Pius Heinz Poker Profile

Pius Heinz, born May 4th, 1989, is best known for winning the 2011 World Series of Poker main event.

The Cologne, Germany born poker player, who now resides in Austria, overcame a large chip deficit during heads-up play to eventually topple Martin Staszko in the main event. For his troubles, Heinz walked away with $8,715,638, easily the largest cash of his career. Even better news for Heinz - he won't have to give any of his winnings over to the taxman, unlike some of the other players at the final table.

Pius Heinz has followed the same path as many professional poker players. Heinz, known as "MastaP89" online, started out playing online at very low stakes. As a matter of fact, Heinz reportedly got his start with a free $50 bankroll from Pokerstrategy.com and slowly built his way up from there.

According to reports, Heinz was studying business psychology at college before making it big in the world of poker. There is no indication as of yet whether or not Heinz will continue his education after hitting his big score.

Before his World Series of Poker main event victory, Heinz had achieved a great deal of success while playing online. According to his Pocketfives.com profile, Heinz has earned more than $700k USD in online poker tournaments, with his biggest scores coming in a Full Tilt Poker Sunday Mulligan victory ($61k) and a win in a $320 NLHE event on Pokerstars ($30k).

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Heinz decided to make his first foray into "live poker" early in 2011, and his efforts are obviously paying off.

Here is a look at his live cashes so far:

2011 World Series of Poker Main Event, 1st, $8,715,368

2011 $1,500 NLHE, 7th, $83,286

2011 1k EUR No Limit Hold'em Turbo Bounty, $25,140

To prepare for his WSOP main event appearance, Heinz took time off of school and reportedly changed his diet to include healthier foods. The changes obviously worked, as Heinz maintained his focus throughout the entirety of his grueling heads-up battle with Martin Staszko.

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Some other notes about Pius Heinz:

-member of Team Pokerstars Pro

-uses the alias "MastaP89" on Party Poker, Full Tilt Poker and Pokerstars

-known for his aggressive play

-soft-spoken, fluent in English


Photo: Pocketfives.com


Recent Poker King Articles That Mention Pius Heinz:


$10 Million First Place Guarantee For WSOP 2014 Main Event?

World Series of Poker Main Event Final Table Betting Odds

The Big One: World Series of Poker Main Event Gets Underway on Saturday

Pius Heinz Wins 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event

Pius Heinz vs Ben Lamb vs Martin Staszko