Jamie Gold Profile

Jamie Gold is currently poker's highest earning tournament player, with over $12,000,000 in winnings to his name. With only two major tournament wins to his name, Jamie Gold knows how to win when it counts. His first place finish at the 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event netted him exactly $12,000,000, the biggest prize ever awarded in the WSOP.

You can think what you want about his still unproven tournament record but Jamie Gold is undeniably talented at life. He studied entertainment law at UCLA and became a talent agent by the time he was 21. His clients include stars such as James Gandolfini (The Sopranos) Lucy Liu (Lucky Number Sleven, Charlie's Angels, Kill Bill) Jimmy Fallon (SNL) and Johnny Chan, another professional poker player. He would later go on to start his own talent agency, JMG Management.

His first experience with strategy gaming came at a young age with his mother, who was an avid poker player and his grandfather, who was a championship gin rummy player. His family would later prove to be a major support network for Jamie when he expressed interest in going pro.

While working with former WSOP champion Johnny Chan, Jamie got serious about poker and Chan agreed to mentor him. It didn't take long for Gold to win his first title, a tournament at the Bicycle Casino, for a $54,000 payday. His next major title would be in 2006, when he took down the WSOP Main Event.

Unfortunately for Jamie, his WSOP win was tainted by a string of controversies surrounding things he did at the table and deals he made away from the table. During the WSOP, several players complained that Jamie told a friend what he was holding during a hand so that he wouldn't bust him out. Another time it was reported that he flashed one of his hole cards during a hand. They weren't major breaches of policy but they were definitely borderline. Later, Jamie apologized and asked for forgiveness. It appears that those slip-ups were more a result of inexperience than maliciousness.

The biggest controversy surrounding him involved a deal he made with Crispin Leyser of Bodog Entertainment. Apparently, Jamie Gold had agreed to find celebrities willing to attend the WSOP and wear Bodog apparel in exchange for Bodog paying for his entry into the main event. Jamie also agreed to give Crispin Leyser half of any winnings he might make in the event.

After the win, Leyser filed a lawsuit claiming that Gold had not made good on his deal to split his winnings with Leyser. Evidence was admitted to the court and a restraining order was issued, freezing $6 million of Jamie's winnings at the Rio Hotel and Casino. The lawsuit was eventually settled outside of court for an undisclosed amount.

Jamie currently resides in Malibu, California where he divides his time between poker and other business pursuits. He has participated in a wide variety of charitable poker tournaments and has appeared on Poker After Dark and High Stakes Poker.

Jamie Facts:

Over $12,000,000 in live tournament winnings
Won the largest grand prize in the history of the WSOP
His neighbor is Chris "Jesus" Ferguson
Former entertainment talent agent