Hand History Rewind: Jamie Gold Wins 2006 World Series Of Poker Main Event

The 2020 World Series of Poker was scheduled to take place in Las Vegas this summer, marking the 15th year that the main event has crowned a champion at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. (The 2005 main event was finished at Binion’s Horseshoe.)

That streak is now in jeopardy because of the pandemic that has put a stop to live poker tournaments all over the globe, but officials hope that the Series, or at least a main event, can be played out in the fall.

With that in mind, we thought it would be fun to look back at the very first main event held at the Rio, and the hands that ultimately led to a massive $12 million win for Hollywood television producer and talent agent Jamie Gold. Despite the emergence of seven-figure buy-in high roller tournaments, Gold’s score remains the fifth largest in poker history.

Gold grabbed much of the television spotlight thanks to his bold table talk and went into the final table with a big chip lead and more than a quarter of the chips in play. Although he could have sat back and assured himself of a top-three finish with little risk, Gold kept his foot on the gas and as a result, was never really in danger of being eliminated from the tournament. In fact, Gold went on to eliminate seven of his eight opponents.

Here are five key hands from the final table.

Tournament: 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event
Buy-In: $10,000
Prize Pool: $82,512,162
No. of Entries: 8,773
First Place Prize: $12,000,000

The Action

On just the fifth hand of the final table, Gold limped in, and Nassif raised to 700,000 from the button. Gold called, and then opted to check dark out of position. The flop fell 5 3 2, and Nassif moved all in for about a pot-sized bet. Gold immediately made the call, tabling pocket deuces for bottom set. Nassif turned over A K, leaving himself with just four outs to a wheel. The turn was the A, now leaving Nassif drawing to a chop. The river was the 10, and he was eliminated in ninth place, earning $1,566,858.

The Action

After taking a big chunk of chips from Cunningham when they both flopped trips, Gold extended his lead even further by busting Erik Friberg with pocket queens against pocket jacks. Wasicka took out Kim to make the event six-handed, and then Gold won what was perhaps his most important hand of the tournament. He limped in from the cutoff and second-place stack Lee raised to 1,200,000 from the small blind. Gold then four-bet to 4,000,000, and Lee responded by moving his entire stack in the middle. Gold quickly called, and once again, his queens held up against jacks, sending Lee to the rail in sixth place to collect his $2,803,851. The pot gave Gold 56 percent of the chips in play.

The Action

After busting Butler in fifth place, Gold went to work grinding down the virtually even stacks of his three remaining competitors. Cunningham eventually found himself down to less than 20 big blinds and decided to use them all after Binger raised to 1,100,000 in the cutoff and Gold made the call from the button. Binger folded, but Gold was willing to gamble with his K J against Cunningham’s pocket tens. The flop brought a king, and Cunningham was forced to settle for $3,628,513 in fourth place.

The Action

Gold limped in on the button and Wasicka completed from the small blind. Binger then raised to 1,500,000, and both opponents called. The flop came down 10 6 5, and Wasicka checked. Binger bet 3,500,000, and Gold moved all in. Wasicka folded, and Binger called with A 10, for top pair, top kicker. Gold showed 4 3 for an open-ended straight draw, and didn’t have to wait long for it to come in with the 7 on the turn. Binger picked up $4,123,310 for his third-place run.

The Action

On just the seventh hand of heads-up play, Gold raised to 1,700,000 and Wasicka defended his big blind. The flop fell Q 8 5, and Wasicka bet 1,500,000. Gold just ripped it all-in, and Wasicka started to think it over. “You don’t have a queen, do you?” asked Gold. “No queen,” said Wasicka. “Then I got you,” responded Gold. “Alright, you talked me into it,” said Wasicka, putting in the last of his stack with pocket tens. Gold showed his Q 9, and it held as the dealer finished the board with the A 4. Wasicka earned $6,102,499 for his runner-up finish, while Gold was awarded the $12 million first-place prize.

Final Table Results

1. Jamie Gold — $12,000,000
2. Paul Wasicka — $6,102,499
3. Michael Binger — $4,123,310
4. Allen Cunningham — $3,628,513
5. Rhett Butler — $3,216,182
6. Richard Lee — $2,803,851
7. Doug Kim — $2,391,520
8. Erik Friberg — $1,979,189
9. Dan Nassif — $1,566,858