2006 World Series of Poker - Recap

The 2006 World Series of Poker marked another year of massive growth for the pinnacle of the poker world as the game continued to jump out of the niche and into the mainstream. Action started June 26 with the $500 Casino Employee No-Limit Hold’em Event and ran until the conclusion of the final table at the $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em World Championship in the early hours of August 11th. All tournaments were held at the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino and this marked the fist time in the 37 year history of the WSOP that the final table was not contested at Binion’s Horseshoe, where the tournament was created.

Over six weeks, 46 bracelets were awarded in tournaments featuring different variations of Texas Hold’em, Seven Card Stud, Omaha and Draw poker. In what has become a theme in the modern poker landscape, professional poker players and amateurs competed for WSOP glory and both sides had their share of victories. Unknowns, like Brandon Cantu and Victoriano Perches won gold bracelets and their fifteen minutes of fame. From this group of unknowns emerged two players in young gun Jeff Madsen and mathematical genius William Chen, who both took home two gold bracelets and became instant stars in the poker world. The professionals took home their share of gold bracelets as well. From poker professionals John “Gentleman” Gale, David Williams and Russ “Dutch” Boyd winning their first bracelets to Allen Cunningham, David “The Dragon” Pham and Eric Froehlich adding to their collection, the pros showed that they have what it takes to win in this age of gigantic tournament fields.

No professional player had more success at the 2006 WSOP than Phil Hellmuth Jr. He won his record tenth bracelet in the $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em Event w/rebuys, tying him with fellow poker legends Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan for the most all time. Hellmuth made the final table in three other Hold’em events and cashed a total of eight times, increasing his record number of cashes to 56. However in the end, it was Madsen who edged out Hellmuth for the 2006 WSOP Player of the Year honors with his impressive consistency. Madsen made four final tables, finishing third twice and winning two bracelets to edge Hellmuth.
The 2006 WSOP also featured an exciting addition. The $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event attracted the best players in the world to compete in the historic event. This tournament played out over three long days of competition and whittled down to an impressive final table featuring: T.J. Cloutier, Andy Bloch, Phil Ivey, Doyle Brunson, Patrik Antonius, James Bechtel, David “Chip” Reese, Dewey Tomko and David Singer. Reese defeated Bloch to take down the highly coveted gold bracelet and $1,784,640 after a record head’s-up match that lasted over eight hours.

The Main Event – On July 28, the largest poker tournament in the history of the world began as 8,773 participants started play to claim the title of Poker Champion of the World. When the dust settled fourteen days later, 12 players were millionaires and a new champion, Jamie Gold had won the gold bracelet and $12,000,000 in prize money. Gold dominated the final stages of the tournament with a large chip stack and he eliminated seven players at the final table, including his biggest threat, Allen Cunningham in fourth place. The Main Event ended when Gold defeated Paul Wasicka head’s-up with a pair of queens against Wasicka’s pocket tens to claim poker gold.