Achieving one’s first six-figure cash in a poker tournament is an exciting moment for any poker player. Winning one’s first World Series of Poker (WSOP) gold bracelet is a dream come true. How great is it, then, to have these two things happen at the same time? That was Clifford Goldkind’s amazing day Monday as he won the 2012 WSOP Event #19: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em and over half a million dollars.
The 24-years old Goldkind was honorably discharged from the Israeli army just four months ago. Prior to that, he attended and graduated from Washington University in St. Louis. Preparing to enroll in a Master’s program at Tuft’s University this fall, he probably didn’t expect to actually outlast 2,300 other poker players to win a bracelet this summer. His only other cash in a live tournament was for $5,921 when he placed 4th in a WSOP Circuit event last month. Winning 100 times his career earnings in a single tournament isn’t too bad at all!
Entering the final table, Goldkind was right in the middle of a jumble of players all over the million chip mark. You had Gary Burks on top with 1.775 million, Barry Shulman in 7th place with 1.005 million, and then there was Goldkind in 4th with 1.2 million. Only two players – Adria Balaguer and Patrick Smith – had under a million. It was anyone’s race.
Right off the bat, Goldkind jumped ahead of Burks to take the chip lead and then, just like that, Burks was gone in what was an early pivotal and emotional hand. The two got it all-in pre-flop, Burks with A♠-K♣ and Goldkind with A♣-A♦. Burks looked dead to rights, but the flop of K♦-9♦-4♦ gave him hope. His prayers were answered with the very next card, as the K♠ gave him trip Kings, pulling ahead of Goldkind’s Aces. Goldkind couldn’t believe his bad luck, but that turned around on the river, when he completed a flush with the J♦. All of a sudden, the final table chip leader was the first one eliminated and Cliff Goldkind had a huge lead with 3.1 million chips.
From there, it was a total romp through the final table for Goldkind. When four-handed play started, he had 3.95 million chips, compared to 1.975 million for his next closest competitor. He quickly took out Patrick Smith to climb to 5.2 million and about 20 minutes later eliminated Adria Balaguer in 3rd place to go into heads-up play with a dominating 9.214 million to 1.145 million chip lead over Kennii Nguyen.
The two men took a break for dinner, but that was really unnecessary as Goldkind ended it on the first hand after their return. Nguyen was dealt K♥-J♠ and shoved, while Goldkind found 6♣-6♠ and made the easy call. The community cards gave Nguyen nothing, not even a sweat, and Clifford Goldkind won his first ever World Series of Poker gold bracelet and $559,514.
2012 WSOP Event #19: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em – Final Table Results
1. Clifford Goldkind – $559,514
2. Kennii Nguyen – $347,036
3. Adria Balaguer – $245,197
4. Patrick Smith – $176,299
5. Gregg Wilkinson – $128,441
6. Justin Mcgill – $94,815
7. David Peters – $70,886
8. Barry Shulman – $53,669
9. Gary Burks – $41,145
