Thursday at the main event of the World Series of Poker

Friday, Aug. 11, 2006 | 5:46 a.m.

DAY: 12 (The final table)

BIG NEWS: Former Hollywood talent agent Jamie Gold eliminated three final table finishers early Thursday, extending his dominant lead with 51.2 million in chips. Five players remained. The nearest competitor was Paul Wasicka, a 25-year-old Internet player from Westminster, Colo., with 14.6 million. Four-time World Series bracelet winner Allen Cunningham, 29, slipped to third with 13.7 million. "I'm feeling great. I couldn't be playing any better," said Gold, 36. Play would continue Thursday and perhaps into Friday until there's a winner.

STUD OF THE DAY: Dan Nassif, a 33-year-old newspaper ad sales executive from St. Louis, after being knocked out in ninth place, apologized for his 20-minute final table run "to everyone back home who ordered the pay-per-view." Nassif went home with $1,566,858.

BUSTED OUT: Richard Lee in sixth ($2,803,851), Doug Kim in seventh ($2,391,520), Erik Friberg in eighth ($1,979,189), Nassif in ninth ($1,566,858).

POKER TALK: Pot odds: The fundamental calculation that helps players determine whether to call a big bet or not. The key example is having a potential winning flush, say with two hearts for hole cards and two hearts on the flop. The odds of hitting another heart on the next two community cards to make the flush is roughly 35 percent, for pot odds of 3 to 1. Since calling will win only one pot in three, the one winning pot should make up for losses on the other two. For a pot of $300, the correct pot odds dictate one should only call a bet of about $100 or less.

HE SAID WHAT?: "Probably 35 percent to the U.S. government and I'm going to buy an apartment in Manhattan. Depending on how that much costs, I don't know what I'm going to do with the rest." - Doug Kim, a 22-year-old financial consultant from Martsdale, N.Y., on what he'll do with $2,391,520 in prize money.