The 2006 WPT World Championship at the Bellagio is now over and it was a historic event. There were a WPT record 605 entrants into the event. The prize pool ended up being a record setting $15 million. The winner was local Joe Bartholdi. His trip to the WPT World Championship started with a $25 satellite victory. He set a new WPT record by winning the most money as a $25 satellite entrant. Joe Bartholdi turned his $25 satellite entry into a whopping $3.76 million. He’s also the 2006 WPT Champion and has a guaranteed free entry into the 2007 WPT World Championship at the Bellagio.

Finishing second in the 2006 WPT World Championship was Davidson Matthew—from Toronto. Matthew was an amateur player who survived the fierce field and now considers himself more of a professional. Matthew spent $25 on a satellite buy-in and finished up the WPT tournament by cashing out with over $1.9 million. When asked about the big payday, Matthew said, “It’s set me up to play Poker. Now if I lose, financially, it just doesn’t matter.”

Roland De Wolfe from London was the only previous WPT winner to make the Final Table. Marquee players from all over the world were at this $25,000 buy-in event. Vanessa Russo finished 7th and almost became the first woman to land at the Final Table of a WPT World Championship. You can catch the WPT season on the Travel Channel every Wednesday night at 9 p.m. The World Poker Tour, and poker in general, is cranking out new millionaires at an unprecedented pace. The WPT World Championship is set to air on the Travel channel on June 28th at 9 p.m.