Pius Heinz: 2011 WSOP Main Event Champion and Germany’s First World Champion
POKER HALL OF FAME
Inducted 2014
Pius Heinz secured his place in poker history in 2011 when he won the World Series of Poker Main Event and became the first German player to capture poker’s world championship. The victory came during his first trip to the WSOP and earned him his first bracelet along with an official first-place prize of $8,715,638.
Heinz built much of his poker experience online before breaking through on the live tournament stage. Although he never became a constant presence on the international circuit after his Main Event victory, his championship remains one of the defining results in German poker history.
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Who Is Pius Heinz?
Pius Heinz is a German poker player associated with Cologne who is best known for winning the 2011 WSOP Main Event. The World Series of Poker reported that Heinz had played considerably more online poker than live poker before arriving in Las Vegas for his first WSOP in 2011.
That background made the speed of his breakthrough especially notable. Heinz not only reached the Main Event final table during his first World Series, but he had already recorded another deep run earlier that summer.
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The 2011 WSOP Breakthrough
First WSOP Final Table
Before winning the Main Event, Heinz reached the final table of the 2011 WSOP $1,500 No-Limit Hold ’em Event #48. He finished seventh for $83,286.
That result provided an early indication that Heinz could compete successfully in large live fields, but it was quickly overshadowed by what followed in the $10,000 Main Event.
Winning the 2011 WSOP Main Event
The 2011 WSOP Main Event attracted 6,865 entries from 85 countries and generated a prize pool of more than $64.5 million. Heinz reached the nine-player final table seventh in chips before mounting a comeback over the two-day championship session.
American professional Ben Lamb finished third, leaving Heinz heads-up against Czech player Martin Staszko. Their heads-up match lasted approximately six hours before Heinz won the final pot with ace-king against Staszko’s ten-seven.
The official WSOP event record lists Heinz as the champion with a first-place payout of $8,715,638. The victory also made him the first player from Germany to win the WSOP Main Event.
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Career After the World Championship
Heinz continued to record live tournament results after his world championship, although his schedule became considerably less prominent than that of many Main Event winners.
In January 2012, he finished fifth in a $5,250 eight-handed event at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure for $45,980. Later that year, he placed third in the €10,000 GCOP II High Roller for €60,000 and also recorded two WSOP cashes.
He returned to the winner’s circle in March 2016 at King’s Casino in Rozvadov, where he won a Eureka Poker Tour Super High Roller. PokerNews reported that Heinz collected €44,814 for the victory.
His most recent live tournament cash listed by Hendon Mob came in July 2019, when he finished second in a WPTDeepStacks Germany €2,750+250 High Roller in Rozvadov for €36,399.
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Pius Heinz Tournament Earnings and WSOP Record
As of September 15, 2026, Hendon Mob lists Heinz with $9,071,367 in recorded live tournament earnings across 13 cashes. Because poker databases are updated as new results are reported, career totals can change over time.
The current WSOP player profile for Pius Heinz lists one bracelet and zero WSOP Circuit rings. Its All Brands view records two final tables, six cashes and $8,824,694 in earnings across the events it tracks, including a Eureka/EPT result; these are not exclusively WSOP-series figures.
The overwhelming majority of Heinz’s recorded live winnings came from his 2011 Main Event championship. His relatively small number of live cashes also distinguishes his career from many other Main Event winners who remained full-time fixtures on the tournament circuit for years afterward.
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Poker After the Main Event Spotlight
Heinz did not pursue the same highly visible public schedule that often follows a Main Event championship. In a 2014 interview, PokerNews reported that Heinz described poker as having largely returned to being a hobby and said the travel and attention associated with professional tournament life did not particularly appeal to him.
His later results show that he continued to play selected live events, including his 2016 Eureka victory and his 2019 WPTDeepStacks high-roller runner-up finish. However, current major live-tournament databases do not list another cash for Heinz after July 2019.
That distinction is important when describing his status. There is no need to label Heinz permanently retired from poker; the public record instead shows a player who stepped away from being a regular full-time live tournament professional.
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Pius Heinz’s Place in German Poker History
Heinz’s most lasting contribution to poker is his role in establishing Germany as a Main Event championship nation. Before 2011, no German player had won the WSOP Main Event.
Germany later produced additional Main Event champions, including Hossein Ensan in 2019 and Koray Aldemir in 2021. Heinz remains the player who achieved the milestone first.
His victory also arrived during an era when German players were becoming increasingly influential in online poker and international tournament competition. Heinz’s championship gave that development one of its most visible early achievements.
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Current Status
As of September 2026, Heinz is not a regular presence in publicly recorded major live tournaments. Hendon Mob lists his most recent live cash in July 2019, while the WSOP database shows no additional World Series cashes after 2013.
His career is therefore defined less by volume than by the magnitude of his greatest accomplishment. One WSOP bracelet accounts for his only World Series victory, but that bracelet came in the game’s most famous tournament and made him Germany’s first WSOP Main Event champion.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many WSOP bracelets does Pius Heinz have?
Pius Heinz has one WSOP bracelet. He won it by capturing the 2011 WSOP Main Event.
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When did Pius Heinz win the WSOP Main Event?
Pius Heinz won the WSOP Main Event in 2011, defeating a field of 6,865 entries.
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How much did Pius Heinz win in the 2011 WSOP Main Event?
The World Series of Poker officially records Heinz’s first-place prize at $8,715,638.
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How much has Pius Heinz won in live poker tournaments?
As of September 15, 2026, Hendon Mob lists Pius Heinz with $9,071,367 in recorded live tournament earnings. Tournament earnings totals can change when new results are added.
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Does Pius Heinz have any WSOP Circuit rings?
No. The WSOP currently lists Heinz with one bracelet and zero WSOP Circuit rings.
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Is Pius Heinz still playing poker?
Heinz has played live tournaments sporadically since winning the 2011 Main Event, but current major tournament databases do not list a live cash after July 2019. He described poker as largely a hobby in a 2014 PokerNews interview, so it is more accurate to describe him as an infrequent live tournament participant than to state that he has formally retired.
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Why is Pius Heinz important to German poker?
Pius Heinz became the first German player to win the WSOP Main Event when he captured the championship in 2011. His victory preceded later German Main Event titles by Hossein Ensan and Koray Aldemir.