For the past two years, Paul Wasicka, a 25-year-old former restaurant manager and college dropout from Westminster, has been living off his gut instincts.
Almost always, his gut has led him to success.
On Friday, his instinct served him wrong, and Wasicka came up just short of winning the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. But with his second- place finish, Wasicka still walked away with a little more than $6.1 million.
“In poker, you just go with your instinct, and most of the time you’re right, and some of the time you’re wrong,” Wasicka said. “This was one of the times I was wrong.”
Former Hollywood talent agent Jamie Gold bluffed his way into victory over Wasicka and took home the $12 million grand prize.
Gold, of Malibu, Calif., somehow convinced Wasicka that he had a weaker hand, getting Wasicka to push all his chips in the pot. The 36-year-old Gold screamed for joy to see Wasicka’s pair of 10s to his pair of queens.
“I knew that he was weak, but he had a hand. And then I knew it was my chance,” Gold said. “I went all in, and then I just went into my act. I actually talked him into calling with the worst of it, and that won the whole tournament.”
For Wasicka, an alumnus of Boulder’s Fairview High School, the consolation prize was just fine considering he had not played competitive poker until two years ago, when one of his friends encouraged him to enter a tournament.
Wasicka knew the basic rules of what hand beats another, but he knew nothing of strategy. But following his gut he came in ninth and figured he was on to something.
“At that point I had just dropped out of college and didn’t know what to do with my life,” he said. “But this really appealed to me, because I’m a risk-taker, and I’m a gambler at heart.”
Nine months ago, Wasicka quit his job bartending and managing his brother-in-law’s Italian restaurant, Via Toscana in Louisville, and devoted himself to professional poker.
By the time Gold and Wasicka were the last two players left from a field of 8,773 entrants, huge bundles of cash were deposited on the poker felt.
The nine players at the final table – four pros, a former talent agent, an insurance broker, an ad salesman, a recent college grad and a retired businessman – were guaranteed at least $1.5 million each in winnings.
Gold started the final table with more than three times as many chips as Wasicka. His $79 million in chips covered a good corner of the table, while Wasicka was badly overmatched with $11.2 million.
The event was carried on pay-per-view on ESPN3. Wasicka had the largest cheering section of family and friends, who came to Las Vegas from all over.
“The atmosphere was just electric,” Wasicka said. “This experience will be with me for the rest of my days.”
So what’s Wasicka (who – by the way – is single) going to do with his winnings?
He insists he’s not going to gamble it all away or move to Vegas. However, he plans to buy a house there for when he goes on gambling trips. A percentage already was earmarked for a trio of friends and advisers, his parents will get 5 percent, and he donated $60,000 to cancer research.
“I wouldn’t move to Vegas, it’s not really my scene, but I come out here because this is where the big games are,” he said. “I’ll also use the winnings to travel a lot and play more in the big buy-in tournaments in Europe and Australia.”
Staff writer Manny Gonzales can be reached at 303-820-1537 or mgonzales@denverpost.com.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
