The Main Event in 2006 was unlike any tournament before or since quite simply because it was and is the biggest live tournament ever played. That meant the biggest prize pool, the biggest first place prize, and some of the biggest action ever. The winner was no rank amateur though some have argued he wasn’t far off. The criticisms of 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion Jaime Gold are too numerous to list.
His scruples have been called into question, his schtick has “solved”, and his ethics surrounding a weird backing/sharing of winnings arrangement were put into the spotlight. Gold’s detractors number in the millions and as fresh poker villain he gave the tournament a shadiness that was a bit refreshing in Phil Hellmuth way. The previous editions featured guys who were likable underdogs who scraped their way to a championship against the odds.
Gold seemed to ride a monster stack, a guilded tongue, and more than his fair share of good fortune to a title. He also made the telecast appealing with a unique poker strategy essentially brazen honesty about the strength of his hands, which nobody ever believed, and a verbal oneupmanship that had even pros calling when they were completely thrashed.
The everyman journey had come full circle. Now the viewers at home, along with ESPN announcer Norman Chad, were rooting for the career pro Alan Cunningham to best the outsider. Gold’s incredible run amassing chips on the strength of his professional agent to the stars banter had people rooting for poker millionaires over the guy with the poker dream.
The casual viewers of poker a few years ago, enchanted by the lottory like possibility of Chris Moneymaker’s journey, were now official poker fans and they rooted for the newly minted television stars. The easy going manner of pro Alan Cunningham made him easy to identify with and the contrast between this final table and Moneymaker’s were polar opposites.
On Moneymaker’s final table Sammy Farha, the suave and slick pro, was obviously the bad guy, on Gold’s final table he was the upstart not the Cinderella and his all black wardrobe made him Dr. Evil… that’s despite a heartwrenching backstory of a parent slowly dying. When put it into that context with the clarity of being a few years out it’s amazing how grating Gold truly was.
Some facts about the 2006 Main Event (event #39): as stated, the largest tournament in poker history, had a prize pool of almost 83 million dollars. The 10k buy-in tournament, had 8,773 players line up in the Rio to compete on 4 separate starting days (1A-1D), each playing down to 800 people. The 1600 of 1A and 1B were combined into a day 2A field and the 1600 of 1C and 1D were combinded into a day 2B. Day 3 united all the remaining players.
This new bloated field also meant a lot of people were happy to figure out new travel plans home and calling in extra days of work off. A player starting on Day 1A who made Day 3 with over 1500 players still in the field would have already been in Vegas for a solid week without even making the money.
This tournament generated major media coverage with daily updates in the USA Today sports section and small clips on ESPN sportscenter. Finally, after the field was pared down to 9 players for the final table. Then Jaime Gold swatted away Alan Cunningham, Paul Wasicka, Richard Lee, and Michael Binger on a pay per view live broadcast.
Gold won 12 million for first place, though a court would later rule he’d have to split the winnings with another party, and it remains the biggest single tournament payday in history. Paul Wasicka and Micheal Binger have since gone on to have more success since then but Gold’s strike makes him one of the all time winners in tournament poker history.