The Deal - Pius Heinz

German 'wunderkind' and 2011 World Series of Poker No Limit Hold 'Em Main Event winner Pius Heinz will be fighting for his second bracelet in as many years when the 2012 Main Event kicks off July 7th and he will be hoping to do it in the same dominantly aggressive manner in which he previously triumphed. Heinz, 22, from Cologne was a seemingly unknown poker player prior to his explosion onto the scene in 2011 with his first-attempt World Series Gold Bracelet.

Aggressive play, aggressive stare

After surviving an extremely strong 'November Nine' with no less than 7 nationalities represented including the skillful American Ben Lamb; the cunning Ukranian Anton Makiievskyi and the British youngster Sam Holden, Heinz came face to face with Martin Staszko from the small town of Trinec, Czech Republic. The German was victorious and took home the monumental first place prize $8,715,638 and one custom Gold and Diamond WSOP Bracelet, the most coveted prize in all of poker. 

Since the German's  ascendant performance in his first ever WSOP, Heinz has had success on the European Poker Tour (EPT) winning in Barcelona in the No Limit Hold 'Em Turbo Bounty, a further cash finishing in 23rd and taking home $6,742 from Prague's No Limit Hold 'Em event and finally reaching the final table of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure No Limit Hold 'Em 8 Max event before being knocked out in 5th place for a $45,980 pay day. During this years World Series, Heinz has had arguably mixed success so far playing his way towards 2 cashes in No Limit Hold 'Em events however only cashing cheques for a total of $17,031, a mere 0.2% of his 2011 WSOP main event winnings. 

After a hugely successful 18 months of poker, in this years Main Event Pius Heinz will be looking to overcome the likes of Phil Hellmuth, Allen Cunningham, Phil Ivey and Erik Seidel who combine for a colossal 33 World Series of Poker Gold Bracelets

Heinz pictured with his winning hand, game chips, prize money and bracelet