Poker title on verge of going Hollywood
Published 9:00 pm Thursday, August 10, 2006
LAS VEGAS – Former Hollywood talent agent Jamie Gold took out the first two players at the final table of the World Series of Poker on Thursday, extending his chip lead to more than double the nearest competitor.
Gold’s chip stack swelled to 39 million by the second break, while tournament pro Allen Cunningham slipped from second place into fourth with 11.8 million. Richard Lee was in second with 17.6 million.
The first man out for the day was Dan Nassif, a 33-year-old newspaper ad sales executive from St. Louis, who had the smallest stack coming into the final table of 2.6 million.
Nassif, holding an ace and a king, bet all-in on the fifth hand of the day when the flop showed a plain-looking five, three and two.
But Gold held pocket twos, giving him a killer three-of-a-kind, and he made the call instantly. An ace and 10 did not change Gold’s winning hand.
Nassif jokingly apologized “to everyone back home who ordered the pay-per-view” after his final table run ended in just 20 minutes. He said he would return to his job despite going home $1.57 million richer.
“It’s been a great experience, it’s been a wild ride,” he said.
Gold also knocked out Swedish pro Erik Friberg when Friberg went all-in with a pair of jacks but ran smack into Gold’s pocket queens. For good measure, Gold hit another queen on the river, sending the 23-year-old Friberg home in eighth place with $1.97 million.
“I’m feeling disappointed,” said Friberg, the third Swede to make it to the World Series’ final table in the past three years. “I don’t know what happened out there.”
Doug Kim, a 22-year-old recent Duke University graduate from Martsdale, N.Y., went out when he pushed in for all of his some 4 million in chips holding pocket nines and a flop of three, four, four. But Paul Wasicka, a 25-year-old Internet player from Westminster, Colo., had him covered with pocket queens.
“I thought this was as good a spot as any to stick it in there,” said Kim, who finished with a $2,391,520 payday. “I’m satisfied with my play. I have no regrets.”
Wasicka leapt up to third place with 14.6 million in chips.
Lee, a 55-year-old businessman from San Antonio, said the battle for the top prize of $12 million was nowhere near over. “It’s a long day. This is just the beginning,” he said.
Six players remained in the hunt for the top prize as play continued into this morning, down from 8,773 initial entrants.
