The 2006 World Championship of Online Poker was laced with the top tournament pros of the day taking home victories. Sporting 18 tournaments culminating in a $3 million guarantee Main Event, the 2006 WCOOP was one of the largest events of its time. Would you expect anything less from PokerStars, the world’s top online poker site? The 2006 WCOOP solidified the career of one player in the eyes of many. His name: JC Tran. He had already made three World Series of Poker final tables by the time the 2006 WCOOP rolled around, including a $118,350 payday in Event #29 of the 2005 WSOP. Tran was feared online and his victory in the 2006 WCOOP Main Event reinforced his reputation. On October 1, 2006, Tran took home $670,194 for first place, beating hannibalrex heads up. There was a six-way deal worked out for first place that left the remaining contestants battling for $50,000 and a coveted WCOOP bracelet. You’ll notice that some of the payouts given in this article don’t necessarily follow the order of finish due to the six-way chop.
Second place finisher hannibalrex took home $400,581. Lefort, a Canadian, placed third and took home just over $417,000. GODFATHER 72 landed in fourth place. The UK native cashed in for $540,793. Numie2 took home $600,042 for fifth and DEEZZZ_NUTS was the last contestant in the chop, finishing sixth, but taking home a commanding $353,164. All told, there were 2,510 entrants into the 2006 WCOOP Main Event, each paying $2,600 to enter or winning a satellite. Norwegian Annette_15, one of the youngest players in the field, finished seventh, winning $163,150. Other top finishers included milkybarkid (eighth) and serb2127 (ninth).
The big story of the 2006 WCOOP, besides the six-way Main Event chop, was the play of kwob20. The American won not one, but two WCOOP bracelets. He won a $530 buy-in Limit Omaha Hi/Low event for $103,162.25, beating n47j25s heads up. He followed that win up with a victory in the $530 buy-in Seven Card Stud Hi/Low event, in which he bested a field of 581 players for a $68,257.50 payday. That tournament had players from eight different countries place in the top 10, representing the truly international flair of the WCOOP.
Poker pro strassa2 took down the $1,050 no limit event, which attracted 2,458 entrants. He won $442,440, defeating thugmoneymkr heads up. BarnyBoatman, who is a UK native, finished in third place for $155,345.60.
In one of the largest events, Rambo5, a Swede, trumped a field of 4,495 players to win the $530 no limit event, which had no problem shattering its $1.5 million guarantee. There were 600 places paid total and one name on the leader board you’ll recognize is the 10th place finisher, Bryan Micon. He placed ninth in a $2,000 no limit event at the 2006 WSOP for $74,620 and 63rd in the Main Event that year for $123,699.
Other events offered included HORSE, Razz, and Pot Limit Omaha. The 2006 WCOOP guaranteed $10 million total over the course of the 18 events, but the actual total prize pool swelled to $18 million. The poker world would soon be abuzz with news of a controversial finish to the 2007 WCOOP Main Event.