2007 WSOP - The Golden Path

2007 WSOP - The Golden Path


  It's still day one of the main event at the World Series of Poker, although it's the second day one. Day 1B to be exact, and a whole new batch of fresh faced poker players will take their seats at the Rio to chase the dream. Speaking of dreams, it was Jamie Gold's time to start living his in last year's competition. Never before had a player caught a chip lead as early as Gold did and carry it to a win.



  For the first few days it was Dmitri Nobles who had the world's attention. This backward visor-wearing player (a used car salesman, to boot) had the chips and the attitude to win, until he didn't. He started to leak chips when his ego was taking up all that space, and before he knew it he was on the outs. Enter Jamie Gold.



  Gold picked up the chip lead when Nobles dropped it, and never let go. He caught cards like nobody's business, but he also played some dashing poker. With a mentor like Johnny Chan, whom Gold met some time back when he was active as a Hollywood agent, it would be hard to go wrong, and Gold went very right.



  When Gold entered the final table he held such a huge chip lead that his "wall of Gold" took up a lot of real estate. Millions were bet and won and lost without making a dent in the wall of chips, and when Gold wanted to push, very few players at that table were able - or willing - to push back. And so the story goes, with the last chapter being Gold emerging victorious from a heads up match with Paul Wasicka.



  Can this year's early chip leaders do as well? In a few days we will all know the answer. But after Day 1A the leaders are:



Tinten Olivier - 260,000

John Dutchak - 218,000

Steve Austin - 200,000

Adam Weiss - 165,000

Adam Richardson - 156,000

Cyrus Farzad - 152,000

Julian Gardner - 143,700

Scott Watkins - 135,000

Todd Crosswell - 131,000

Steve Jacobs - 131,000