Nobody will ever be able to accuse Fred Goldberg of being lazy this year at the World Series of Poker. Wherever there has been a game involving a deck of cards, Mr. Goldberg was not far off. According to some folks he was not only spotted playing three card Monty behind the Rio on a break during Event 35, but was also seem in the lobby playing some eight year olds at Go Fish, and trying to win their milk money. Of course we are just kidding with those last two statements, but he almost seemed omnipresent during WSOP events at the Rio.
Until Event 40 his efforts were met with sort of uneven success that could have gotten his game diagnosed as bi-polar. Event 12 saw Fred finishing at an encouraging 27th place. Okay, this is not the greatest finish in the world but he won almost $9,000. Four days later he improved his fortunes by concluding Event 21 in 9th place. Event 30 was a bit of a setback for Goldberg. The good karma that helped sustain him in his previous two money finishes seemed to be out to lunch as he could only muster 61st place in this tournament. At Event 35 he would have needed a GPS unity or a compass to find the winners platform from his place of exit in position 217.
Event 40 saw Fred's luck turn around so fast that he should be checked for whiplash. He has gone from a 217th place finish to a tournament performance that resulted in his first WSOP bracelet.
The win at Event 40 won him the championship, the coveted wrist ornament, and $204,935. Not bad for a guy whose records have looked more like the weight loss results of a yo-yo dieter than the scorecard of a professional poker player.
| Place | Player | Prize |
| 1 | Fred Goldberg | $205,271 |
| 2 | Rene Mouritsen | $126,099 |
| 3 | Christoph Niesert | $82,937 |
| 4 | Scott Bohlman | $54,586 |
| 5 | Kevin Marcotte | $39,353 |
| 6 | Joe Brandenburg | $30,467 |
| 7 | Michael Craig | $22,850 |
| 8 | Reza Zand | $16,926 |
| 9 | Karlo (The Wizard) Lopez | $12,271 |
