2006 World Series of Poker
Amazon Ballroom, The Rio, Las Vegas, site of the 2006 World Series of Poker
Jamie Gold Wins 2006 World Series of Poker
August 11, 2006
Final Table Set to Go
Cunningham Gains Ground on Gold
August 9, 2006
Allen Cunningham has been steadily and methodically accumulating chips, while Jamie Gold's stack seems to grow by leaps and bounds with a minor setback here and there along the way. Going into the final table of the World Series of Poker Championship Event Thursday, Gold (left), is the chip leader with 25.65 million followed by Cunningham with 17.77 million. Cunningham is a poker pro from Ventura, CA with lifetime poker winnings of over $4 million. Jamie Gold has lifetime winnings of less than $100,000 and works or worked as a Hollywood agent. Final table seat assignments and chip counts for the climax of poker's largest event of the year are as follows ...
Seat 1 Richard Lee - $11,820,000
Seat 2 Erik Friberg - $9,605,000
Seat 3 Paul Wasicka - $7,970,000
Seat 4 Dan Nassif - $2,600,000
Seat 5 Allen Cunningham (right)- $17,770,000
Seat 6 Michael Binger - $3,140,000
Seat 7 Doug Kim - $6,770,000
Seat 8 Jamie Gold - $26,650,000
Seat 9 Rhett Butler - $4,815,000
...Play ended for the night at 2:17 AM PDT with the elimination of Fred Goldberg in 10th place for a prize of $1,154,527. First prize will be $12,000,000, the largest ever for a poker tournament or for any sporting event. Tiger Woods earned pocket change compared to the WSOP winner, a little over $1 million for his win in golf's British Open, one of the premier events on the golf tour.
Cunningham Makes a Move
But Jamie Gold Goes Farther Out in Front at 2006 WSOP
August 8, 2006
Allen Cunningham, the most well-known poker pro left at the World Series of Poker Main Event has climbed past all but the seemingly invincible Jamie Gold. With 13 players remaining, Cunngingham has more than a 2-1 chip lead over 3rd place, but trails Gold by 12 million. With 4 more players yet to be eliminated today before a day off is called for tomorrow, the 13 remaining players and their chip counts are as follows...
1. Jamie Gold: 26,050,000
2. Allen Cunningham: 14,000,000
3. Michael Binger: 5,800,000
4. Erik Friberg: 5,600,000
5. Paul Wasicka: 5,200,000
6. Doug Kim: 4,800,000
7. Richard Lee: 4,650,000
8. Rhett Butler: 4,500,000
9. Dan Nassif: 4,350,000
10. Leif Force: 4,100,000
11.
John Magill: 4,000,000
12. William Thorsson: 3,700,000
13. Fred Goldberg: 2,800,000
Day 7 Underway, Gold Increases Lead
Lisandro, Cunningham Still Alive
August 8, 2006
Jamie Gold is pulling away. With almost 20 million in chips and 2nd place, Eric Friberg at only 8.2 million, Gold has already gained nearly 7 million in the last hour and 50 minutes since Day 7 started. His increase in chip count during that short period of time is more than the total number of chips most of his competition has taken the entire 6+ days to amass.
Meanwhile, Jeffrey Lisandro and Allen Cunningham, the 2 most well-known pros still alive at the 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event are struggling just a bit, staying about even in chip count since the start of the day.
21 players are left. Play will end today when 9 remain for Thursday's final table.
1. Jamie Gold: 19,600,000
2. Erik Friberg: 8,200,000
3. Rhett Butler: 8,200,000
4. Michael Binger: 5,950,000
5. Dan Nassif: 5,525,000
6. David Einhorn: 5,420,000
7. John Magill: 4,980,000
8. Leif Force: 4,200,000
9. Richard Lee: 3,950,000
10. Jeffrey Lisandro: 3,600,000
11. Doug Kim: 3,500,000
12. Kevin O'Donnell: 3,420,000
13. Dustin Holmes: 3,200,000
14. Willima Thorsson: 3,100,00
15. Kevin Aaronson: 2,700,000
16. Allen Cunningham: 2,300,000
17. Prahlad Friedman: 2,200,000
18. Fred Goldberg: 1,950,000
19.
Luke Chung:1,000,000
20. Sirous Jamshidi: 900,000
21. Paul Wasicka: 880,000
Day 6 Ends, Gold Goes for the Gold
Final 3 Tables at World Series of Poker
August 7, 2006
Jamie Gold will enter Day 7 with 13,000,000 in chips, over 5 million more than his closest competitor. Day 6 was shortened to only about 5 hours because bust-outs occurred more quickly than officials anticipated and the schedule calls for 3 more days, with only 3 tables to go. Last year, the final 3 tables were played on the second of the last day. Another day off is coming Wednesday, as long as play gets down to 9 players Tuesday, so that the Thursday finish happens as scheduled. The final 27 are...
1. Jamie Gold: 13,000,000
2. Erik Friberg: 7,735,000
3. David Einhorn: 6,905,000
4. Rhett Butler: 6,400,000
5. Dan Nassif: 5,430,000
6. Richard Lee & Michael Binger: 5,275,000
8. William Thorsson: 3,765,000
9.
Jeffrey Lisandro: 3,750,000
10. Kevin Aaronson: 3,670,000
11. Doug Kim: 3,595,000
12. John Magill: 3,275,000
13. Allen Cunningham: 2,650,000
14. Leif Force: 2,265,000
15. Kevin O'Donnell: 2,130,000
16. Prahlad Friedman: 1,850,000
17. Eric Lynch: 1,785,000
18.
Lee Kort: 1,700,000
19. Rob Roseman: 1,685,000
20.
Fred Goldberg: 1,611,000
21. Dustin Holmes: 1,210,000
22. Sirous Jamshidi: 1,190,000
23.
Luke Chung: 1,100,000
24. Paul Wasicka: 700,000
25. Siddharth Jain: 675,000
26. Mark Garner:
635,000
27.
Richard Wyrick: 570,000
Day 6 Begins, Gold Takes Command
Humberto Brenes Eliminated
August 7, 2006
Jamie Gold is starting to run away from the rest of the field at the World Series of Poker Main Event. With a chip count of 13,400,000, and the nearest player having only 5,850,000, if this was any other game or sport, you could say Gold has a comfortable lead. However, this is poker, and there is a lot more to be played and anything can and probably will happen. Gold appears to know how to play big-stack poker, because even in between his amazing surges, he still seems to continue to slowly gain more chips.
Meanwhile, we have to say goodbye to one of the most colorful pros on the circuit, Humberto Brenes, who played for a very long time with a short stack, but was finally caught trying to steal by making an all in bet with 8 5 and got run over by the big blind who had KK. He finished in 36th place and earned $329,865, not a bad profit for a $10,000 investment.
The most well-known pro remaining is probably Allen Cunningham, who has been methodically moving up over the last day or so and is now a very serious contender with 3,550,000 in chips. The top 10 out of the remaining 34 are...
Jamie Gold: 13,400,000
William Thorsson: 5,850,000
Rhett Butler: 5,600,000
Michael Binger: 4,920,000
John Magill: 3,800,000
Eric Lynch: 3,700,000
Erik Friberg: 3,650,000
Allen Cunningham: 3,550,000
Siddharth Jain: 3,300,000
Jeffrey Lisandro: 3,250,000
Day 5 Complete, 45 Remaining
Jamie Gold With a Solid Chip Lead
August 6, 2006
Scarlett O'Hara would be proud. Rhett Butler has come from nowhere at the 2006 World Series of Poker, swashbuckling his way into 4th place with only 45 players left as Day 5 draws to a close. Day 6, which begins at noon August 7th will be over when 27 players remain. At the same juncture last year, with 3 tables left, the tournament moved to Binion's, probably to honor the tradition because that's where the World Series got its start and has been held every year until this year since its inception in the 70's. No more Binion's at all this year, the tournament has outgrown that venue, the Rio is where Harrah's Entertainment has decided to hold the event from start to finish. Last year, we had Mike "the mouth" Matusow making it to the final table, and Phil Ivey making it to the top 27. This year, there's Jamie Gold and Rhett Butler poised to make it. But unless Allen Cunningham or Humberto Brenes catch fire tomorrow, there may be no familiar faces at all come the final 3 tables. Perhaps that's a good thing. Perhaps that reinforces the notion that anyone can win this tournament. I have a feeling each and every player remaining at this point, unfamiliar to poker fans as most of them may be, are extremely talented poker players. One of them will become a household name in a few days. Some of the others may be tomorrow's superstars.
1. Jamie Gold: 7,330,000
2. Erik Friberg: 5,905,000
3. William Thorsson: 3,545,000
4. Rhett Butler:
3,210,000
5. Kevin Aaronson: $3,190,000
6. Ricki Nielsen: $3,170,000
7. Siddharth Jain: $3,090,000
8. Michael Binger: $3,045,000
9. Jeffrey Lisandro: $2,995,000
10. James Routos: $2,775,000
...
31. Allen Cunningham: 1,290,000
...
41. Humberto Brenes: 565,000
Stay tuned for Day 6
WSOP Update, Down to 65
August 6, 2006, 8:40 PM PDT
1. Jamie Gold: 5,200,000
2. Erik Friberg: 4,300,000
3. Jeffrey Lisandro: 3,400,000
4. Michael Binger: 3,300,000
5. Eric Molina: 3,200,000
6. Ricki Nielsen: 2,850,000
7. Paul Wasicka: 2,630,000
8. Lee Kort: 2,200,000
9. Dan Schmiech: 2,160,000
10. John Magill: 1,900,000
...
55.
Allen Cunningham: 500,000
...
59. Humberto Brenes: 361,000
...
76. Dmitri Nobles: busted, $65,973
Tightening at the Top
Kort, Binger, Gold, Wasicka Lead with 85 Players Left
August 6, 2006
There are too many bust-outs way too soon at the World Series of Poker Main Event. The schedule called for 300 players to remain after Day 4 and for those 300 to play until 150 remain at the end of today, Day 5. Instead, because of the greater-than-expected casualties so far, there were only 135 left to begin today and only 85 left right now. Officials thought that the rate of bust-outs would start to slow down by now as only the more serious, skilled players would remain after the inevitable mistakes by the average players would finally spell doom for them. If that were the case, the schedule would eventually catch up with the play. Instead, players appear to be flinging their chips around as though they were in a freeroll and all that remain now are a bunch of loony luck-boxes, scratching and clawing their way through the day, throwing caution to the wind as they call for all their remaining chips with Q-high because they believe their opponent is bluffing. How can this be? I'm sure it isn't true. I'm sure each of these 85 got where they are today because of the way they play, rather than in spite of it. It only seems like they're loony luck-boxes, instead they're really grandmaster strength, awesome players who know that the only way to reach the very pinnacle against such a large field is to use controlled "flinging". Annie Duke is not one of the 85. Humberto Brenes is hanging on, but has only one tenth the number of chips the leaders have. The blinds are now 8,000/16,000 with a 2,000 chip ante.
Jamie Gold is close, but recent developments have put him just out of the chip lead, held at the moment by Lee Kort. The top 5...
Lee Kort: 3,308,000
Michael Binger: 3,220,000
Jamie Gold: 3,200,000
Paul Wasicka: 2,930,000 (recently gained over 2 million chips)
Jeffrey Lisandro: 2,500,000
135 Players Left at 2006 WSOP
Gold Maintains Huge Chip Lead Going into Day 5
August 6, 2006
While Annie Duke and Humberto Brenes are standing strong with 919,000 and 835,000 respectively, Jamie Gold (left), with 3,700,000 makes those superstars' chip stacks seem puny. The 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event is down to 135 players with Day 5 set to start shortly. The blinds are at 6,000/12,000 with 2,000 antes now and there are 11 players with less than 200,000 left. Most notably, William Thorsson, 168,000, who went from 1.6 million and nearly in the lead at the World Series of Poker late yesterday, to near busting out today and David Woo, who went from 1.3 million to 44,000. At the other side of the spectrum, Jamie Gold is a sensational story, leading by as much as he is after coming from nowhere in a short period of time. We can expect more of the same dramatic twists and turns today, as many of the players will be satisfied with nothing less than a final table or even nothing less than victory and the $12,000,000 1st prize and instant fame that goes with the coveted title of No Limit Texas Hold'em World Champion. To achieve that dream, these players know they are going to have to gamble, which sometimes means risking it all against someone else with the same dream. We can also expect to see players coming from way back in the pack to chip leader if today goes anything like the last day or two. The top ten are...
Jamie Gold: 3,700,000
Max Reele: 2,358,000
James Routos: 2,279,000
Kyle Bowker: 2,272,000
Michael Binger: 1,889,000
Prahlad Friedman: 1,558,000
Ricki Nielsen: 1,388,000
Kevin Aaronson: 1,354,000
WeiKai Chang: 1,343,000
Noah Siegel: 1,283,000
... with Dmitri Nobles, leader after Day 2 and parts of Day 3, close behind in 13th place with 1,252,000. Another well-known player we haven't mentioned yet still in the hunt with 503,000 in chips, is Allen Cunningham, with lifetime winnings of over $4.2 million and 3 WSOP bracelets.
Coming as no surprise to us is the number of online qualifiers. While we don't have any numbers as to how many of the 135 players remaining qualified for the WSOP via the online satellites, we know that PokerStars still has 27 remaining. Fully 20% of the remaining field are PokerStars players. We highly recommend this well-known poker site, if you want to play in next year's WSOP. Build up a bankroll somewhere else, such as the sites I mention in my articles, then transfer your funds to PokerStars and win your seat.
Stay tuned for more.
There's Gold at the WSOP
Jamie Gold Has 2-1 Chip Lead over 2nd Place
August 5, 2006
Jamie Gold is on a tremendous rush with over 3,000,000 in chips compared to William Thorsson's 2nd place million and a half as Day 4 of the Main Event of the World Series of Poker nears the end. A flopped full house, followed by a river full house, Gold can do no wrong today. Meanwhile, down a ways in the pack lurks Annie Duke at 750,000 and Humberto Brenes at 660,000, steadily choosing their spots to attack and awaiting mistakes by the players ahead of them. Less than 200 remain and Dmitri Nobles is one of those 200, a very dangerous player who has a lot of experience in position # 1 at this year's poker tournament. With about 900,000, Nobles is definitely still a threat. The top 5 at the moment are ...
Jami Gold: 3,080,000
William Thorsson: 1,550,000
Andrew Schreibman: 1,500,000
Michael Binger: 1,450,000
Alex Balandin: 1,450,000
Alex Balandin On Top
Annie Duke Gains More Ground, Hachem, Negreanu Done
August 5, 2006
Annie Duke is becoming a serious contender today, Day 4 of the World Series of Poker Championship Event. With over 600,000 chips, she now is within one more double-up of the very top, a position held by Alex Balandin. Joe Hachem, last year's champion busted out in 238th, good for $42,882, after getting his AA cracked by JJ. Daniel Negreanu was all over the place today, quickly climbing into contention, then just as quickly sinking back down. He did that a number of times, then finally busted out in 229th place. Among other recent notable casualties are Kathy Liebert, Hoyt Corkins, and Ted Forrest. The top 4 are as follows...
Alex Balandin: 1,250,000
Richard Gryko: 1,220,000
William Thorsson: 1,180,000
Kyle Bowker: 1,119,000
Day 4 Heats Up as Annie Duke Charges
McEvoy, Violette Bust Out, Negreanu on the Ropes Again
August 5, 2006
With the blinds starting to get a bit high at 2,500/5,000 and 500 ante, Annie 
Duke decided to get serious and she now has 390,000 chips, good for about 50th place or so out of the 300 remaining players. It is the middle of the day at the 37th World Texas Hold'em Championship, better known as the World Series of Poker $10,000 buy-in Main Event. In other words, the big dance, the one you've been dreaming about making it to all the days of your poker playing life. Humberto Brenes is still hanging around at around the 400,000 chip count level. Daniel Negreanu, like Annie Duke, also made a charge and had it back up to 165,000 or so, but has since come back down to only 75,000. Tom McEvoy and Cyndi Violette are among some of the more well-known recent bust-outs.
Approximate top 10 chip counts as of 3:45 PM PT
Alex Balandin: 890,000
David Woo: 870,000
William Thorsson: 850,000
Kyle Bowker: 850,000
Elie Said: 814,000
Richard Gryko: 810,000
Rick Mombourquette: 790,000
Cheng Yu: 720,000
Mark Petersen: 710,000
Dave Murray: 710,000
David Chiu, Dmitri Nobles, David Murray, Mike Hwang: 700,000
Day 3 Concludes, Molina, Nobles, Lane, Chiu Lead the Way
Brenes Moves, Negreanu Tumbles
August 5, 2006
As Day 4 begins, Dmitri Nobles has finally relinquished the number 1 spot on the leaderboard to Eric Molina, Jon Lane, and briefly, David Chiu, a 2005 WSOP Omaha Hi-Lo champion, and frequent visitor to the final table of many World Series of Poker events. Chiu catupulted himself atop the leaderboard early today by gaining a quick 48,000 in chips before taking a mild hit which put him in about 11th place. He definitely has what it takes in the way of poker skills to take this one down, having captured WSOP bracelets in Limit Hold'em twice, and 7 card stud once, besides his Omaha bracelet last year. With lifetime earnings of over $2,000,000, Chiu is the most legitimate contender so far to have risen to the top of the leaderboard. Jon Lane is another experienced and "for real" player, having finished 88th place in last year's championship event of the WSOP, for a $91,950 payday. The top 6 at the moment are...
Eric Molina: 658,000
Jon Lane: 654,000
Dmitri Nobles: 650,000
Albert Padilla: 640,000
William Thorsson:
628,000
Alex Balandin: 621,000
...Meanwhile Humberto Brenes (440,000) continues his bracelet quest at the world's biggest poker event. Steadily climbing towards the top, Brenes' track record at the World Series of Poker includes many money finishes since 1987.
Daniel Negreanu had a bad day with only 104,000 chips left after brushing up very close to number 1 on Day 2. David "the Dragon" Pham and Tony Ma are among the other casualties of Day 3 while still holding onto chips are 2005 champ Joseph Hachem with 180,000, Annie Duke, Hoyt Corkins, Ted Forrest, Tom McEvoy, Kathy Liebert, and Cyndi Violette. There are also many other top poker pros with chips. Stay tuned today for further updates as we move on to Day 4 with only 481 players remaining.
Ivey, Mortensen, Flack Bust Out
Nobles Won't Quit, Negreanu Holding Steady
August 4, 2006
Gone are Phil Ivey, Carlos Mortensen and Layne Flack as Day 3 progresses at the 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event with a mind-boggling $87,730,000 prize fun, $12,000,000 to the winner. 890 players out of the 1,159 that started the day are still playing and getting very close to the money spots. Dmitri Nobles, the leader going into Day 3 has increased his chip count to 578,000 after taking a hit earlier that had him down to 445,000. He maintains 1st place on the leaderboard, which has also near the top Jason Strasser (485,000), Terris Preston (450,000), Michael Binger (392,000), Mark Garner (384,000), Jon Lane (382,000), and a few others ahead of Daneil Negreanu, holding a nice chip count of 316,000. Humberto Brenes has made a major move today and has 256,000 in chips. 2005 champion Joe Hachem is still in contention with 124,000 chips.
Some other notable players still fighting to stay alive another day are Cyndi Violette, Hoyt Corkins, Annie Duke, Tom McEvoy, Kathy Liebert, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, and David "The Dragon" Pham. Players will continue today until about 700 are left. Day 4 is tomorrow, Sat. Aug. 5.
Stay tuned for final results of Day 3 and stop by tomorrow for more coverage of the 2006 $10,000 buy-in World Series of Poker Texas Hold'em Championship.
Down to 1,159, Dmitri Nobles Leads
End of Day 2, Negreanu Makes Big Move
August 3, 2006
Both segments of Day 2 are over and now only 13% of the original starting field of 8,773 players remain as the 1,159 survivors take a break, both halves of the field combining to resume on Friday, all in the same room and at the same time. Daniel Negreanu is poised to make a lot of noise at this year's $10,000 buy-in
World Series of Poker Championship Event. He started Day 2B with 85,500 and finished near the top of the leaderboard with 331,000 in chips. The leader, Dmitri Nobles (right) has 553,000. One of Negreanu's big pots that went his way was when he went up against QQ after a flop gave him a flush draw and overcards with his AK and he connected with the flush on the turn. Had he not connected, he would have been crippled. Despite being more than 200,000 chips behind the leader, there are very few players ahead of Negreanu. Daniel Pelletier is barely ahead of him with 335,000. Day 2A leader Yuriy Kozinskiy, with 443,300 chips, Jon Lane, with 405,000, and Ken Jacobs with 395,000, are perhaps the only other players ahead of Negreanu. Joseph Hachem, last year's WSOP champ is also doing very well with 142,200 in chips.
Among those failing to survive Day 2B were 2005 champ Greg "Fossilman" Raymer, 2002 champ Robert Varkonyi, Alan Goehring, J.C. Tran, both Eric and Robert Mizrachi, and Huck Seed.
Among those still alive for Day 3, besides the aforementioned, are Phil Ivey (on the ropes with only 20,000 chips), Kathy Liebert, Tom McEvoy, Freddy Deeb, Minh Nguyen, Josh Arieh, Cyndi Violette, Ted Forrest, Layne Flack, Hoyt Corkins, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Annie Duke, Tony Ma, Carlos Mortensen, David Pham, and Humberto Brenes. Stay tuned for Day 3 coverage August 4th.
8,773 at WSOP 2
Day 2, Hachem, Negreanu Off to Good Start
August 2, 2006
After 4 segments of Day 1 on 4 consecutive days, between July 28 and July 31, the dust at the 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event has settled as most of the field has busted out 
. 2005 champ Joseph Hachem is showing he's no fluke as he enters Day 2B in 25th place out of the "B" half of the total remaining field. Danel Negreanu sits just behind Hachem with 85,000 chips, good for 29th place. Lurking close behind those 2 is Ted Forrest with 57,000 in chips. Greg Raymer, the 2004 WSOP Main Event champion, and Robert Varkonyi, the 2002 champ, still have chips and are fighting to try and make it to Day 3. Some of the other notable players of Day 2B are Cyndy Violette, Freddy Deeb, J.C. Tran, Alan Goehring, Josh Arieh, Kathy Liebert, and Minh Nguyen. 875 players from the other half of the field, those that played yesterday (Day 2A), will be playing on Day 3 along with the survivors from today's group. Day 3 will be played on Friday, Aug 4, after a much-needed day off. Some notable Day 2A survivors were Humberto Brenes in a solid position with 148,300 in chips, David Pham, Carlos Mortensen, Tony Ma, Annie Duke, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Layne Flack, and Phil Ivey. Overall, the leader at the moment is Yuriy Kozinskiy with 443,300 chips, another Day 2A player.
The 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event has shattered all records for quantity of players and quantity of prize fund. Last year's 5619 players seems a bit small compared to the 8,773 that showed up this year. The winner will capture $12,000,000 out of a total prize fund of $87 million, the largest prize fund in the history of sports.
Further updates will be forthcoming on this page.
November 6, 2005
The 2006 World Series of Poker will kick off with satellites June 25 at the Rio in Las Vegas. The $10,000 buy-in World Championship event begins July 28 with the final table scheduled for Aug. 10.
The 2005 main event drew 5,619 players, up from 2,576 the year before. The 2006 field is expected to reach 8,000.
Many of these 8,000 are expected to win there way to the 2006 World Series of Poker through online satellites. We have written a series of step-by-step articles showing exactly how a poker player, even a relatively inexperienced poker player, can easily make it to the 2006 WSOP by taking advantage of certain online poker sites' promotions. A player can even start with no investment at all other than his/her time. Click here if you're interested. Or if you don't have time to read the articles, click on any of the banners below that are active in WSOP promotions. Then start building your bankroll to play in their satellites and you're on your way to Las Vegas in 2006!
