WSOP Final Table Updates – Michael Binger – 3rd Place
Jamie Gold just missed the opportunity to knock out both of his remaining opponents on the same hand. As the hand played out, he was simply content to bust his sixth player of the day in Michael Binger, eliminated in 3rd place for $4,123,310.
The big hand came after Gold and Wasicka limped, and Binger raised to $1.5 million from the big blind. Both players called, and the flop came 10c-6s-5s. Wasicka checked, Binger bet $3.5 million, and Gold moved in over the top, forcing both players to make a decision for all of their chips. Wasicka thought for a long time, repeating, "This is sick," before finally folding. Binger called, showing A-10 for top pair and Gold showed 4s-3c for an open-ended straight draw. The turn came the 7c, filling Gold's straight and the river came the Qs. Wasicka later commented that he had the 7s-8s for a straight flush draw and would have won the pot, making his flush on the river. His decision to fold will be analyzed by poker fans for a long time to come.
Binger, a physicist from Stanford, later commented, "I don't see how he can fold there, unless he was playing to lock up second." He added, "I got my money in with the worst of it with Allen and got lucky there [when Binger was all-in with a double-belly buster straight draw], and the same situation in reverse ended up busting me out. The odds kind of catch up."
Asked to analyze Jamie Gold's game, Binger offered, "I think he's a very good player and he plays his big stack really well; I think he has some leaks in his game that can be exploited. He's like a vacuum cleaner – he picks up all of the pots that no one wants. He's gotten an incredible string of cards and he got paid off on them, so that's a credit to him." Gold is now heads up with Paul Wasicka and sports a dominating chip lead of $79 million to $11 million in chips.
