Hold'em Bracelets

Event #40 of the World Series of Poker - the $1,500 buy-in Mixed Hold'Em championship has been won by 31 year old Fred Goldberg. Winning first place has earned him not only a gold WSOP bracelet, but also $204, 935 in winnings.

This event was the first open one at the WSOP this year, and did not include even one single gold bracelet winner. The game was played in rotation between Half Limit Hold'Em, and Half No-Limit Hold'Em, and player's were keen to mix up the event right from the beginning.

Last year's WSOP saw Goldberg finish in 10th place in the main event, yet his performance raked in $1,154,527 in prize money. In 2007 many recognized his face as he returned to rectify his loss. In a recent interview with Arthur Crowson, Goldberg admitted that he has "been disappointed quite a bit... it's a monkey off my back to winthe bracelet will show that I'm right up there with them [the top pros]".

Carlo Lopez was the first to be eliminated, during the opening round of No Limit play, yet walked away with $12,252 for only three days of play. Reza Sand's unlucky and #13 caused her to drop out next, after her suited King and Jack were too weak against Kevin Marcotte's suited Ace and five. Zand finished in 8th place and collected $16,899.

The second day of rotated game play saw Michael Craig fail to overcome Christopher Neisert's Ace and King, and he left the table with $22,813 for a solid performance. The 6th elimination occurred nine hands later when Joe Brandenburg's eight/seven failed to improve Goldberg's flopped pair of fours. Brandenburg took home $30,418 for finishing in 6th place.

It was in hand #61 that a three way battle between Kevin Marcotte, Scott Bohlman, and Rene Mourtisen. Marcotte was only just beaten, and walked away with $39,289 for a 5th place finish. However, Bohlman was soon defeated by Mourtisen when his suited King and ten were taken down by Mourtisen's all-in Ace and King. He left the game with winnings valued at $54,498.

Neisert was the next to be eliminated, as Goldberg thrashed his pocket nines with suited Ace and Jack. Neisert's efforts earned him $82,804.

The final table saw much fierce head to head competition, as both Goldberg and Mourtisen missed several opportunities to take the crown. Both players flopped a flush on hand #125, yet \\\\ Goldberg's was bigger. When Mouritsen failed to hit runner-runner or the straight flush, the title of WSOP Champion and gold bracelet went to Goldberg, earning him $204,935 for his achievement, with Mouritsen cashing in $125,895. Goldberg stated that "The final table played out fine. I lost on a big hand, I had ace-king suited against ace-10. I played smart though and didn't do anything silly. I just managed to get heads-up and things went from there".

Goldberg plans on continuing playing Mixed Hold'Em tournaments, No-Limit being his "main game". He stated that "I'm going to enter one more event. I'm going out of town for a while but I'll be back for the Main Event".