Friday, August 11, 2006

These are the elimination hands from the 2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP)
Main Event Final Table. Casino City reporter Ryan McLane will continue
update this column as players are eliminated from the largest live poker
tournament ever held.

3rd Place - Michael Binger

Daniel Negreanu's "dark horse pick" lasted longer than he should have,
surviving several all-in chips to get as high as $14 million chips, but he
ran into the Jamie "The Eliminator" Gold and was sent to the rail in third
place.

In his elimination hand, Binger raised the pot $1.5 million after both Gold
and Wasicka limped into the hand. The flop came 10-6-5. Wasicka bet, Binger
bet $3.5 million, and Gold went all-in. Wasicka checked the hand and Binger
called.

Binger showed A-10 for top pair, but Gold had a 3-4 for an open-ended
straight-draw. The turn was a Seven and Binger was drawing dead to the
river. On a side note, the river was a spade, meaning Wasicka folded the
best hand with his 8-9 of spades.
PRIZE MONEY: $4,123,310

4th Place - Allen Cunningham

It just wasn't Cunningham's day. Early in the tournament, Cunningham made a
set of Nines when the flop produced a pair of them. He slow played the hand,
making value bets on the turn and the river, only to be out kicked by Jamie
Gold who also held a Nine.

Short stacked and in danger of getting blinded out, Cunningham moved all-in
with a pair of Tens. After a long deliberation, Gold called the bet and
flipped up K-J suited. The King came right on the flop and Cunningham was
not able to find one of the remaining Tens in the deck.

Visibly distraught, Cunningham conducted his ESPN interview, then left the
building, refusing to talk to the media or do his elimination press
conference. Radio announcer Daniel Negreanu, who is a close personal friend
of Cunningham's, left his Sirius Radio broadcast to go console his friend.
PRIZE MONEY: $3,628,513

5th Place - Rhett Butler

Whether it was a cold run of cards of just his strategy from the beginning,
Butler did not play many pots at the final table and eventually worked
himself out of the tournament.

On his final hand, Butler saw Cunningham raise the pot and Gold call. With
pocket Fours, Butler moved all-in and both players before him called the
bet.

The flop came J-6-5. Cunningham and Gold checked. The turn was a two of
clubs. Gold bet $2 million and Cunningham folded leaving just the all-in
Butler against the chip leader. The river was a blank. Gold showed down K-J
and eliminated his fourth competitor of this final table.
PRIZE MONEY: $3,216,182

6th - Richard Lee

The man who didn't really care about the WSOP Main Event prize money gambled
with his second place stack against chip leader Jamie Gold and paid the
price.

Coming into the pot with a raise, Lee faced a re-raise from Gold who had
position. Thinking Gold was weak, Lee went all-in and Gold called
immediately. Lee had pocket Jacks and was dominated by Gold's pocket Queens.

The board was no help to Lee, who went from second place to out of the
tournament in a single hand. That was the third elimination by Gold, the
second in which he defeated an opponent with pocket Queens.

"Jamie (Gold) was raising a lot of pots," Lee said. "I've been watching him
play for three days now and the cards have been running all over him. I
didn't think he had a giant hand, maybe A-k or pocket Tens. I made a
decision to win the pot right there. When you're gambling at this level
you're not going to get a million opportunities so when you think you have
one, I think you need to go for it."
PRIZE MONEY: $2,803,851

7th Place - Doug Kim

The youngest player at the Main Event Final Table saw his starting stack of
$6.7 slowly dwindle until he faced his Main Event demise at the hands of
Michael Binger.

The 22-year old Doug Kim, an amateur from Martsdale, NY called Binger's
pre-flop raise with pocket nines, then got all his money in on a board of
3-3-4. Binger had Q-Q and two cards later, Kim was eliminated in seventh
place.

"I was calling to see a good board I could push with my nines," said the
well spoken Kim at his press conference. "When it came 3-3-4, both our plays
were automatic."

Amazingly, this is Kim's first cash in a live tournament ever. He said he's
unsure where his poker career with go from here because he has a good job
waiting for him at home.
PRIZE MONEY: $2,391,520

8th Place - Erik Friberg

Part of the Swedish invasion, the 23-year old online professional Erik
Friberg came into the final table with a decent $9.6 million stack, but was
unable to use his strong poker abilities to survive for more than a few
hours.

Looking down at a pair of Jacks, Friberg limped into the pot, then re-raised
Gold's raise. Gold quickly called and proudly flipped his Q-Q. An uneventful
board saw Friberg eliminated in eighth place.

"I tried to get my money in their somehow," Friberg said during his
post-play press conference. "I am obviously very disappointed right now."
PRIZE MONEY: $1,979,189

9th Place - Dan Nassif

The first player eliminated at the 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event
Final Table was 33-year old Dan Nassif from St. Louis, Missouri. Before play
started, Nassif said he needed to double early to survive. He got his chance
when he looked down and saw A-k, but chip leader Jamie Gold called his raise
and flopped a set of twos on a board of 2-3-5. Nassif moved all-in and Gold
quickly called. Nassif got a little help with an Ace on the turn, but was
unable to catch up to Gold's set.
PRIZE MONEY: $1,566,858