Profile and Strategy for 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event Winner Jamie Gold
It would be fair to say that Jamie Gold had an unusual route to winning the World Series of Poker Main Event.
His introduction into the game came when he began working with Johnny Chan and Chris Moneymaker for an upcoming TV show (his day job was TV production and management). Two times Main Event winner Chan then began mentoring Jamie Gold.
There was card-playing success in the Gold family. Jamies grandfather was a champion gin rummy player, so the game did come easy to him. In 2005 he started playing tournaments and had some success, winning a tournament and cashing in seven others in the next 12 months. This gave him the confidence to enter the WSOP Main Event.
How the 2006 WSOP Main Event Unfolded
The $10,000 entry fee main event saw an entry list of 8,773 players and a total prize pool of $82.5 million. To this day, that was the largest prize pool in poker tournament history. The event had four starting days, and days 2A and 2B before the event became one group.
On August 8th, the tournament was down to just nine players. Jamie Gold was sitting pretty with the chip lead.
Jamie Gold Crushes at the Final Table
Looking around him at the final table, the main player to fear was Allen Cunningham. This acclaimed poker pro had 4 WSOP bracelets to his name, as well as 28 total cashes.
Of the rest of the table, only Paul Wasicka and Michael Binger had ever cashed before (twice and once respectively). The rest of the table was made up of Richard Lee, Erik Friberg, Doug Kim, Rhett Butler and Dan Nassif.
Gold stayed ahead of the field throughout the final table, eliminating many of the players himself. A pivotal moment saw Gold face Cunningham in what was effectively a coin-flip for Cunningham’s tournament life. Cunningham held 10-10 and Gold K-J. A King on the flop saw Cunningham eliminated.
2006 WSOP: The Final Three Players
With three left, Gold eliminated Bicker and would face Paul Wasicka heads up. The chip count was 78 million to 11 million in Gold’s favour.
At 3.43am after just 20 minutes of heads-up play, the tournament ended. Gold held Q-9 and Wasicka held 10-10. The flop came Q-8-5 and Wasicka went all in. An Ace on the turn and a 4 on the river didn’t change anything, and Gold’s top pair won him the Main Event – along with the record-breaking prize.
Other Major Poker Tournaments for Jamie Gold
In total, Jamie Gold has enjoyed five cashes at the World Series of Poker. However, the $12 million prize completely swamps all of his other successes in poker. In the 2015 World Series of Poker, Gold would win $120,000 at the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event after finishing 5th. A second-place finish in the 2016 Winning’ O’ the Green $1,675 No Limit Hold’em event was his only other six figure win.
Poker Playing Style of Jamie Gold
In winning the Main Event, Jamie Gold became known for playing an aggressive style. This was combined with a lot of table-talk. Sometimes he would tell players he was weak and sometimes he claimed the opposite, creating a level of uncertainty at the table.
There have been times that his ‘table talk’ has been seen as both a positive, as it clearly worked at the Main Event, and a negative, as player’s have also criticised the style.
While experienced players often use clearly defined ranges of hands, Gold was unpredictable. Opponents never quite knew what cards he was capable of playing.
Before and After the World Series of Poker Win
Gold was born in Kansas City, Missouri. The family would move to Paramus, New Jersey and Gold would later earn a bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York. He also studied entertainment law at UCLA. His main career saw him become a talent agent by the age of 21 and then moved into management and promotion.
After his success in 2006, Gold would continue to play poker, alongside his other business exploits. While a regular at the World Series of Poker, other tournament appearances were rare. Much of his poker play today is at smaller cash games at local casinos.
Could You be the Next WSOP Champion?
One of the joys of poker is that anyone can get to become the ‘World Champion’ by playing the WSOP main event. Yes, to play you have to pay $10,000 but there are other ways to get a seat, most notably by playing in a satellite event. You can enter these qualifying events online for just a few dollars. If successful you could find yourself sat amongst the best players in the world, with a shot at winning that famous bracelet. In 2003, Chris Moneymaker
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