Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Jamie Gold: Not your average WSOP winner


When Jamie Gold took home the biggest prize in World Series of Poker history, an estimated $12 million dollars in 2006, there were a few things that made him a little bit different than past winners. For one thing, he was a high-powered talent agent living in Malibu, California with a roster of A-List clients like James Gandolfini, Jimmy Fallon and Lucy Liu.

Also, Gold may or not have been the inspiration for the character Ari Gold on the hit HBO show Entourage.

That debate is on-going, but it is 100% clear that Gold played the main event at the WSOP like nobody who has ever won the tournament. He aggressively pressed hard on his opponents, challenging them to go all-in whenever he held the positional advantage. And while the style annoyed many seasoned pros, it did the job, allowing Gold to walk away with a HUGE prize that fueled by the online poker boom and the high number of entrants it generated.

And speaking of online poker, Gold also became involved in a dispute over his winning with his quasi-sponsor Bodog.com. Bodog claimed that Gold had agreed to provide sponsored talent for the WSOP to play under their name. When he himself won, they claimed their cut. The two parties would eventually settle out of court, but not before the Hollywood media had plenty of fun at Gold’s expense.

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