WSOP Main Event Update

Only 45 players remain in the 2006 WSOP Main Event as participants continue to fall out of the march towards the $12 million first-place prize.

Malibu, Calif., native Jamie Gold currently resides in first place with $7,330,000 chips. Gold has never cashed in a World Series of Poker event, although he has made some appearances on the California tournament poker scene.

With all of today's (August 7) Main Event players guaranteed at least $247,399, this will be Gold's largest pay-out to date and considering his $1.4 million chip lead over second place Erik Friberg, bigger money is well within his reach.

As the final week of the 2006 WSOP Main Event begins, the big story is the relative lack of experience among the final 45 players. Although many believed the final field would be made up of mostly new faces, few thought so many big names would drop out so early.

2005 WSOP Player of Year Allen Cunningham is one of the biggest names remaining, tied for that honor with fan favorite and successful tournament player Humberto Brenes. Both men are far from the top spot, but given their edge in experience, it would be hard to count either out at this point.

If you exclude Cunningham and Brenes, the remaining 43 players combined have two WSOP bracelets, 14 final tables, and 44 cashes.

Cunningham alone has four gold bracelets, 14 final tables, and 28 cashes while Brenes had two gold bracelets, 17 final tables, and 40 cashes lifetime.

While either player could post their career WSOP stats against the field and come out looking good, if you combine the two, they surpass the rest of the field by nearly a 2-1 margin in each important statistical category.

For the professionals and the big names, the size of the Main Event field is the great equalizer. With a record 8,773 entries, making the money in the Main Event has become the great challenge, never mind winning the whole thing. By way of comparison, there are no former Main Event Champions remaining. Only Brenes, who finished fourth in the 1988 WSOP Main Event, has made a WSOP Main Event final table.

Other recognizable names to ardent poker fans are Jeffrey Lisandro (9th place currently, 6 WSOP final tables, 14 chases), Cong Do (34th place currently, 2 final tables, 6 cashes, and former bracelet winners Dan Schmiech (2005- No Limit Hold'em) and Prahlad Friedman (2003 - Pot-Limit Hold'em).

Main Event play begins again today at 12 p.m. PST. WSOP officials plan to continue action until 27 players remain. The rest of the schedule for the week looks like this:

Tuesday – 27 players down to 18 (three tables down to two).

Wednesday – 18 players down to 9 (down to the final table)

Thursday – 2006 WSOP Main Event Final Table

Here is the payout structure for the remainder of the Main Event:

45 thru 37 - $247,399

36 thru 28 - $329,865

27 thru 19 - $494,797

18 thru 16 - $659k

15 thru 13 - $907k

12 thru 10 - $1.15 million

9th Place - $1.56 million

8th Place – $1.98 million

7th Place – $2.39 millionv

6th Place - $2.8 million

5th Place - $3.21 million

4th Place - $3.62 million

3rd Place - $4.12 million

2nd Place - $6.1 million

Winner - $12 million

Casino City will be covering the final three days of the Main Event live with continual updates from the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.