WSOP Main Event Update - Down to 27

8 August 2006

By Ryan McLane

Big names are in short demand at the 2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event as only two former WSOP gold bracelet winners remain in the final grouping of 27.

Allen Cunningham, one of only four players to win four gold bracelets before the age of 30, currently resides in 13th place and has a respectable $2.65 million chips.

His stack is one million below the average and well behind the chip leader Jamie Gold ($13 million), but his experience and solid play may just land him at the final table come Thursday.

Cunningham has already won a bracelet in 2006 and considering his consistent play this summer, a continued strong run through this huge field may boost him past poker upstart Jeff Madsen for WSOP Player of the Year honors.

Cunningham already has a player of the year title on his mantle from last year's WSOP.

Big names falling during Tuesday's action included Humberto Brenes and Cong Do. Brenes was the only player among the final 45 who had previously made a WSOP Main Event final table (1988). Do, primarily known as a cash player, has two final tables and six cashes in his WSOP career.

Gold continues his dominance, using his massive chip lead to subdue would be challengers. He began the day with a little more than $7 million in chips and was almost able to double that total on Day 6. He will begin Tuesday's play with nearly a 2 to 1 chip lead over second place Erik Friberg ($7.735 million).

Other notable players still in the hunt are Jeffrey Lisandro (8th Place) and 2003 Pot-limit Hold'em bracelet winner Prahlad Friedman (16th place). Lisandro has six WSOP final tables to his name and Friedman is the only other player remaining besides Cunningham who has won a WSOP event.

Main Event play will begin today at 12 p.m. PST. Each of the 27 players remaining is guaranteed $494,797. Below is a listing of the pay structure for the remainder of the Main Event.

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 million

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

Ryan McLane

Ryan McLane was a poker reporter for Casino City. Although he has a strong background in reporting, the same can't be said for his poker skills. He has never won a major tournament nor is he a professional player. He applied for this job thinking it was a joke, only to find it out that it's true, people will pay you to write about poker. His favorite word is ridiculous.

After receiving his BA in History from Stonehill College in Easton, MA, he somehow ended up freelance reporting for a couple years before being deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom III with the Massachusetts National Guard. He's back now and is a strong advocate of the phrase "God Bless America."

Currently, Ryan lives in Boston and occasionally makes international treks to cover tournament poker and news. Feature writing is his passion and there is no need to ask for his opinion, he'll probably offer it first - free of charge.