouble and now is poised to return to the U.S. at the first opportunity. PokerStars and Full Tilt, with the legal troubles and reputation hit taken on Black Friday, might find the road back to America much more difficult.

Will PartyPoker’s return be triumphant? Most of the bad will the poker community held for PartyPoker after the withdrawal has dissipated. It felt like PartyPoker was abandoning us at the time, but hindsight has proven it was the right move for the company. All the troubles players have had in getting their funds out of Full Tilt and Absolute Poker remind us of how well PartyPoker handled its reimbursement of players, right down to the VIP points.

The one issue that shouldn’t be forgiven so easily is that, in a settlement with the DOJ in 2009, PartyGaming admitted to providing illegal Internet gambling services to U.S. customers prior to 2006 despite there being no federal law that declares online poker illegal.

If a PartyPoker-MGM-Boyd site attracts the fish Party once did, the poker community is likely to quickly forgive that one transgression.

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