2006 World Series of Poker

Events

Main article: 2006 World Series of Poker results

There were 45 total events in the 2006 WSOP. Phil Hellmuth tied for the career bracelet lead with Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan when he won his tenth career bracelet.

Main Event

The 2006 Main Event (event #39) remains the largest tournament in poker history by prize pool with a total prize pool of $82,512,162. The tournament, like every WSOP Main Event, is a $10,000 No-Limit Texas Hold'em event. Due to the 8,773-player field, there were four separate starting days (1A-1D), each playing down to 800 people. They were later combined into one other set of separate days (2A and 2B) before becoming one whole group. The field was whittled down to 9 players on August 8, and Jamie Gold was crowned World Champion on August 10. The final table of the "Main Event" was offered live on Pay-Per-View, but unlike ESPN telecasts, viewers at home could not see the hole cards of the players unless the player turned their cards over.

Along with the usual $10,000 chip stacks, a new feature to the WSOP was the "All-In" button. Tournament directors have informed the participants that the coin could be used in lieu of pushing all of one's chips into the pot.

The beige $50,000 chips that were used in 2005 were not used in 2006. Instead, tangerine and yellow $25,000 chips, in the design of the current $25 chips, were used. And for the first time in World Series of Poker History, a $100,000 chip was introduced on day 7. The chips were mint green with black edge spots in the design of the current yellow/black $1,000 chip. The 2006 WSOP Main Event remained as the largest Main Event in terms of entries and first-place prize until the 2023 WSOP Main Event.

Final table

*Career statistics prior to the beginning of the 2006 Main Event.

Final table results

Other high finishes

NB: This list is restricted to top 100 finishers with an existing Wikipedia entry.

Performance of past champions

Trivia

• Celebrity players featured in the Main Event included Hank Azaria, Paul Azinger, Charles Barkley, Richard Brodie, Dean Cain, Tony Cascarino, Denny Crum, Steve Davis, Shannon Elizabeth, Salvatore (Sully) Erna, James Garner, Brad Garrett, Michael Greco, Ron Jeremy, Joanna Krupa, Lennox Lewis, Matthew Lillard, Norm Macdonald, Tobey Maguire, Mekhi Phifer, Laura Prepon, Antonio Tarver, Wil Wheaton, and Jimmy White. Both Davis and Erna finished in the money, coming in 579th and 713th places respectively.

Controversy

Event 5

When play resumed during day 2 of this event, a table with players, Daniel Negreanu, Gavin Smith, and Kathy Liebert were given extra chips after tournament officials had misplaced Mirza Nagji's chips in the wrong seat. Unknowingly, the rest of the players assumed that this stack was someone else's who was late and blinded off the stack. Eventually a player noticed that the stack was Mirza Nagji's chips, who by that time had been given replacement chips. Players estimate that out of the extra 120,000 in chips that were put into play, around 10,000–11,000 in chips had already been blinded off from the empty stack.

Event 20

Many poker players who entered into the HORSE event discovered that the cards they were playing with were marked or easily markable. Andy Bloch was assessed a 10‑minute penalty for crumpling a card when a dealer refused to replace the deck after the new deck that came in was rife with markings. When asked for comment, WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack said, "I hadn't heard anything about the cards being marked until today. I am looking into getting more fresh setups and I am definitely working on solving the problem."

Event 25

During Event 25, the $2,000 NL Hold 'em Shootout, the structure was changed mid-tournament from a full table into a 6-handed table event. Harry Demetriou, who had been playing in the event, objected to the change in format citing that a shootout should be 9, 10 or 11 handed, yelling about the unfair change in structure. Harry was eventually ejected from the tournament and was later refunded his money. Daniel Negreanu missed the event completely because he assumed that the event would be a full table and he would be able to come into the tournament a little bit later after sleeping in. However, by the time he showed up David Singer had won his table after blinding off Negreanu's stack.

References

References

1. (August 1, 2006). "Main Event Payout Announced". Pokerwire.com.
2. (April 12, 2012). "WSOP to offer $1 million buy-in". ESPN.com.
3. Dalla, Nolan. (June 22, 2013). "Jeff Madsen Wins Third Bracelet".
4. Henriquez, Alex. (2006-07-25). "Poker News".
5. "Biggest prize pool events".
6. Richards, Connor. (2023-07-17). "Daniel Weinman Wins Record-Breaking 2023 WSOP Main Event for $12,100,000".
7. Peters, Donnie. (2023-07-06). "Record-Breaking Turnout for 2023 WSOP Main Event".
8. "[Event 39] $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Main Event (Day 1D) - Hank Azaria Shows Aces & Nobody Calls - Poker Wire".
9. (July 30, 2006). "What the ...? Hellmuth knocked out of WSOP". [[MSNBC]].
10. "[Event 39] $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Main Event (Day 1D) - Dean Cain Splits Pot - Poker Wire".
11. (July 31, 2006). "Poker Forum – **** Official WSOP Main Event Day 1D Thread ****". Hendon Mob.
12. Jordan, Jim. (August 21, 2006). "It happened in Vegas, but it didn't stay there". [[Lexington Herald-Leader]].
13. Butt, Robert. (August 6, 2006). "Day 3 Roundup". TheHendonMob.com.
14. "[Event 39] $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Main Event (Day 1B) - Shannon Elizabeth Eliminated - Poker Wire".
15. Daniel Negreanu. (October 14, 2011). "Event No. 39 – WSOP No Limit Hold'em Championship WSOP FINAL Final Day Results & Report". Pokerpages.com.
16. "[Event 39] $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Main Event (Day 1A) - Actor James Garner Eliminated - Poker Wire".
17. "[Event 39] $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Main Event (Day 1B) - Brad Garrett Takes a Hit - Poker Wire".
18. "WSOP Main Event 2006 - Day 1b - At A Glance".
19. "[Event 39] $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Main Event (Day 1B) - Ron Jeremy Eliminated - Poker Wire".
20. (July 31, 2006). "Poker Forum – **** Official WSOP Main Event Day 1C Thread ****, Page 5". Hendon Mob.
21. "[Event 39] $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Main Event (Day 1D) - Lennox Lewis Makes an Entrance - Poker Wire".
22. "[Event 39] $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Main Event (Day 1A) - Dutch Boyd Takes a Pot Against Matthew Lillard - Poker Wire".
23. "[Event 39] $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Main Event (Day 1A) - Norm MacDonald Wins a Huge Pot, Up to 39K - Poker Wire".
24. "[Event 39] $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Main Event (Day 1A) - Tobey Maguire Eliminated - Poker Wire".
25. "[Event 39] $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Main Event (Day 1A) - Mekhi Phifer Doubles Up - Poker Wire".
26. "[Event 39] $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Main Event (Day 1A) - Laura Prepon Rakes a Pot - Poker Wire".
27. (August 3, 2006). "1,159 players remain in World Series of Poker". [[MSNBC]].
28. "[Event 39] $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Main Event (Day 1A) - Wil Wheaton Eliminated - Poker Wire".
29. "[Event 39] $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Main Event (Day 1C) - Jimmy White Doubles Up - Poker Wire".
30. "Salvatore Erna". [[The Hendon Mob]].
31. "Steve Davis". [[The Hendon Mob]].
32. (July 1, 2006). "Tournament Mistake Results in Extra Chips in Play".
33. (July 1, 2006). "2006 World Series of Poker: Event 05 – $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Short Handed – Day 2".
34. (July 21, 2006). "WSOP Problems".
35. Noh, Stephen. (2006-07-14). "Make Your Mark: Marked Cards Issue Causes a Stir, WSOP Staff Respond".
36. Noh, Stephen. (July 22, 2006). "Why was Harry so Mad? Interview with Harry Demetriou". Poker News.
37. Negreanu, Daniel. (July 16, 2006). "Negreanu Reality – Blowing Off Some Steam on the Links".