Jamie Gold, former Hollywood talent agent, pulled an Oscar-worthy acting job and bluffed his way to winning the World Series of Poker in the 2006 event. He won $12 million.
Gold was a sterling example of good psychological warfare. By convincing Paul Wasicka—a former restaurant manager—he had a weaker hand, he convinced him to push all his chips in the pot. Then, the moment of truth: Wasicka’s pocket 10s versus his pair of queens. Gold spontaneously screamed for joy.
Gold was a master of bluffing during the entire tournament, and it literally paid off at the World Series of Poker finals. “I knew that he was weak but he had a hand. And then I knew it was my chance,” Gold said in the interview immediately after the game. “I went all in and then I just went into my act. I actually talked him into calling with the worst of it and that won the whole tournament.”
Wasicka admitted that he should have seen it coming. “I felt like I had a perfect read on him all day, whenever he would show his bluff, I thought he was bluffing. “But against a player like that it makes it really difficult. You kind of just have to go with your gut. That’s what I did and it was wrong.” His chips were also extremely overmatched: just 11.2 million versus Gold’s 79 million. This made it difficult to raise pots unless one had an unbeatable hand.
However, Wasicka had nothing to be ashamed off, having outplayed and eliminated six of the seven previous players.
However, Gold is no one-trick pony, having used several poker tricks to beat his opponents. He knocked Dan Nassif (a newspaper ad sales executive from St. Louis) out of the game after just 20 minutes of play. Gold teased him into going all-in with an ace and king and a plain-looking board of five, three and two. But Gold was holding pocket twos, giving him a killer three-of-a-kind.
Nassif, in humorous spirits even after his loss, apologized “to everyone back home who ordered the pay-per-view” after his short final table run to finish ninth. While an instant millionaire (he brought home $1,570,000) he said he’d still go back to his job. “It’s been a great experience, it’s been a wild ride,” he said.
Gold also busted Erik Friberg, a Swedish poker professional, when Friberg went all-in with a pair of jacks but was beaten by pocket queens. As if to drive home the point, Gold hit another queen on the river. “I’m feeling disappointed,” said Friberg, “I don’t know what happened out there.” Luckily, the 23-year-old Friberg had $1.97 million to console himself—and brought honor to his country by being the third Swede to make it to the World Series’ final table in the past three years.
Wasicka eliminated Doug Kim, a 22-year-old recent Duke University graduate from Martsdale, N.Y., his pocket queens beating pocket nines and a flop of three, four, four. “I thought this was as good a spot as any to stick it in there,” said Kim, who took home $2,391,520. “I’m satisfied with my play. I have no regrets.”
Gold “retired” San Antonio businessman Richard Lee, who said, “I knew he had some kind of a hand, I just didn’t give him credit for that big of a hand.” Still, he had $2,803,851.
Rhett Butler, an insurance agent, placed fifth and won $3.22 million; physics teacher Michael Binger finished third with $4.12 million. Even tournament pro Allen Cunningham, 29, of Las Vegas, fell in fourth when his pocket 10s failed as Gold’s king and jack made a pair of jacks on the board.
