Pius Heinz, known to some in the online poker world as MastaP89, entered Day 8 of the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event in 11th place with a stack of 7.51 million before winning it for $8.7 million. Heinz, who hails from Germany, took down the Full Tilt Poker Sunday Mulligan in July 2010 for $61,000. He also has wins in the PokerStars$150,000 Guarantee for $29,000 and the Full Tilt Poker $60,000 Guarantee for $15,000. Heinz will enter the 2011 WSOP November Nine with the seventh largest stack at 16.43 million.

Heinz was the first German player to reach the November Nine and the Main Event’s first German champion, but told ESPN that he didn’t feel a considerable amount of pressure despite the high stakes: “I don’t feel any pressure at all. The field left is really strong [and there are] a lot of really good players left. My tournament went pretty smoothly for the most part and I’m just happy to be here. Whatever happens, happens.”

When he won the Main Event, Heinz was a relative newcomer to the live poker scene. He cashed for $83,000 in his first major live tournament score after bowing out in seventh place from a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event during the 2011 WSOP. The final table of the contest included the likes of Matt All In At 420Stout, World Poker Tour Championship winner Yevgeniy Jovial GentTimoshenko, and Canada’s Simon pokerbrat13Charette, a PocketFives.com Triple Crown winner.

Heinz doubled up on Day 7 of the Main Event after coming out on the winning end of a race with pocket queens against the A-K suited of Andrew Hinrichsen. The board fell 9-7-3-8-10 and Heinz moved to over eight million in chips. Trending in the other direction was Hinrichsen, who was eliminated from 2011 WSOP November Ninecontention on Day 7 after losing a coin flip against Eoghan O’Dea.

Heinz hails from Cologne, Germany. The 2011 WSOP was his first foray into the annual tournament series in the Nevada desert. He had nearly 2,000 posts on PocketFives.com and joined the community in April 2008. According to his profile, his hobbies include “playing unlimited Hold’em donkaments, partying, and what not.” Sounds like the life of a poker player!

Heinz beat Czech Republic poker player Martin Staszko heads-up in the 2011 Main Event.