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Czech player Martin Staszko is a bit of an unknown in the North American poker community - or at least he was until last night.

A former auto-plant worker (he worked in the paint shop), he's been a full-time poker professional for just one year and his biggest previous live cash is an 11th-place finish at the 2010 EPT Deauville Main Event for €35,000.

According to the Hendon Mob database, he’s 19th on the all-time live earnings list for poker players from the Czech Republic at $83,235.

Online he goes by the name "filfedra" and has over $100k in cashes including a recent win in Event 5 of the 2011 SCOOP on PokerStars for $91,539.

He’s now turned those wins into five more cashes at the 2011 WSOP and the chip lead at the most prestigious final table in the world. 

Staszko is guaranteed to make at least $782,155 for making the November Nine, which will move him up to fourth on the all-time Czech money list.

Staszko was down to just 12,000 in chips on the money bubble in this tournament but apparently folded “40 hands in a row” (according to Erick Lindgren) to survive.

He’s the first player from the Czech Republic to make the final table of the WSOP Main Event.

Right in line with PokerListings.com's 2011 WSOP predictions, he's also a competitive chess player.

Martin Staszko

Age: 35

Online Handle: filfedra

Twitter: n/a

Home town: Trinec, Czech Republic

Current Residence: Trinec, Czech Republic

Staszko enters the final table as the chip leader with 40,175,000 in chips.

For a full list of players who have made the final table, check our November Nine recap.

Also, get to know Martin Staszko a little better through the magic of video below.

View the original article here