The 2006 World Series of Poker’s main event officially began on July 28, 2006, a lot has transpired since the start.

According to WSOP commish Jeffery Pollack, “The World Series of Poker is a charmed, rich and colorful event; the headlines this year have had some wonderful stories.”

August 10, 2006—Day 8, Event #39 (Final table)

The bell is tolling at the World Series of Poker. After a day off, Jamie Gold, Allen Cunningham, Richard Lee, Erik Friberg, Paul Wasicka, Doug Kim, Rhett Butler, Michael Binger and Dan Nassif will brawl for it all.

Dan Nassif was the first finalist eliminated from the World Series of Poker final table. After a flop that consisted of 2c, 3s and 5s, Nassif went All-in and Jamie Gold called. Gold had pocket twos, while Nassif reveals Ac-Kd. An Ah was flipped on the turn and a 10s on the river and with that Dan Nassif was finished. He finishes ninth overall.

Erik Friberg was the next to get the ax at the final table. During hand 57, Jamie Gold raised $1 million and Friberg went All-in and Gold called. The former Hollywood agent showed pocket Qs against Friberg's pocket Js. The board came up 7c, 3s, 2h, 10c and Qc giving Gold the hammer and sending Erik Friberg off into the sunset. Friberg finished in eighth spot.

What is it with pocket Qs? Pocket ladies once again did in a player, this time it was Doug Kim. After Paul Wasicka bet $700,000 on the preflop Doug Kim called. The dealer flopped 4d-4s-3s and Wasicka bet $1 million. Kim not only called but went All-in. Kim revealed pocket 9s and Wasicka flashed, you guessed it, pocket Qs. Two spades were flipped up on the turn and river, J and 7. With that Doug Kim bid adieu to the 2006 WSOP finishing in seventh.

Richard Lee bet $1.2 million on the preflop and it came back to haunt him. Jamie Gold countered with $4 million. Lee then went All-in and Gold called. Gold showed—surprisingly—pocket Qs and Lee showed double Js. The board played out Kd, Ks, 3d, 6h and 10c. Gold's hot streak continues, Lee's journey ends with a sixth place finish.

Pocket Js from Jamie Gold did in Rhett Butler and his pocket 4s. Butler finished in the top five.

Allen Cunningham was devastated after being knocked out of the tournament and by rival Jamie Gold no less. After moving All-in, Cunningham was called by Gold. Things looked promising with Cunningham holding pocket 10s to Gold's Kd-Jd. But ecstasy turned to agony when the board came up As, Ks, 8h, 7c and 3s. With his main rival out, Gold wore a smile long after Cunningham left the table. Cunningham finished fourth.

Michael Binger was the next to get booted from this year's final table. Jamie Gold had a 4s-3c and the flop revealed 10c, 6s and 5s. The turn gave Gold just what he needed in a 7c and his straight was all that he needed to send Binger off in third place. And then there were two.

If you've followed the tournament throughout, especially in the last few days, you won't be surprised by who eventually won the main event. Jamie Gold had more hand than George Costanza and was the only man left standing.

On the winning hand, hand 236, Paul Wasicka dropped $1.5 million post flop—Qc-8h-5h—and Gold countered going All-in. After contemplating his next move, in what seemingly felt like forever, Wasicka called and flashed pocket 10s. A jubilant Gold revealed Qs-9c. The turn and river offered no help for Wasicka and Gold was crowned the champ and given the $12 million prize purse.

August 8, 2006—Day 7, Event #39

As Day 7 began, Jamie Gold continued to be chip leader with a count of $13 million. Three days remain, will Jamie continue to be gold?

Richard Wyrick went up against the chip leader and the paid the price. On the preflop Wyrick went All-in with $550,000 and was called by Gold who held an As-Kh to Wyrick's Ah-7d. The board ended up being Kd, Ts, 5d, 8d and 8s, giving Gold two pair and ending Wyrick's run in the 2006 World Series of Poker.

Mark Garner is done for this year and finishes in 25th spot.

Jamie Gold continued to knock people out of the World Series of Poker with Eric Lynch as his latest victim. Lynch was feeling confident as he went All-in with Ah-6s, while Gold held pocket 10s. The board came up 9c, 9s, 8s, Qc, Qh giving Gold the pot. Lynch finishes 24th in the standings.

Allen Cunningham knocked Kevin O'Donnell from this year's World Series. O'Donnell's gamble cost him when he raised $180,000 on the preflop and Cunningham called his bluff and re-raised $450,000. O'Donnell re-raised $1 million and Cunningham went All-in and O'Donnell followed suit. When all the dust had settled Cunningham's pocket Aces trumped O'Donnell's pocket Kings. O'Donnell finished 21st overall.

After a break from the action, the remaining players were drawn for the final two tables. Here's a breakdown.

Table 1: William Thorsson, Paul Wasicka, David Einhorn, Leif Force, Rhett Butler, Jeff Lisandro, Jamie Gold, Allen Cunningham, Luke Chung

Table 2: Richard Lee, Michael Binger, Dan Nassif, John Magill, Doug Kim, Kevin Aaronson, Erik Friberg, Fred Goldberg, Sirous Jamshidi.

Jamie Gold continued his strong play as he forced David Einhorn to fold. After Rhett Butler raised on the preflop, Einhorn and Gold called. When the Dealer flopped a Qd, 6c, 6s, Gold checked and Einhorn bet $500,000, Butler folded and Gold called. After both checking on 10d, Gold put down $800,000 with a 3c river, forcing Einhorn to fold and giving Gold the pot.

After folding and giving Gold a previous pot, Danny Einhorn was determined to try to bring down the chip leader a notch. After Jamie laid down $250,000 on a preflop raise, Danny Einhorn called along with Luke Chung and Allen Cunningham. The flop revealed a 6c, Jd, Qh, and Einhorn dropped $1 million. Cunningham and Chung bailed, but Gold saw the million and raised another $2 million. Not to be outdone, Einhorn went All-in with $5 million. The board finished up with a 3c, 8h and Einhorn revealed a Kh-Qs and Gold a Qd-6d. Gold ended up with a total chip count of $24 million and Einhorn was out of the tournament finishing 18th.

After going All-in with $85,000, Jeffery Lisandro was called by three players—Leif Force, Rhett Butler and William Thorsson. The board came up Jh, 9c, 7h, 9d, 2c, and Lisandro mucked, ending his run in this year's World Series.

After a flop revealed Ah, 5d, 4s, Luke Chung decided to go All-in and Jamie Gold called. Chung had Ac-5c, while Gold held Ad-Jd. But the rest of the board messed up Chung's chances when a Jd, Kh were revealed. Chung finishes 14th overall.

Fred Goldberg, Leif Force and John Magill both bid farewell to this year's tourney finishing 10th, 11th and 12th respectively.

As play finished for the day, nine players remained. Jamie Gold was "surprisingly" the chip leader with $25,650,000 and Allen Cunningham was second with $17,770,000. The final nine have Wednesday off and will reconvene on Thursday for final table play.

August 7, 2006—Day 6, Event #39

As we creep closer to the final day, the cream is beginning to rise to the top.

James Routos and John Lee both bid adieu to this year's World Series of Poker.

History was made as the World Series of Poker brought out $100,000 chips. The chips are fittingly green in color.

Allen Cunningham increased his chip count to $3.3 million after revealing a set of threes to beat Erik Friberg.

Ricki Neilson's straight was enough to knockout Humberto Brenes from the tournament. Brenes ends up in 39th spot.

After ending Humberto Brenes' day, Ricki Nelson got the short end of the stick finishing 35th overall.

As the day ended Jamie Gold was once again in top spot.

August 6, 2006—Day 5, Event #39

The remaining players strived to survive on Day 5.

Shortly after Day 5 play commenced a quartet of players were eliminated, including Cory Butler, Bart Gilliom, Theodore Park and the man who ended Daniel Negreanu's run, David Woo.

After going toe-to-toe with Cheng Yu, Annie Duke folded, giving Yu the juicy $700,000 pot. Duke was eliminated later in the day, finishing 88th overall.

Dmitri Nobles, who had been chip leader earlier in the tourney, bowed out of the tournament after going All-in with a K-T.

Cheng Yu was knocked out and finished in 49th spot.

As the fifth day ended Jamie Gold experienced deja vu when he again finished as chip leader.

August 5, 2006—Day 4, Event #39

And then there were 481. The field keeps whittling as the main event continues into its fourth day.

Cindy Violette's gamble paid off. The big blind called after Violette went All-in with her remaining $22,500. She doubled up with pocket Aces against her opponent's pocket Tens.

Joseph Hachem doubled up after going All-in with $105,000 on the pre-flop holding an As and Qs in his pocket. The board went his way, revealing a Qh, Qd, 9s, 2s, 4s giving him a flush.

Mark Vos was eliminated from the tournament.

Just the chip leader the day previous, Dmitri Nobles was knocked off from the top perch. Still, he managed to double up with a pair of Aces, increasing his total to $340,000.

Kathy Liebert was finally was knocked out of the tournament. Liebert finished 275th overall, not bad for someone who avoided elimination on more than one occasion.

The bad times seemingly continued for Daniel Negreanu as in the span of one hour he went All-in twice and was beaten both times. Kid Poker was down to his last $20,000 but doubled up do give himself some much needed breathing room.

Joseph Hachem will not defend his 2005 title as he was eliminated from the tournament.

The Kid wasn't alright as Daniel Negreanu finally bowed out of the tournament. After going All-in on the preflop, Negreanu was beaten by David Woo's pair of Jacks and finished 229th.

As the day ended Jamie Gold was the chip leader with $3,320,000.

August 4, 2006—Day 3, Event #39

As Day 3 progressed, Daniel Negreanu was given a sign of things to come. "Kid Poker's" first big loss came when his opponent's pocket Queens beat his pocket nines and then his Two pair was beaten by a set of fours.

Josh Arieh busted out when he called an opponent's All-in holding pocket eights. His opponent held a pair of Queens and Arieh was on his way out.

Phil Ivey hit the showers after busting out. Holding a Qh and 8h Ivey watched the board come up Jh, 9h, 5s, 8c and 9d. His opponent's Ah, 9s spelled the end of Ivey's run in this year's tourney.

Players raised a commotion when it was announced that play would go on until 2am PST, contrary to the earlier intention to play down to 600.

It was the worst of times for Darrell Dicken when he was eliminated. Dicken finished in 675th place.

The ominous signs continued for Daniel Negreanu when he went All-in for $30,000. Negreanu was holding A-T, while his opponent held pocket threes.

Annie Duke bought herself some more time when she went All-in on the flop. Making a straight with the river, Duke upped her chip count to $156,000.

The chip leader at day's start, Dmitri Nobles continued to shine when he knocked out Dario Mineri with pair of threes.

Daniel Negreanu got a respite from the bad karma when his opponent folded, giving up a $45,000 pot.

August 2, 2006—Day 2B, Event #39

Kid Poker, aka Daniel Negreanu, cleared the $100,000 chip mark when he went toe-to-toe with John Sacha. With 9c-6c in the pocket and Sacha holding pocket Aces, Negreanu saw a flop that consisted of 7-5-4. Sacha went All-in and Negreanu called. The turn produced a 9h and the river revealed an 8d, giving "Kid Poker" the straight. Negreanu won and Sacha busted.

Kathy Liebert doubled up when she went All-in on the pre-flop with pocket Js. The board ended up Kc-Td-9h-Qd-4d giving her a straight. About an hour later, she doubled up again, against the same opponent. Her opponent went All-in holding pocket Ks and Liebert called holding pocket Qs. The board comes 10h-7c-6s-Qd-Jd giving Liebert a cool $49,000.

Greg Raymer forced a player to fold when he bet $2000 on a board that consisted of 8d-8h-2d-As, but was eliminated shortly before the dinner break.

Dmitri Nobles, who was chip leader for most of the day, gambled and lost when he called an All-in. The board came up as 9d-8s-4h-Ac-Jc and Nobles had Kh-Qh, while his opponent showed As-Qs. Nobles still ended the day as chip leader with $562,000.

Play resumes again on Friday August 4, 2006.

August 1, 2006—Day 2A, Event #39

As Day 2 of the tourney commenced Andrew faded to black as he busted out of the 2006 event. Andrew Black finished last year's tourney in fifth place.

Mark "pokerbok" Vos came to his table late after he "overslept."

Barry Greenstein won't get any more opportunities to make green as he was eliminated.

Scotty Nguyen avoided near disaster. After calling and opponent that went All-in, Nguyen revealed Jd-Jh, while his opponent had Qs-Qh. Fortunately for Scotty there were four more diamond cards on the board giving Nguyen a flush and giving his opponent a migraine.

Prior to this year's main event Jeff Madsen was riding a hot streak. He won two bracelets at the preliminary events and made it to four final tables. He was even one of the favorites to make the final table at the main event. Unfortunately, he was eliminated from this year's event but has a bright future ahead of him.

After going All-in Danny Masterson from That 70's Show was eliminated.

In a small time frame the front man for metal band Godsmack, Sully Erna, doubled up and to increase his chip count to about $16,000.

July 31, 2006—Day 1D, Event #39

Boxing great Lennox Lewis entered into the World Series and, at one point in the day, ranked 44th in chip count with $12,000, but mimicking his first bout against Hasim Rahman, Lewis was knocked out of the tournament. Being dealt an A-T in the pocket and A-6-5 on the flop, the former champ was trumped by Cecilia Mortensen's A-Q.

Meanwhile, Erick Lindgren was eliminated when he went all-in with a pair of pocket jacks but lost to a player with a pair of aces.

Dean Cain showed that he wasn't so super when he busted out of the World Series.

Chip Reese might have won this year's WSOP edition of H.O.R.S.E., but that didn't mean anything as he was knocked out of the main event.

2003 champion, and quite possibly the coolest name in the tourney, Chris Moneymaker busted out. Joining Moneymaker was Hank "Apu, Chief Wiggum, Moe the bartender, Comic book guy, . . ." Azaria.

Johnny Chan made a premature departure from the main event, when his chip count dwindled to zero.

Kathy Liebert, who at one point was chip leader, called an All-in holding 5h-4d in the pocket. 8h-3c-2c were flopped, her opponent had pocket 8s, and turn and the river revealed Kc-5c and Liebert found herself down to $26,500.

July 30, 2006— Day 1C, Event #39

Some big names were featured today including Daniel Negreanu, Liz Lieu, T.J. Cloutier, Greg Raymer, Phil Laak, Steve Dannenman, Mike Matusow and Sam Farha.

As the day progressed Lieu, Matusow, Farha, and Jennifer Harman all succumbed and were knocked out of the tourney.

July 29, 2006— Day 1B, Event #39

Day 1B saw two big names hitting the showers early. After getting short changed by the dealer, Doyle Brunson was eliminated and received two standing ovations.

After winning his tenth World Series bracelet earlier in the tournament, Phil Hellmuth will not be adding an 11th bracelet this year as he was eliminated from the ESPN table to the sound of applause and cheers.

Gavin Smith and Joe Sebok, hosts of internet radio show “The Circuit,” made a bet prior to the main event to see who would do better at the preliminary events with the loser forced to wear a series of outrageous costumes. Sebok lost and was been seen wandering the Rio dressed as Robin, Spiderman and a certain bear from the Conan O’Brien show, but the potential for all the laughs ended when Joe Sebok was eliminated from the main event and his partner also was knocked out as well.

July 28, 2006—Day 1A, Event #39

This year’s tournament has already exceeded expectations on a number of fronts—including attendance and money awarded—and when the champion is crowned at tournaments end he or she will get to pocket an estimated $10.5 million as well.

The start of the tournament was delayed, as tournament officials would not allow players to wear merchandise bearing dot.com casino names. Some of the players had made it to the big show by playing at the many satellite events sponsored by online casinos and wore t-shirts and hats bearing the online casino name, which earned the ire of the WSOP.

The situation was resolved when the players blacked out their hats with black tape and turned their shirts inside out.