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Home > ajcsportstalk > Archives > 2006 > August > 10
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Gold wins it all at World Poker Championships
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It was a 13 1/2-hour exhibition of the power of a big bankroll and a willingness to risk. Jamie Gold came into the World Series of Poker Main Event with a huge chip lead, and used it like a cudgel.
Playing aggressively and playing on the doubts of men who seldom have any, Gold stormed through the final table Thursday and into Friday morning to win the $12 million championship prize. In the end, he had personally eliminated seven of the other eight men at the table.
At 6:43 a.m. (EDT), he kneecapped the last man in his way. Holding a pocket pair of 10s, Paul Wasicka called Gold’s all-in, even as Gold stood over his huge pile of chips and told Waisick he had him beat. Gold had paired a queen on the flop. As it had the entire tournament, Gold’s higher pair won out and all the chips were his.
For second, Wasicka earned $6.1 million.
For Gold, the former Hollywood agent and television producer, he now is the star, at least in the sub-culture of poker.
Allen Cunningham was the man many considered the favorite at the World Series of Poker final table. After all he was poker’s wunderkind, who already has four World Series bracelets by the age of 29.
But he was no match for the Jamie Gold Express.
Going all-in before the flop with a pair of 10s, Cunningham was called by the heavily-stacked Gold. Gold turned over a king and jack – and naturally drew a king on the flop to win with the higher pair.
And that was nothing.
At around 6 a.m. (EDT) Gold topped even his stunning run.
He went all-in against Michael Binger, flipping over a 3-4 against Binger’s ace-10 after the flop. With a 5-6-10 on the flop Binger had a slight advantage, but Gold had a possible straight draw. Of course the next card came up a 7 and Gold had his straight. He ran straight out of the card room, needing to collect himself after another great draw.
He now has 85 percent of the chips to bring to bear against the last survivor, Colorado’s Paul Wasicka.
This Rhett Butler made a quiet exit.
The famously-named insurance man from Rockville, Md., was the fifth man out of the World Series of Poker Main Event, yielding his seat at 3:45 a.m. (EDT).
Of course it was Jamie Gold, the chip leader, who ushered him out. Desperately short-stacked, Butler went all in with a pair of deuces; but Gold prevailed with his eventual pair of queens. Gold moved his chip total to nearly $55 million, more than the combined total of the three other remaining players.
For not playing many hands at the final table, Butler made $3.2 million. As part of a syndicate that put up the $10,000 buy-in, he’ll get to keep half of it.
The biggest hand of the World Series of Poker arrived just before midnight. Guess who won? Jamie “Good As� Gold continued ravaging the field, taking out the player second in chip standings while building his own chip stack to 60 percent of the chips in play. San Antonio’s Richard Lee moved all in before the flop with a pair of jacks. Gold called and showed his pair of queens. His advantage held throughout the flop, turn and river and he would rake in a nearly $35 million pot (there are about $90 million in chips total in play). It gave the Hollywood TV producera stranglehold on the four other remaining players, with Allen Cunningham a distant second at $14 million. Lee picked up $2.8 million for his sixth-place finish.
Someone else other than chip leader Jamie Gold began doing the dirty work at the World Series of Poker Main Event.
Going all-in after the flop with a pair of 9s, along with a pair of 3s on the board, Douglas Kim, a 22-year-old online player from Hartsdale, N.Y. ran into Paul Wasicka’s better pair. Wasicka, 25, from Westminster, Colo., had a pair of queens in the bank. They held up and he moved to third in the chip count with a total of $14 million.
As the third player eliminated from the nine-man final table, Kim earned $2.39 million.
Gold, who had eliminated the first two players in the final, continues to hold a substantial chip lead at $35 million.
Jamie Gold is a smallish, brainy sort who doesn’t appear at all dangerous. But the guy has a knockout punch bigger than George Foreman’s. On his way to the final table of the World Series of Poker Main Event, where he arrived Thursday as the chip leader, he seemed to drop anyone who dared to go all-in against him. And three hours into the final, he added two more broken players to the pile outside the door. Just moments ago, 22-year-old Swede Erik Friberg went all in before the flop with a pair of jacks. Gold, who has been playing ultra aggressively with the lead, called with his pair of queens. Picking up another queen on the river, Gold won easily and pared the table down to seven players. Friberg won a whole bunch of Kronas – or $1.979 million. In the first 15 minutes of play, Gold eliminated St. Louis’ Dan Nassif. Gold continues to hold a huge chip lead, his total at $37 million. San Antonio’s Richard Lee was second at $20 million, as pro Allen Cunningham took a couple big hits and slipped down the chip count.
We are set up for a poker siege at the Rio Hotel and Casino, where it is estimated that the final nine players will go well into Friday morning trying to get down to the big $12 million winner. Last year’s event lasted more than 12 hours, and there are more chips in play now.
But just 15 minutes in, there fell the first victim, if that’s what you can call someone who just won $1.567 million. Dan Nassif of St. Louis was eliminated by chip leader Jamie Gold. Nassif’s pair of aces was no good against Gold’s three deuces.
Gold has added a quick $5 million to his collection (up to around $30 million), now holding a $13 million edge over young pro Allen Cunningham.
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