2006 WSOP - August 8th Coverage

  The Main Event of the 2006 World Series of Poker is almost finished. The play continued on Tuesday with the number of players went from 27 down to 9. There was about an 11 1/2 million dollar gap between first place and 27th place, ten of these players were going home without a fight. Jamie Gold, however, didn't shy away from mixing it up, despite an enormous chip lead. His closest competitor throughout the night, Allen Cunningham, stated around half of Gold's chip stack, and either one of them could have sat back and just let the other players bust themselves out of the event. But Cunningham and Gold mixed it up with the rest, losing some chips and then gaining back more. For example, in one hand Doug Kim bet $250,000 and without hesitation Gold raised to $1 million. No one could stand in front of that, and the entire table folded. Gold, just to keep the mystique alive, showed: ... He's the current favorite to take the entire shooting match.  Here are 27 players who started the day:Player, LocationChip Count  Table  Seat #Jamie Gold, Malibu, CA13,000,00031Erik Friberg, Stockholm, Sweden7,735,00015David Einhorn, Rye, NY6,905,00023Rhett Butler, Rockville, MD6,400,00034Michael Binger, Atherton, CA5,725,00019Dan Nassif, St. Louis, MO5,430,00024William Thorsson, Sweden3,765,00018Jeffrey Lisandro, Salerno, Italy3,715,00028Kevin Aaronson, Mission Viejo, CA3,670,00013Douglas Kim, Hartsdale, NY3,595,00032Richard Lee, San Antonio, TX3,275,00011John Magill, Ireland3,275,00017Allen Cunningham, Las Vegas, NV2,650,00012Leif Force, Tallahassee, FL2,265,00025Kevin O'Donnell, Scottsdale, AZ2,130,00014Prahlad Friedman, Los Angeles, CA  1,850,00035Eric Lynch, Olathe, KS1,785,00016Lee Kort, Los Angeles, CA1,700,00033Rob Roseman, Miami, FL1,685,00021Fred Goldberg, Hollywood, FL1,611,00036Dustin Holmes, Atlanta, GA1,210,00026Sirous Jamshidi, Philadelphia, PA1,190,00027Luke Chung, Atlanta, GA1,100,00022Paul Wasicka, Westminster, CO700,00038Siddharth Jain, Los Angeles, CA675,00037Mark Garner, Little Rock, AR635,00029Richard Wyrick, Lake Mary, FL570,00039  At seven o'clock, it was official: there were 12 millionaires sitting in the Amazon Room. Leif Force, Rhett Butler, Doug Kim, Jamie Gold, Allen Cunningham, Eric Friberg, Richard Lee, Michael Binger, Dan Nassif, John Magill, Paul Wasicka, and Fred Goldberg, spread out over two tables, were all guaranteed to take home over $1 million for their efforts in Event 39. It wasn't long before three of those players hit the rail, although cushioned by their big stack of cash, and nine were left to play at the final table on Thursday, August 10.  The players that will be sitting at the final table:PlayerChip Count  Seat #Jamie Gold25,650,0008Allen Cunningham  17,770,0005Richard Lee11,820,0001Erik Friberg9,605,0002Paul Wasicka7,970,0003Douglas Kim6,770,0007Rhett Butler4,815,0009Michael Binger3,140,0006Dan Nassif2,600,0004  One of the "second chance" events - Event 44 will wrap up on Wednesday, and here are the names of the players that will bust it out for the coveted WSOP bracelet:Player, LocationChip Count  Table  Seat #Marcus Collins, Perth, Australia70,400853Joe Brandenburg, Portland, OR61,800864Jim Nguyen, St. Petersburg, FL60,000866Eric Baldwin, Beaver Dam, WI58,600868Don Rihn, Wisconsin47,600848John Michael, Henderson, NV46,900852Kevin Cover, Oyster Bay Cove44,100843Josh Tieman, Bloomingdale37,200841Nelson Tum, San Diego, CA35,000865JJ Joanne Liu, Las Vegas, NV32,200849Lloyd Shinn, Coppell, TX32,000859Peter Smyth, Wigan, UK30,100857Thayer Rasmussen, Orlando, FL29,100855Stephen Ladowsky, Toronto, Ontario27,900867Matthew Hilger, Atlanta, GA24,700858Davood Mehrmand, Frankfurt, Germany  23,700862Robert Perry, Highland Beach, FL21,700851Chris McCormack, Las Vegas, NV21,200869David Babione, Fremont, CA18,800845Tommy Chaney, Marble Falls, TX15,500845Brent Carter, Oak Park, IL8,600863Mel Judah, London, England7,500842Denise Molloy, La Jolla, CA5,600854  Event 43, another "second chance" event, finished on Tuesday with Kevin Nathan as the winner of $171,987 and the proud owner of a WSOP bracelet.