Jamie Gold

Jamie M. Gold is not just an exceptionally talented poker player, but also a TV producer and talent agent. Widely acclaimed for his World Series of Poker (WSOP) success, Gold today simultaneously participates in poker tournaments and functions as the president of Buzznation, an entertainment company in the US.

Early Life

Jamie Gold was born on Aug 25, 1969 as Jamie M. Usher in Kansas City and later shifted to Manhattan with his mother. His name was changed to Jamie M. Gold after his mother divorced his father and got married to Dr. Robert Gold.

Gold went to Paramus High School, after which he obtained a bachelor’s degree from the Albany-based New York State University and joined UCLA to study entertainment law.

Gold’s Poker Career

Gold’s mother was fond of poker and his grandfather was a very good player of gin rummy, owing to which Gold was interested in poker right from his early days.

It was Chris Moneymaker and Johnny Chan who inspired him to take poker seriously when he was working with them for a TV poker show. Gold started participating in poker tournaments and winning. In 2005, he won $54,225 in an NL Hold’em event at Bicycle Casino, his first major win.

Gold’s gaming style at the World Series of Poker 2006 Main Event was heavily criticized by certain professional poker players. However, Chris Ferguson encouraged him to continue, and ultimately, Gold emerged as the winner. Explaining Gold’s style, Bluff Magazine says that he forced his opponents to risk their chip stacks every now and then; he would fold when they re-raised and he could identify a bluff with exceptional ease.

Unfortunately, Gold’s spectacular WSOP 2006 win was associated with a controversy. Reportedly, Gold had gotten into an agreement with Bodog.com Entertainment that he would get celebrities to participate in the WSOP Main Event, after which he had signed a deal with Crispin Leyser, agreeing to part with half his winnings if Leyser helped him with this work. Leyser later sued Gold, claiming that Gold had decided to keep all his winnings of $12 million. As a result, half of Gold’s winnings were kept in a frozen account. A year later, Leyser and Gold issued a press statement that they had amicably settled the issue and shortly thereafter, Bodog.com broke all ties with Gold.

In spite of this setback, Gold hasn’t vanished from the poker gaming world; he is still around participating in poker tournaments and mulling over the idea of using poker to raise funds for charity.

Other Interests

Jamie Gold appears on TV poker shows such as Poker After Dark by NBC and High Stakes poker by GSN. He has also participated in a number of charity poker events, raising money for charity; besides, he is associated with a wide range of charitable causes such as Ante Up For Africa, Annie Duke’s poker events for charity, and many more.

Recently, he expressed his desire to establish a charity poker tournament to raise funds for those who suffer from Lou Gehrig’s disorder.