WSOP Event #40

The winner of Event #40, the $1,500 buy-in Mixed Hold’em championship was 31-year old Fred Goldberg from Hollywood, FL, who claimed his first WSOP victory.

However, Goldberg already has over $1 million in winnings at the World Series of Poker, largely due to his 10th place showing in the 2006 WSOP championship event when he collected $1,154,527 in prize money. This result was his fourth time to cash at this year’s World Series.

Goldberg specializes in playing No-Limit Hold’em. In fact, prior to this tournament, Goldberg had never played live limit poker before.

At one point in this tournament, Goldberg had only 400 in chips. He managed to double up a few times and went on to win the tournament. — On another occasion, Goldberg took a very tough beat and managed to survive. At the final table Goldberg had his opponent all-in with A-K versus A-10, but a ten on the board gave his adversary the pot. "I was able to keep my composure after the beat, and that to me was one of the keys to my winning," Goldberg said in a post-tournament interview.

his was the first open WSOP event this year that did not feature at least one former gold bracelet winner. First place paid $204,935, with the format of play half Limit Hold’em and half No-Limit Hold’em played in rotation.

Michael Craig, from Scottsdale, AZ finished 7th. Craig is one of the world’s top poker writers. He penned the story of the famous high-stakes cash game four years ago that was immortalized in his book "The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King." He has just released his latest book called "The Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide," which is a collection of strategy advice from many of the world’s top poker pros.

Karlo Lopez was the 9th-place finisher. He is from Puerto Rico . Lopez’ poker nickname is "the Wizard," because he is a professional magician.

Former WSOP gold bracelet winners who cashed included – Jeffrey Lisandro (18th) and "Miami John" Cernuto (54 th).

Final results:
1. Fred Goldberg, Hollywood, FL, $204,935
2. Rene Mouritsen, Aarhus, Denmark, $125,895
3. Christoph Niesert, Berlin, Germany, $82,804
4. Scott Bohlman, Homer Glen, IL, $54,498
5. Kevin Marcotte, Mason, OH, $39,289
6. Joe Brandenburg, Portland, OR, $30,418
7. Michael Craig, Scottsdale, AZ, $22,813
8. Reza Zand, Henderson, NV, $16,899
9. Karlo Lopez, Carolina, Puerto Rico, $12,252