The $12 Million Man: Jamie Gold Conquers Record-Breaking 2006 WSOP Main Event
The largest WSOP Main Event in history has crowned its winner, with Jamie Gold dominating the final table to top the record 8,773-player field and win the 2006 WSOP Main Event.
Gold was at or near the chip lead ever since Day 3, and never relinquished top spot at the final table, thanks to a mix of fortuitous cards and good big-stack play. He was responsible for all but one of the eliminations at the final table before eventually defeating Paul Wasicka heads-up, taking home $12,000,000 in the process.
Last year’s WSOP Player of the Year Allen Cunningham finished fourth for $3,628,513.
2006 WSOP Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Name | Country | Payout (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jamie Gold | United States | $12,000,000 |
| 2 | Paul Wasicka | United States | $6,102,499 |
| 3 | Michael Binger | United States | $4,123,310 |
| 4 | Allen Cunningham | United States | $3,628,513 |
| 5 | Rhett Butler | United States | $3,216,182 |
| 6 | Richard Lee | United States | $2,803,851 |
| 7 | Douglas Kim | Sweden | $2,391,520 |
| 8 | Erik Friberg | United States | $1,979,189 |
| 9 | Dan Nassif | United States | $1,566,858 |
Final Table Action
It took just a few hands at the final table for the first elimination, as start-of-day short stack Dan Nassif was eliminated by chip-leader Jamie Gold.
Gold limped from early position, and Nassif raised. Gold checked the 5♠3♠2♣ flop dark and snap-called a shove from Nassif for 1,500,000. Nassif held A♣K♦ but Gold had flopped a set with 2♠2♥.
The turn A♥ and river 10♠ saw Nassif sent to the rail, taking home over $1.5 million for his ninth-place finish.
Gold continued to add to his chips with the elimination of Erik Friberg in eighth place after almost three hours of play. Friberg was the third Swedish player to make the final table in the last three years, joining Mattias Andersson in 2004 and Daniel Bergsdorf in 2005.
Friberg had come into the day fourth in chips, but his stack seemed to bleed away as Gold remained active, raising preflop and getting involved in a large number of pots.
In his final hand, Friberg shoved with J♠J♣, but ran into the Q♥Q♦ of Gold. The board provided no help for Friberg, and he was eliminated.
Douglas Kim had been forced to deal with arguably the worst position at the final table, sitting to the direct left of Gold, who had already added almost ten million chips to his start-of-day stack and remained the clear chip leader.
Kim would exit in seventh place, after running 9♥9♦ into the Q♥Q♣ of Paul Wasicka.
Queens would also doom Richard Lee, who picked up J♠J♥ only to run into Jamie Gold’s bigger pocket pair Q♠Q♦ busting in sixth place.
- Jamie Gold - 44,700,000
- Paul Wasicka - 18,000,000
- Allen Cunningham - 13,700,000
- Michael Binger - 7,100,000
- Rhett Butler - 6,640,000
Having started the day with just under five million in chips, Rhett Butler had hung in all day as one of the shorter stacks, playing extremely conservative poker and moving up in the pay scale, but he finally met his end in fifth place after over ten hours of play.
After Allen Cunningham raised to 900,000 from the cutoff, and Gold called in the small blind, Butler three-bet all in for a little more than 2,000,000 and was called in both spots.
After both players checked the J♦6♥5♦ flop, Gold forced out Cunningham with a bet of 2,000,000 on the 2♣ turn and the cards were opened.
Rhett Butler: 4♠4♥
Jamie Gold: K♣J♥
The river was the 10♣ and top pair was good enough for Gold to send Butler to the rail.
Gold Holds on to Chip Lead
Now with more than half the chips in play thanks to his incredibly aggressive style, Gold would add yet another victim in the shape of 2005 WSOP Player of the Year Cunningham.
Picked as a favorite by many to take down his first Main Event championship and second bracelet of this year's series, Cunningham had battled all day after losing a big pot early when he flopped trip nines but was out-kicked by Gold.
Short-handed Cunningham loosened up, but lost sizeable portions of his stack when he had Michael Binger all-in three times early on, holding an advantage two of the three times. However, he failed to win any of the confrontations and doubled Binger up all three times.
Battling on the short-stack for a while, Cunningham finally fell after play got down to four. Michael Binger raised to 1,100,000 in the cutoff and Gold called on the button. Cunningham then shoved for 6,500,000 in the big blind. Binger folded and Gold made the call.
Allen Cunningham: 10♦10♣
Jamie Gold: K♦J♦
The A♠K♠8♥ flop gave Gold top pair, and Cunningham received no help on the 7♣3♠ runout. Cunningham earned his sixth cash of the 2006 World Series and his biggest payday so far at $3,628,513.
Now with almost 60 million in chips, with both opponents barely over 30 million in chips combined, Paul Wasicka and Michael Binger appeared to tred water and jockey for position to see who can get heads up with Gold, while Gold kept applying pressure, taking down pots without showing or exposing big hands when he is called down.
However, Gold missed out on an opportunity to knock out both of his remaining opponents on the same hand. In the end, he’d have to settle for just one.
Gold and Wasicka both limped before Binger raised to 1,500,000 from the big blind. Both players called and the flop came 10♣6♠5♠. Wasicka checked and Binger bet 3,500,000. Gold moved in over the top, forcing both players to make a decision for all of their chips. Wasicka thought for a long time, repeating, "This is sick," before finally folding. Binger called.
Michael Binger: [aahthtx]
Jamie Gold: 4♠3♣
The turn came the 7♣, filling Gold's straight and the river came the Q♠. Wasicka later commented that he had the 8♠7♠ for a straight flush draw and would have won the pot, making his flush on the river.
Heads-Up Play
Gold held a commanding chip lead heads-up, with more than a 7:1 lead over Wasicka.
- Jamie Gold: 79,000,000
- Paul Wasicka: 11,000,000
Just seven hands into heads-up play, the thirteen-plus hour final table reached its conclusion. In the final hand, Gold raised to 1,700,000 and Wasicka called.
The flop came Q♣8♥5♥ and Gold check-shoved after Wasicka bet out 1,500,000. Wasicka hesitated for a moment while Gold tried to goad him into a call.
"I think you're on a draw," Wasicka said. "All right, you talked me into it."
Wasicka seemed to read Gold for weakness and made the call.
Paul Wasicka: 10x10x
Jamie Gold: Qx9x
The turn came an Ax, and the river a 4x, offering no help to Wasicka, and Gold was the new World Champion.
With thanks to original reporting from Stephen Noh. Pictures courtesy of The Hendon Mob and GGPoker
