Jamie Gold was born August 25, 1969 and became a world famous poker player when he won the World Series of Poker Maine Event in dominating fashion at the 2006 WSOP. Jamie Gold was an American television producer and talent agent when he gave poker a chance. Jamie Gold's as an agent has a respectable list of clients such as James Gandolfini, Donnie Wahlberg, Jimmy Fallon, Lucy Liu, and Felicity Huffman.
Jamie Gold learned how to play poker when he was little, but he began serious understanding of the game when former WSOP main event champions Johnny Chan and Chris Moneymaker were working with Gold on an upcoming television show. Johnnie Chan mentor ed Gold in poker and Gold responded by having success throughout California in poker tournaments during 2005 including a win of more then $50,000.
During his historic championship run, Gold played a very controversial aggressive style that included keeping the pressure on all of the opponents at his table with constant bets and raises. This forced other players to commit either all of their chips to slow him down or fold. He then made good reads to determine if the player really had the hand when they played back or were bluffing. Bluff magazine said "He forced his tablemates to risk their entire stack time after time. If they reraised him, he either knew they were holding the nuts and folded, or he sniffed out a bluff and forced them all in, he transformed this strategy into an art form."
During the 8,772 player event, Gold held the chip lead from day 4 to the end, a very rare feat. He also eliminated 7 of the 8 final table players, including Paul Wasicka heads-up, and won a record $12,000,000. The final hand Jamie Gold won was when his Q and 9 flopped top pair and got Paul Wasicka to call off the remainder of his stack with pocket 10s.
Jamie Gold's well documented run towards the final table showed an unbelievable ability to get his opponents to call his bets when he had a powerful hand and to fold whenever he was bluffing. This timing was coupled with a lot of verbal banter that included saying he was weak or strong sometimes telling the truth and sometimes lieing, but completely confused his opponents and made them make mistake after mistake.
The $12 million Jamie Gold won at the WSOP spent over a year in the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas as the money was fought over in court. Gold has promised half his winnings to another business associate but renegged on the deal after winning, and after a lawsuits was filed Gold made an undisclosed agreement for the money. Unfortunately, this bad press tarnished his win and hurt his reputation.
Furthermore, many accounts state that Jamie Gold promised to ESPN cameras before the start of the final table that he would give $1 million dollars to the dealers and floor people who worked at the WSOP that year if he won. Needless to say, many of the supporters in the stand who cheered him to victory were the dealers and floor people who were hoping he would make good on his promise. Unfortunately for them, Jamie Gold never made good on that promise.
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