A Case For Jamie Gold’s Bodyguards
September 29, 2006
Jamie Gold reportedly had bodyguards in the final days of the WSOP. Gold’s camp says there were threats made against him. Gold was making enemies with his unorthodox play and irritating style. Taunting other players, revealing his cards and insisting he will call a re-raise. The kind of table talk that really irritates and insults veteran and amateur players alike. Read ESPN’s piece on Jamie Gold’s performance.
I grew to dislike Gold, too. He was in every pot, pushing chips around and hitting flops. He was getting cards. There were only a few moments in the tourney where he may have faltered, but because of his huge chiplead, he never took a big hit.
I think there’s a certain way to behave at a poker table and, especially at a final table. When I think about big money poker tournaments, I think of players like John Juanda, Phil Ivey, Sammy Farha, Texas Dolly, Howard Lederer and Johnny Chan. Class acts. You are about to don a very sacred bracelet and win a lot of money. Be humble. Chan, it turns out is Gold’s mentor. Almost his foil, Chan watches silently as Gold noisily intimidates other players. I can’t imagine Chan’s reaction to Gold’s tawdry performance.
I’ve got to give some credit where it’s due. He put all the players on tilt. Most of them knew he was just getting hands, and some would call just to see if he really was bluffing or had a hand every flop. Often times when other players would think they were trapping him, Gold would have them out kicked our have a higher pocket pair. The chips were coming in spades. Sorry.
The thing is, Gold’s drama with the bodyguards and his loud, obnoxious behavior helped him take control of the final days of the tournament. Word was getting out after the first few days that Gold was amassing huge chip stacks and moving all in with absolutely nothing. King high, was the rumor. He pushed all in with K high, everyone folded and he showed the bluff. As the tourney wore on and most players saw no end to Gold’s domination, and, well I’m sure some people were pissed off. I would be. He’s not particularly good at playing but he truly played his part well.
Dressed in all black on the final days, he was a poker player’s worst nightmare. A loud, unpredictable player with a huge chipstack that he was shoving all over the table. Players waited for a decent hand and moved all in and Gold had over pairs on them. At one point Gold was on a complete bluff and needed one of two 7s to hit the board against trips or something and he pulled it. From there on in, it was just a matter of the details, who’d be second, third and fourth. Even until the last hand where he goaded a call from Paul Wasicka when he had the best hand, Gold always had the momentum. His entourage and bodyguards were in full effect and he’s going to need them.
One week after the tournament, a lawsuit was filed against Gold by Bruce Leyser. Leyser claims that Gold had agreed to split half of his earnings in the tournament with Leyser in exchange for Gold recruiting celebrities to wear bodog.com (a popular gambling site) apparel.
I’m sure he’d like to hire more bodyguards, but as far as I know, his winnings are being held by the Rio after an injuction from a judge pending review of the case. Gold’s lawyers had until September 15th to answer to the judge.
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