This past week, the mother ship landed in Las Vegas for the final time this year. This time, though, the iconic arena was moved to the Penn & Teller Theater in a dazzling display of lights and pyrotechnics.
The Poker Hall of Fame welcomed two new members on Tuesday. The \"First Lady of Poker,\" Linda Johnson is seen here giving her acceptance speech.
Also inducted in the class of 2011 was Barry Greenstein, and he got a bit emotional as he reminisced over the past few decades in poker.
Norman Chad and Jack Effel just before the final table commenced. The latter was fully decked out in a three-piece tux with a red vest and a bow tie for the duration.
Also in the house: Sasquatch. Don't mess with him.
Speaking of \"the house,\" here's a view of the Penn & Teller theater, packed to the rafters well before play began on Sunday afternoon.
Just in case they forgot what they were playing for, the bracelet was displayed prominently tableside, looking awfully sparkly under those strobes.
And of course, the November Nine. Just moments before the action kicked off, the nine players posed for the last time as a group.
Just 22 years young, Sam Holden was the lone Brit to make the November Nine.
Holden brought a cast of characters with matching hairdos. They were the first fans to file back out of the theater, though, as their guy was eliminated in ninth place.
Anton Makiievskyi, from Ukraine, parlayed his first WSOP cash all the way to a final-table run.
A couple of hours into the day, Makiievskyi flipped his king-queen against pocket nines, and a nine on the turn ended his Main Event in eighth place. He was the first player at the table to earn seven figures.
The wild card of the final table, Belize's Bob Bounahra made it clear that he was enjoying every minute of his time at the November Nine. This is Bounahra's entrance to the stage.
This is the Bob Bounahra pose we became familiar with. Glasses on nose, cigar in mouth, and his eyes studying the table carefully.
In front of a boisterous pro-Bob crowd, Bounahra eventually got his money in bad with a dominated ace-five, ending his run in seventh place.
Ireland's Eoghan O'Dea began the day with the second-largest stack, but he ran into the buzzsaw that was Ben Lamb to steal almost all of his chips with six players left.
O'Dea could not muster a comeback, falling out in sixth place.
Many could feel it coming in the air tonight, but Phil Collins could not find a double on his final hand. His queen-jack was dominated by Lamb's ace-queen, and a disappointed Collins was forced off in fifth place.
Another man to get \"Ben Lambed\" pretty hard was Matt Giannetti. In a crucial pot for a ton of chips, Giannetti had his pocket jacks cracked by Ben Lamb's ace-seven of hearts, and he dropped out in fourth place.
Speaking of Ben Lamb, we spied him chatting with Phil Hellmuth in the corridor just before play began.
And here's what Benba looked like as he hit a lucky turn card to flush away almost all of Matt Giannetti's chips.
Team Benba was out in full force, and they even brought \"Ben's Lamb\" with them, a costumed mascot that nearly stole the show at one point.
Lamb's cheering section contained some of the best tournament players in the world, and he made use of his assets with frequent conversations on the rail.
Just three players left: Pius Heinz, Ben Lamb, and Martin Staszko. When they returned to the felt on Tuesday, each of them were guaranteed more than $4 million.
In a staggering start to the day, Lamb was crippled on the very first hand of the Tuesday session. Within minutes of the starting gun, the final American had been eliminated in third place.
The view of the heads-up final from the bleachers behind the stage.
Just two men left, each of them playing for more than $8.7 million and WSOP immortality.
In one corner, Martin Stazsko, a 35-year-old pro from the Czech Republic. He played better than most gave him credit for, picking his spots well and changing gears enough to keep the table guessing.
And in the other corner, 22-year-old Team PokerStars Pro, Pius Heinz from Germany. Heinz essentially had just one gear, and his unrelenting aggression proved difficult for the table to handle.
Pius Heinz and some of his fans on stage during heads-up play.
The chip lead changed hands several times during heads-up play, but Heinz finally found the double up that all but ended it. He three-bet shoved postflop with just ace-high, and Staszko made the call with a monster draw and a chance to end it.
He missed.
It was Heinz whose ace-high held strong, and this would not be the last time he'd be embraced by his rail.
On the final hand of the Main Event, the short-stacked Staszko took his stand with ten-seven of clubs, and Pius Heinz woke up with ace-king. Five blanks later, and Staszko was out as the runner-up.
Over on the other side of the stage, the celebration had officially begun.
Heinz returned to the table for a few words with Staszko, but you can see where his eyes were focused as they exchanged congratulations.
In the moment of victory, it was the German, Pius Heinz left standing alone at the table with the game's biggest prize.
Pius Heinz is your 2011 Main Event champion!
With his new bracelet clutched tightly in a shivering hand, the champ got to pose for one last round of photos outside on a very cold night in Las Vegas. Congratulations, Pius!
