Jamie Gold

2006 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion Jamie Gold is, to say the least, a controversial character. When you think of the term "controversial" what also comes to mind is that phrase: "you either love 'em or you hate 'em." But outside of his family and I am sure some friends, you don't find anyone inside of poker who will say they like Jamie Gold.

The champ's style during the main event is, of course, partially due to the editors at ESPN. News stories even have them telling Jamie that they were going to make him look bad .... and they did. But some of us were there, we saw what ended up on the ESPN editing room floor and most of us don't have a lot of issue with how the Champ was portrayed on the tellie. Yes his mother was there and so what if he ate blueberries. The fact remains that Jamie Gold is, well, Jamie Gold. You know that friend you have that no one likes the first time they meet him and you always say something like:

"Trust me, he really is a nice guy once you get to know him."

And you know how you keep saying that even when people try to get to know him.....

And then there is the now classic line:

"Phil is a very nice guy away from the table."

Here's the problem. Jamie Gold works in Hollywood; he should know something about image, which would appear to be part of his job description. Yet in the nearly eight months since we won the Big Bracelet, he has managed to do zero, zip, nada about his own image.

Like the mythic Phoenix rising from the ashes, PokerBlog rises from the smouldering pyrrhic pile of the UIGEA. Yes, I do take note that this is happening on April Fool's Day but this is no joke, well wait a second, perhaps I should rephrase.

Three congressmen walk into a cathouse; the madam says: "Sorry, no professional discounts."

So where have we been?

Well like so many of the online poker sites, outlets and blogs; we were hurt, hammered and hampered by the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act and the cowboy enforcement of the still unclear regulations of that bill. I say "still unclear" because the 270 day period for the Secretary of the Treasury and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to issue the regulations they are required to prescribe... Well that 270 days has yet to expire and there have been no statutory rules or guidelines issued. Instead the Justice Department of the United States government has randomly sought to intimidate various officers of online sites and seize $55 million dollars of US citizens funds tied up in Neteller. As you can imagine, making business decisions about how to proceed in this reactionary enforcement environment is very difficult for everyone involved. Operations in the United States is clearly not the only problem with Canadian, French and Turkish regulators to name just a few, taking legal and illegal shots at our beloved game.

One of the saddest short term results has been the lost of many good bloggers and writers who were involved in the world of poker. We regret that loss and hope a reasoned solution to any viable governmental concerns about online gaming, will allow our missing collegues to return to covering all things poker.

Anyway, PokerBlog is back and the Poker Shrink is back to yack at you about anything & everything poker. I will try to maintain a reasonable mix of light poker news, a little deeper insight when the muse moves me and an always constant eye out for the ever present overabundance of smarmy press release "news" items that come out of the bowels of the poker public relations bargain basement.

Speaking of smarmy.... tomorrow's first item will cover the lastest on 2006 WSOP Main Event Champion Jamie Gold. Stay tuned and Welcome Back My Friends to the Show that Periodically Ends.

Phoenix image by Enayla.

Let it be known, one and all, that the "entities that comprise Wicked Chops Poker" are among my favorite reads in all of Pokerdom. They're irreverent, they're damned funny, and they'll do the digging into stories that most other poker sites and writers just aren't good enough to uncover. That said, Wicked Chops Poker has one consistent, glaring flaw --- they tend to forget to mention when they're a compromised party.

Case in point, and I mean Big Fucking Case In Point... Bodog. Now, WCP has been all assy-kissy towards Bodog for some time, which is fine in and of itself --- Bodog throws a lot of money around, and there's absolutely no reason why a saucy, attitude-heavy site like WCP wouldn't be a logical fit to Bodog's needs. I figured out many months back, well before last year's WSOP, that there was at least an informal relationship between WCP and Bodog, and it became way obvious during the WSOP when WCP's Bodog pimpage climbed to new heights. No biggee; despite my own run-ins with Bodog, what's cool is cool.

However, it was only today that I stumbled across a rather more structured tidbit that appeared on the All In Magazine site... and pretty much nowhere else except a few of those obscure Net-spidering pages that pirate other people's content. Dating from October 26, the piece is so brief that I'll repost it here in its entirety:

Jamie Gold's lawyers have finally responded to Crispin Leyser's claim that he's owed 6 million, and Wicked Chops Poker has posted the highlights. Among them, Gold alleges that Leyser was down on his luck and looking for a handout, to which Gold, in his infinite generosity, offered to help him out. Gold claims he never offered to give Leyser a full 6 million, just that he would "help him out." However once Gold hit the money in the WSOP, Leyser started to harass him, which Gold claims led him to leave the most expensive voice mail in history. Furthermore, Gold claims that Leyser didn't want taxes or tip coming out of his share of the winnings.

Read the full breakdown over at WCP, and heck, read the full motion if you're so inclined; but note that we will mock you for having nothing better to do on a Friday afternoon. I think this motion, along with the ESPN coverage of Gold, are really helping to improve his image. I especially like how Gold makes it known that Leyser didn't want any tip coming out of his portion. It's a perfect excuse for not dropping a few dimes in the dealer tip pool.

This is, at the core, a case of he said/he said, though I doubt it would be hard to find character witnesses to back up the claim that Leyser was in financial trouble and perhaps a wee bit needy. Finding sources to back up Gold's claim that he was just trying to help a brotha out? That may be a little bit harder, given the Hollywood crowd Gold runs with. I tend to lean more on Leyser's side, just because I don't see him continuing on with this battle unless he truly believes that Gold promised him half his winnings. And for God's sake, why would you ever, in a million years, tell someone you were going to give him half if you had absolutely no intention of doing so?? He's calling and texting you all the time?? Turn off the damn phone. You are at the World Series of Poker after all, and voice mail was created for a reason...

Kudos to CardPlayer for stepping up their poker journalism a tad. Their current cover story is a Playboy-style interview with WSOP champ Jamie Gold, and in it they don't try to pretend he's not a controversial character with questionable poker values.

In the interview, he addresses the presence of bodyguards -- you are welcome to believe or not believe his claims that there were Nancy Kerrigan-style threats. (I am pretty sure I heard someone in the hallway scream, "I'm gonna kill that motherfucker!") He also -- scroll down to the end -- directly addresses his dealer tip, or lack thereof ... claiming that everyone who deserves something will get theirs, but he never attached a number to it. Well done, Michael Friedman, for getting him to address these topics.

But the one issue not discussed was his lawsuit with Crispin Leyser.

I'm pretty sure Jamie's "people" set up the interview only on the grounds that he wouldn't be asked about the $6 million he may or may not owe Leyser. Fair enough ... it's common for subjects of lawsuits not to want to comment on pending litigation. But they can't prevent you, as in CardPlayer, from writing about it! Ask Allyn ... she'll tell you ... lawsuits are a public records, and therefore the media has every right to address them in pretty much whatever capacity they see fit. At a minimum, CP shoulda printed something in the story acknowledging the basis of the lawsuit and any interview restrictions pertaining to it. Or, legally speaking, they coulda just agreed to whatever with Jamie Gold and then renegged on the deal.

So all along we've been asking Jamie Gold to speak out without the protections of lawyers and PR people. Now, after hearing this -- an unfiltered interview done with a Canadian radio station two days after his $12mm victory -- I'm starting to think he may be a smart man.

He's clearly excited, as this life-changing occurence is just starting to set in. And seriously, when he gets into hand analysis and explains his thought process in various situations, you'll get the sense Gold really knows this game super-well. And then you'll hear him discuss how he played 80 percent of his hands, and how he is confident, no matter how much he moves or talks that he never gave off a single tell ... at which point you'll realize he's simply the most amazing poker player he's ever met.

Have a listen. The good stuff starts about halfway through, and then maybe 2/3 of the way through. When he gets to the point where he's on-the-fly concocting some sort of challenge to Phil Hellmuth, the pettiness of our picking on him becomes apparent ... because without a doubt, in a match-up between him and Hellmuth, Phil would for probably the first time ever be a big fan favorite.

By the way, this interview also suggests that players at the final table could hear much of the live commentary from the Bluff radio broadcast booth. That's probably not a good thing. Or maybe it is ... and heckling just becomes part of a new way to play the game?

Life's A Bluff: Join Charlie in his quest to turn pro and make millions. Cameos by such names as Daniel Negreanu, Joe Sebok, Clonie Gowen & many more! Now updating every Monday, Wednesday, & Friday.

Back when I first alerted you to Jamie Gold's new reality TV project Hottest Mom in America there wasn't a ton of information to be found on their official website. Audition cities and dates were posted but no times or venues. The contest was describled as "pageant-style" but there was little else to go on. But most of all, there was nothing about what the Hottest Mom in America would win.

Well, that's changed. Because it looks like Jamie Gold and his friends at BuzzNation got themselves a sorta-corporate sponsor.

Enter Restylane. It's sort of like Botox. And the Hottest Mom in America gets a year's worth of free treatments as well as the opportunity to become "The Face of Restylane." There's also a $25,000 cash prize, a $25,000 scholarship for the Hot Mom's kid, and an "interview with a top modeling agency" up for grabs in the competition.

Amy, I heard the other day that you and Lou Kreiger interviewed Jamie Gold just last week. Care to confirm or deny and/or elaborate?

He's currently playing in his first tournament since the WSOP ... and he's got the chip lead. They're down to 30 players in the TCI International Poker Tournament (whatever that is) being held in Turks & Caicos -- final table tomorrow. Other big names there include Amir Vahedi, Johnny Chan, Carlos Mortenson, David Williams, Jeff Madsen, and Devilfish.

This is the first we've heard of this tourney, via a press release (?) ... and meanwhile, PokerBlog is scratching its head about the tournaments it decided to cover this week.

LOS ANGELES, CA-- It wasn't enough for Jamie Gold to suck out to victory in the WSOP Main Event, win $12 million bucks, get sued for half of it, declare himself poker's Kobe Bryant, and "creatively embellish" details of his Hollywood agent past. Gold is still a television producer, dammit and he wants the world to know it.

In an interview with the San Diego Union-Tribune, Gold announced that he is looking for the "Hottest Mom in America" for a new reality TV show. Though the project has yet to be sold to a network, Gold and his colleagues at his fledgling TV production outfit Buzznation will be criss-crossing the nation in search of MILFs over the age of 27 for a "pageant-style" competition.

Curiously enough, the show's casting is being run through a website called Cast-A-Date. A sort of Match.com for industry types, it claims to be "owned and run by real Hollywood Casting Directors" but has yet to fully launch.

Other highlights of Gold's delicious Union-Tribune interview include the following statements:

Dear Mr. Gold,

Congratulations on winning the 2006 WSOP. I'd say I could never really imagine the thrill, but really, I suspect anyone and everyone who's ever played poker actually has. Anyhow, as you probably know, a lot of us media types are interested in talking with you.

I see that you've gotten plenty of good representation to handle your affairs. A smart move, for sure ... as Brian Balsbaugh has done great things for poker and poker players, and when it comes to PR, there's nothing wrong with hiring professionals. However, having someone else speak for you doesn't really help us get to know the real Jamie Gold. If that's what you want, so be it ... then I'm sure you can understand why the masses will simply side with your naysayers by default.

I'm not gonna bullshit you ... there's a lot of really nasty stuff being said about you right now -- character assaults being levied by people who have never met you for more than a few moments. I, for one, don't think that's really fair. I have no idea what you did or didn't promise to Crispin Leyser and/or the WSOP dealers. So I'm gonna reserve judgment ...

The mainstream media is taking note ... CNN reports that a Las Vegas judge has issued a temporary restraining order forbidding the Rio from paying any of the $12 million it is holding in Jamie Gold's name.

Does anyone get the sense that, if anyone, it will be some lawyers getting rich off this year's record prize?

Well while everyone takes pot shots at 2006 WSOP Champ Jamie Gold for whatever reasons, I have pretty much just watched and listened. But earlier today I had a conversation with an "inside source" and this information just showed up. He or she was talking about the extra perks that some players get at tournaments, I will write about those later but let's stick with Mr. Gold for now.

It has been widely reported that Jamie Gold had body guards during the later stages of the Main Event. I can verify that they attempted to do their "we are with the big shot" thing on me once. Didn't work because two of the guards were guys I knew from my 7 weeks at the Rio and they stopped to chat a bit, instead of guarding the chipleader body.

But my inside source tells me that the guards came at Mr. Gold's request and the request came in the form of:

"Do you know who I am? I can't have strangers talking to me in the men's room."

So the 4th Day chipleader got three personal Rio security guards for three days and then six guards for the final two days. All of this because he was being treated the same as:

Scotty Nguyen, Chris Ferguson, Doyle Brunson, Chip Jett, Barry Greenstein, Gavin Smith, Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu and I won't even mention what Jennifer, Cyndy, Annie and Liz go through just to get to their cars each and every day.

The price of fame Mr. Gold? or just vanity.

2006 WSOP winner Jamie Gold responded to the lawsuit filed by fellow poker player Crispin Leyser through his publicist Saturday. Leyser is suing Gold for half of his $12 million in winnings, claiming the two had a deal in which Leyser would get half of anything Gold won in the main event.

Here's the response from the Gold camp:

"Jamie Gold is disappointed that the plaintiff, a person he has only known since July of this year, has elected to file litigation rather than continue the parties' discussions in an effort to find a resolution to this matter. Mr. Gold believes strongly in the American judicial system and believes that it is better to present his case there than to try the matter before the court of public opinion. He is pleased to have had the opportunity to participate and win the World Series of Poker and is pleased with the quality of the tournament, his outstanding opponents, and Harrah's, the event organizer. Mr. Gold further appreciates the support of his fans and sponsor, Bodog.net, and hopes that this unfortunate litigation will not detract from the outstanding efforts of the entire field of participants in the World Series of Poker."

None of the post-victory buzz about Jamie Gold surprises me. As I was photographing the last two days of the WSOP I heard the following from our new champion:

1.) Jamie Gold ends up winning the hand. Gold walks to the side to speak to someone...maybe his Bodog rep?

"I'm better than I thought I was."

2.) There were ten players left the day before the final table. Quite honestly we were all looking for short-stacked Michael Binger to go all-in and for Jamie Gold to possibly knock him out -- so we could go home. Before they brought it down to nine Gold got up from the table walked again to the side:

"I started today as the chip leader and I have already more than doubled my stack. I am just so tired. I am just ready to get it over with."

The guy he was talking to just nodded. Perhaps he was tired of Gold's arrogance as well?

3.) Final table day: During the first break I notice Gold has bodyguards. Later as Richard Lee gets knocked out, I asked Lee's daughter if her father had bodyguards. She looked at me like I was crazy.

"No, why would my dad need one?" I agreed. We chatted about how idiotic Gold looked with his bodyguards and documentary entourage as he walked from the tournament room to the bathroom. I wondered...why does he need a bodyguard...he hasn't won anything yet, and it's not too far to the bathroom....but of course he is from Hollywood and it's all about image he was creating.

Here's some more good info on the Jamie Gold lawsuit from our good friends at Wicked Chops, and even more from those krone-schmucks at Pokerati.

As I dig more into this, it's becoming clear that Jamie Gold certainly is no Greg Raymer (and that with Gold's "win" Bodog officially becomes the bad-boys). But at the same time, I am wondering about the reasons behind the suit. Was Crispin Leyser unhappy with his promised "half" coming after-taxes? Surely that can't be it ... so obviously Crispin knows something we don't.

Will be fun when it all becomes part of the public record.

I had a feeling this was coming, after hearing all the rumors as the Main Event final table progressed. Chip leader and eventual WSOP champion Jamie Gold only had half of his own action, having verbally promised half of whatever he won to his friend and fellow poker player Crispin Leyser. Speculation has been rampant about the reasoning behind and the specifics of Leyser and Gold's deal in the twelve days that have passed since he captured the largest cash prize in sports history. And now, Poker News is reporting that Leyser has filed suit against Gold in the Las Vegas District Court seeking half of his Main Event winnings. Leyser claims to have copies of voicemails Gold left him on the morning of the final table confirming the 50/50 deal. Gold, who has yet to physically collect his $12 million in winnings from Harrah's, has been consequently blocked from doing so by a Nevada judge until the matter can be resolved.

So it seems when your playing in the WSOP, you can write anything down as a resume. Now it makes sense why Gold said he really prefered to place than win..He knew the public and his friends would know the truth..THAT HE IS A LIAR!

Seems maybe us Dealers will get the last laugh after all..Thanks Gold after the two months of Hell Harrahs put us through we needed a good laugh. :.)

Jamie Gold said he didn't want fame. Now it's starting to make sense why not. Johnny Chan's li'l champ is getting called on various bluffs -- exposed as not being totally honest with ESPN and others.

Poker fans everywhere are presumably starting to say he just got really really lucky, and somewhere else Robert Varkonyi is probably rejoicing, as it appears he will no longer be the most disrespected WSOP main event champion.

Link props to the Batfaces.

When it was all over, I slipped out the back door by the dealers’ tent to get some air. The 5 AM sky was growing light over the Strip, the first rays of pink peeking out from behind the mountains. I held the door open for a trio of ESPN cameramen as they loaded out their equipment and took in a lungful of arid desert air. Less than an hour after Hollywood agent Jamie Gold claimed victory in the WSOP Main Event, all who had made a home at the Rio over the last five weeks were dispersing to the winds. It was on to the next assignment, the next tournament, the next city on the circuit.

Everyone was fried. Sleep-deprived. Tweaking on too much sugar and caffiene. Some were on tilt after watching Gold hit hand after hand after hand, seemingly invincible behind his mountain of eighty million billion chips, effortlessly swatting aside world-class opponents like Allen Cunningham with the turn of a card. I was one of them. I’ll admit being a little pissed that he won, and so easily. It made for a pretty boring final table. Sort of like a Lord of the Rings movie without the battle sequences. You know Frodo’s gonna make it to the volcano or whatever and drop that ring inside. Just imagine if he and his pals hadn’t run into the slightest bit of trouble along the way. Where’s your epic now, huh?

After only five hands of heads-up play, Hollywood agent-turned-producer Jamie Gold won the 2006 WSOP Main Event, $12 million dollars and the world's most coveted bracelet. Dealt the Qs-9c, Gold raised to 1.5 million and Wasicka called with the Th-Ts. Gold hit yet another flop when it came down Qc-8h-5h. Wasicka bet 1.5 million, Gold pushed in, and Wasicka called. The turn was the Ad and the river the 4c.

How does that old saying go? It's better to be lucky than good?

Gold isn't entirely without skill, but anyone watching can tell you that throughout this final table, he hit practically every card he needed to hit. Compare that to say, 2005 champion Joe Hachem's three junk-kicking suckouts that bounced him not only from this year's Main Event but from two final tables when he got his money in as a significant favorite.

What can I say? I'm from Hollywood. It's tough to root for an agent.

Here are a few Jamie Gold quotes from his post-win interview with ESPN's Norman Chad:

"I played the best poker of my life. Sometimes I got lucky and sometimes I outplayed people."

"I play the players, not the cards."

On the hand where he eliminated final table favorite Allen Cunningham:

"We were 50-50 but I just felt I had to try and take him out."

On his entourage:

"I'm really needy. They got me massages and water and blueberries."

On the $12 million:

"It'll help my dad a lot. And people around me will benefit from this..."

You mean like Crispin Leyser who must be dancing the horah after winning half of the top prize of the largest poker tournament in history without picking up two cards? Talk about lucky.

So I had a conversation with some dealers a few minutes ago -- I'm guessing I won't be the first one to report that the World Series is over -- and they were all clearly hoping Jamie Gold would win. Why?

Because he reportedly promised to tip $1 million if he won. (He did. Win that is. Tip still pending.) To the dealers, that meant about an extra $2,000 each.

Phil Hellmuth, by comparison, in the tourney where he won his 10th bracelet, and the other one where he got 2nd place ... reportedly tipped:

$0.

Also talked with a floorman exec type. He told me that even with Jamie Gold's $1 million tip, the dealers will leave the WSOP having made 30 percent of what they made last year.

"I'm not sure what else I can say," he said. "But those are the real numbers."

Jamie Gold just claimed yet another victim. This is getting really redundant.

Gold limped from the button and Paul Wasicka completed from the small blind. Michael Binger raised to 1.5 million from the big blind and both Gold and Wasicka called. On the 10c-6s-5s flop, Wasicka checked, Binger bet 3.5 million, and Jamie Gold moved all-in. Wasicka folded and Binger called. Binger showed the A-10 of hearts and Gold flipped over... 3-4 offsuit? Of course Gold got his 7 on the turn for the straight, sealing Binger's Main Event fate. He'll leave us with $4,123,310.

"It seems like Jamie Gold is playing with one deck and the rest of the table is playing with another" said Bluff Radio's Howard David in an apt slice of commentary.

I mean come on... calling a 1.5 million raise with 3-4 offsuit? It sounds more like a play from a $5 tournament than the WSOP Main Event. When the money went in on the flop, Gold was over a 2-1 dog to win the hand.

We're heads-up and our chip count stands at Gold: 78 million, Wasicka: 11 million. That's sick.

In the biggest hand of the Main Event and perhaps the final table's most significant turning point thus far, Jamie Gold just took out Richard Lee. Prior to the hand, Lee had over 11M in chips.

Gold limped in from the cutoff and Richard Lee raised to 1.2M from the small blind. Gold reraised to 4M and Lee moved in. In the ultimate deja-vu moment, Gold called in a shot and showed QQ to Lee's JJ-- exactly the hand matchup that led to Gold busting Erik Friberg earlier in the day. The flop came K-K-3-6-10 and Lee was shockingly bounced from the tournament in 6th place. He'll take home $2,803,851.

Gold has more than 51 million now-- over half the chips in play. In related news, it's also reported that leprechauns are marching out of his ass.

Allen Cunningham called Jamie Gold's 800,000 raise from the big blind and they saw a flop of 8h-8d-3d. Cunningham checked, Gold bet 1M, and Cunningham called. The turn was the 2c and both players checked. The river was the Qs and Cunningham checked. Gold bet 2M and Cunningham went into the tank for over two minutes. He finally called and showed only A-9 high. What an amazing read!

Cunningham recognized that Gold likely fired out the 2M on the river with a hand that could only take the pot with a substantial bet-- a small pair, a busted flush draw or the like-- though he could have easily made the same bet having caught a pair with the queen on the river. Ultimately, Cunningham trusted his instincts and looked Gold up with what was, so far, one of the most exciting hands of the final table.

Reads like that are what separates a seasoned pro like Cunningham from his five remaining opponents.

Johnny Chan has been trying to help his super-stacked protege Jamie Gold win. And right now he's reportedly a little perturbed that Gold has been taking on Allen Cunningham in the wrong way. Steve Rosenbloom reports that Chan has supplied Gold with info on a big Allen Cunningham tell, one that he may or may not have failed to exploit.

(I think ... am a little confused, because the tell Rosenblum references would require Gold to go into the tank to pick up on.)

Anyhow, makes for an interesting issue regarding live and semi-live coverage, as I suspect word of this supposed tell will filter back to Cunningham by dinner break.

Yahoo Buzz talks about the growth of Jamie Gold's searchability leading up to today's final table:

"Beginning on Sunday, he [Jamie Gold] rose from "who?" to spike 26% by Wednesday. An overwhelming 90% of his Search fans are male. Compared to him, the other remaining players are drawing dead. We'll see if that continues to be the case when play resumes on Thursday." (Yahoo Buzz)

ABC News gets a quote from Jamie Gold comparing his day job to the poker.

"'I'm used to sitting at a table where everyone wants to kill you, for whatever reason,' Gold says. 'And usually it's because they want to take advantage of people I'm representing. You know, the analogy is that I'm used to negotiating on other people's behalf and trying to protect them. Now I'm basically just trying to protect my chips.'" (ABC News)

Ryan Nakashima writes a great lead for AP shown on USA Today:

"Luke Chung called it "murder row." He should know, he was one of its victims." (USA Today)

Michael Binger must be cursing the poker gods right now. Moving all in with K-K and most likely believing his time to double up had arrived, he was called by Jamie Gold with... K-K. They chopped the pot.

Can anyone stop the luck machine that is Jamie Gold? Binger is down to less than 2.7M in chips.