Poker Ghetto

NICKNAME:
The Poker Philanthropist, Golden Boy

POKER STYLE:
Loose-Aggressive

FELT ACCESSORIES:
A bowl of blueberries. Jamie had a bowl in his first day of play leading up to his WSOP mega-win and didn’t want to change anything unless it tempted fate.

TABLE MANNERS:
Famous for his cool attitude to making huge bets he is calm and composed in his games but alive and active.

POKER BLING:
Jamie has won international acclaim, largely for his win at the 2006 WSOP championship where he bagged over 12 million – the biggest win in poker history.

RUMOUR HAS IT:
Formerly a talent agent (he brought the likes of Lucy Liu, James Gandolfini, Jimmy Fallon and more into the spotlight), his line of work eventually led him to cross paths with Johnny Chan. Following some mentoring and subsequent entry to the 2006 WSOP Main Event as part of the Bodog.com celebrity team, Gold surprised everyone by going on to win. Gold has been much maligned ever since with accusations that he’s a donkey with no place on the pro circuit. Some etiquette breaches and poor play since have not done much to help his reputation.

FAMOUS PROP BETS:
A poorly considered ‘off the felt’ agreement with fellow poker player and business partner (who had stumped up half the entry fee), Crispin Leyser during the 2006 WSOP event meant Gold didn’t get his winnings straight away. Leyser filed a lawsuit against him claiming that Gold had offered him half of his winnings if he (Leyser) got celebrities to wear the Bodog.com gear. Gold denied this, despite a answerphone message on Leyser’s phone to the contrary. A settlement between the two was made but no details divulged.