On April 24, 2006, one poker player’s life was changed forever. He had already cashed four times in events held by the World Poker Tour’s main competition, the World Series of Poker. He had made two WSOP final tables, placing fifth in a $1,500 no limit hold’em event at the 2005 WSOP and making the final table in a $1,500 Pot Limit event one year earlier. His name: Joe Bartholdi. He entered the final televised table of the Season Four WPT Championship second in chips, but virtually tied with two other players. The stage seemed set for an epic final table, also featuring Men “The Master” Nguyen, James Van Alstyne, Claus Nielsen, Roland de Wolfe, and David Matthew. In the end, Bartholdi defeated Matthew to take home the title of World Champion of Season Four of the WPT along with $3.7 million.
Van Alstyne entered the day as the chip leader with just over eight million chips. Nielsen, Bartholdi, and Matthew all had roughly six million chips and prepared to duke it out on the felt for the title of World Champion. Short-stacked at the table, Nguyen finished sixth, taking home $292,000. He was a six-time bracelet winner in 2006; his very first WSOP bracelet came all the way back in 1992. Van Alstyne bowed out fifth. The champion of a WSOP Circuit Event at the Gold Strike Casino in Tunica, Mississippi, took home $439,000. Nielsen and de Wolfe finished fourth and third, respectively, setting up heads up play between Matthew and Bartholdi.
The final hand is described on the WPT’s website: “With Th-4h, Matthew elected to limp, and Bartholdi checked his 9d-5h. The flop came Ah-9c-8h, giving the Canadian a four-flush, and the American middle pair. Matthew brought it in for $800,000, and Bartholdi boldly pushed back over the top of him for another $2,000,000. As he had so many times before, Matthew pushed right back, hard, staking his tournament life on a flush draw by pushing all-in. Bartholdi considered, and, as he also had all day, made another great call, getting all his money in with the best of it. The turn came 2d, and time was running short for Matthew. And it finally ran out with Ad on the river.”
One of the top female pros on the circuit, Vanessa Rousso, bubbled the televised final table, finishing in seventh place for $264,000. Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy, a bracelet winner and one of the most well-respected online poker pros in the world, finished in 12th place for $146,000. Paul Wasicka, the runner up to Jamie Gold in the 2006 WSOP Main Event, placed 15th for $147,000. Wasicka took home $6 million for his efforts in the Main Event.
Bracelet winner Freddy Deeb finished in 23rd place for $88,000. Iconic poker players Johnny Chan, Doyle Brunson, and Phil Hellmuth all cashed at the 2006 WPT Championship as well. Together, they represented 29 WSOP bracelets at the time of the tournament (10 each for Brunson and Chan along with nine for Hellmuth). David Williams, Chip Jett, David Grey, and Vinnie Vinh made the money as well.
The WPT Championship comes with a $25,000 price tag, making it the most expensive WPT tournament to enter. Because of its high cost to enter, it’s often regarded as one of the most competitive live tournaments, incorporating a player’s skill to a great extent.