Jamie Gold Is Still Killing It

With only 45 players remaining in the 2006 WSOP ME, Jamie Gold of Team Bodog continues to build his lead, ending Day 5 play stacked at 7,330,000.

He's followed by two Euro players: Erik Friberg of Stockholm, Sweden, who we know nothing about, stacked at 5,905,000, and the consistently dominant William Thorsson (at left), sitting with 3,545,000.

Of the, what we'll call "fringe name pros," Jeffrey Lisandro, who was on a rush earlier in the day, cooled off some, but still ended the day with 2,995,000 in chips. 2005 bracelet winner Dan Schmiech has built his stack to 2,155,000. And Prahlad Friedman 1,600,000.

The two biggest Day 5 name pros are still alive. Allen Cunningham got back in the mix, winning some pots and ending the day stacked at 1,290,000. And Humberto Brenes, who shared the featured table with chip leader Jamie Gold, clung on to make it through another day, ending with 565,000.

PokerStars still has nine players remaining. One who we've seen bullying his tables since Day 1a is Cuong Do of Toronto (at right). The 24 year-old had never left Canada before the WSOP, and had to get an emergency passport to play. He's always under control, and will have 1,100,000 in chips going into Day 6.

Notable busts included Annie Duke (88th) and Dmitri Nobles (76th).

Check Card Player for full and possibly accurate chip counts. Play resumes today at 12 p.m. (PST) with blinds at 15,000/30,000 and 5000 antes. The 45 returning runners will play down till only 27 remain.

* Cuong Do photo from PokerStars Blog.