2007 WSOP Event #40 – Fred Goldberg Wins $1,500 Mixed Hold’em

Last year, Fred Goldberg came one spot away from making the Main Event final table at the World Series of Poker.  This year, he received his consolation prize in the form of his first WSOP bracelet for winning the $1,500 mixed hold’em event.  While it is a far cry from the million-plus he won in the Main Event, he also won over $200,000 this day. 

The man who some mistake for former Main Event champ, Chris Moneymaker, started the final table in relatively comfortable position in the middle of the pack.  It was a bit of a rough going for him through the first hour, as he only won one decent sized pot and doubled-up an opponent to drop under his starting mark. 

Using a little luck, Goldberg finally got going near the end of the second hour.  In a limit level, he and Kevin Marcotte went three bets to see the flop of K-6-6.  One bet each and the turn was a 10.  Marcotte led out and Goldberg called, putting himself all-in with only A-K versus Marcotte’s 8-8.  The river, however, was a Queen, giving Goldberg a straight and keeping him in the tournament.   

Two hands later, he eliminated a short-stacked Joe Brandenburg in 6^th place and followed that up by winning another pot, growing his stack by about 400,000 chips to 550,000. 

He took it easy for some time before finally eliminating Christoph Niesert in 3^rd place in a no-limit round to go to heads-up against Rene Mouritsen.  The chip counts were virtually identical. 

After the lone hand of no-limit, Goldberg won every hand in the limit level to decimate Mouritsen’s stack.  Mouritsen didn’t give up, however, doubling-up once during the next no-limit level and then making a run during the following limit level.  Eventually, however, Goldberg wore him down, taking a million chip lead into the final hand. 

The two players limped to see a flop of J-8-4, all hearts.  Mourtisen bet 40,000, Goldberg raised to 140,000, Mouritsen pushed, and Goldberg called with 10-7 of hearts for a flush.  Mouritsen also had a flush, but only with 5-2.  His only chance was to hit a runner-runner straight flush, which he obviously did not accomplish.  Goldberg had his first bracelet. 

Final Table Standings 

1. Fred Goldberg -- $204,935
2. Rene Mouritsen -- $125,895
3. Christoph Niesert -- $82,804
4. Scott Bohlman -- $54,498
5. Kevin Marcotte -- $39,289
6. Joe Brandenburg -- $30,418
7. Michael Craig -- $22,813
8. Reza Zand -- $16,899
9. Karlo Lopez -- $12,252