May 17 2012, Brett Collson

If you’ve played multi-table tournaments on PokerStars or Full Tilt Poker since 2009, there’s a good chance you’ve played a pot with Ami Barer. The fresh-faced poker pro has been one of the game’s most determined grinders in recent years, playing in tournaments ranging from the $1 rebuy to the $5,200 PokerStars SCOOP Main Event – and virtually everything in between.

Barer, a 21-year-old from Vancouver, will be playing in his first World Series of Poker this summer. It will be the first taste of poker’s summer camp for Barer, who has made a living playing online tournaments since he was in high school.

Unlike many of his peers who were forced to pack up and find a new home in order to resume their poker career after Black Friday, Barer kept his grinding station intact and continued crushing online tournaments like he had been during his career. And while that career may seem brief, his list of accomplishments rivals many of the most talented online tournament players on the planet.

In just three years playing under the moniker “UhhMee” on PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, Barer has accumulated more than $3.6 million in online tournament cashes. His best result came in the 18th Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS), where he claimed his first gold jersey and a top prize of $122,000. He also has a fourth place finish in another FTOPS event for $82,500, and a fifth place result in a recent SCOOP event on PokerStars. Not to mention dozens of five-figure scores that would take us hours to catalog.

Most of Barer’s exploits have come on the virtual felts, but the youngster made several appearances at live events around the globe. He burst onto the live scene in 2009 with a 25th place finish at the “10,000 European Poker Tour Grand Final for $59,168. Barer gained some early attention in that event by finishing Day 1b as the chip leader and was among the leaders heading into Day 3, but an unsuccessful face-off with Ludovic Lacay on Day 4 left Barer hitting the rail short of his first live final table.

Barer hasn’t cashed in a live tournament in 15 months, but there won’t be much rust to shake off when the WSOP kicks off later this month. Barer has been grinding online non-stop since the beginning of May; in fact, between May 3 and May 16, the hold’em specialist racked up 135 cashes on PokerStars alone, making 14 final tables. That amounts to a final table every day.

Obviously, those numbers aren’t attainable in the live realm. Multi-tabling WSOP events isn’t advised unless you’ve wagered millions in bracelet bets like Tom Dwan. Therefore, it will be interesting to see if Barer can translate his high-volume approach to the slow, daily grind inside the Rio Convention Center. But since endurance and work ethic play huge factors in success at the WSOP, we’re expecting big things from the Vancouver pro this summer.

PokerNews will be keeping a close eye on Barer in the coming months, so be sure to check our Live Reporting Page for the duration of the 2012 WSOP. Stay tuned for more rookies to look out for, as well.

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November 04 2011, Chad Holloway

Playing your first World Series of Poker and making the final table of the Main Event is every poker player’s dream. In 2011, that dream came true for 22-year-old Pius Heinz, a student from Euskirchen, Germany. To make things even sweeter, Heinz becomes the first player from Germany to make the Main Event final table. If he hopes to become the first German champion, he’ll have his work cut out for him; he starts the table seventh in chips with 16,425,000.

Before the Main Event, Heinz actually navigated a field of 2,713 in Event #48 $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em to make the final table, ultimately finishing in seventh place for $83,286. That win gave Heinz the bankroll and confidence to enter the Main Event.

PokerNews recently caught up with Heinz to get his thoughts on being a member of the November Nine, what he’s been up to since July, and what he’s doing to prepare for the final table this weekend.

Was there any hand during the Main Event that you thought was a turning point for you?

Obviously there were a couple of really important hands. On Day 1 actually, in the first level, there was a hand where I had a four-card nut flush draw. My opponent had a straight flush draw. It was with two clubs, an offsuit on the turn, and the on the river. I bet 1,800 and my opponent, like a 58-year old gentleman, made it 5,000. I just called [with the ace-high flush] and he showed . This could have eliminated me from the tournament, so that was pretty interesting.

On Day 6, I won a gigantic flip against Sebastian Ruthenberg when I had and he had . I was fortunate enough to win the flip in an eight million-chip pot at the time, which was for a top three stack I believe.

What did it feel like making the November Nine? How long did it take to set in?

It felt incredible, just unbelievable. I was waiting for someone to wake me up. It was really, really, really sick and completely unbelievable. It took me a pretty long time to realize actually. When it happened, I wasn’t feeling anything else but happiness, basically. It’s really hard for me to describe that moment.

What was the reaction of your family and friends back home in Germany?

They obviously went crazy. Most of them aren’t poker players, so you might expect that they don’t really realize what’s going on, but they may have been even more excited than me to be honest. They were really excited, and we had a small party. They were really, really proud of me.

Who will you be bringing to watch you at the final table this weekend?

I have a couple of poker friends coming. Most of my family is going to be here: my brother, my sister, and my mother. A couple of other friends from back home.

What have you been doing in the days leading up to the final table?

I have a couple of interviews to do. I’m going to try to use the next couple of days to relax. When I have the time, I’m not going to do anything too overly exciting. I’m just going to relax as much as I can.

During the three-month November Nine hiatus, what did you do with your time? Did you do any traveling? Play any tournaments?

I actually didn’t play that many tournaments. I moved to Vienna, that’s not really traveling, but it obviously takes some time. I went to Barcelona for the European Poker Tour. I busted on Day 2, but I managed to win a side event, so it turned into a pretty profitable trip, which was nice. Other than that, I was just meeting friends, doing all sorts of media stuff, playing some online poker, and basically just taking it easy.

Have you spent anytime watching the ESPN broadcasts of the Main Event and studying your opponents?

I watched a lot of the coverage, mainly from Day 8. I’ve watch a little from Day 5 and everything, but I’ve watched everything from Day 8.

If you were to make it to heads-up play, whom would you like to face off against?

Probably against Bob Bounahra.

Is that because you feel he is the easiest to defeat?

I don’t want to say it that way, but I think I would have an edge against him. It would be fun though, he’s a pretty cool guy. He was really excited and definitely enjoying his time. I think it’d be pretty fun actually.

What’s more important to you: the money of the Main Event bracelet?

The money.

Did your final table earlier in the WSOP give you the bankroll and confidence to enter the Main Event?

Yeah, but I swapped with people, which is pretty standard. I mean everybody did that. I don’t think anybody at the final table [didn't swap] other than maybe Badih, who is a businessman, and I guess maybe Ben Lamb. It just makes the best since because you can beat the variance more easily.

Do you have any plans for your money? Any big splurges?

No, not really. I’m not really worried too much about that right now. I haven’t bought anything meaningful like a house or car or anything like that. I don’t know what I’ll win yet, I know the minimum amount, but there is quite a bit of difference between winning [and finishing ninth].

Do you think poker is in your future? Do you plan to travel the circuit a little bit?

Oh yeah, I’m definitely going to be doing that. You’ll find me at a lot of EPTs this season.

It was announced the day after this interview that Heinz became the latest PokerStars Pro, joining Team Germany.

To learn more on Heinz, check out his post-November Nine interview:

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