JAMIE GOLD MAY GET $6 MILLION

Poker Blog sponsor, Paradise Poker.
The world’s first online poker room and still your best bet, Paradise Poker.

photos by FlipChip/LasVegasVegas.com

Jamie Gold, winner of the 2006 WSOP Main Event ChampionshipLatest news in the Jamie Gold /2006 World Series of Poker Championship fiasco is the eminent release of $6 million of the $12 million prize money to Gold by the Rio Hotel after U.S. District Court Judge Roger L. Hunt decided that Bruce Crispin Leyser’s claim of a verbal agreement between the two to share equally any prize money realized from the WSOP Main Event has merit. Richard Schoenfeld, the lawyer for plaintiff Bruce Crispin Leyser, the Hollywood guy suing Jamie Gold for half of the WSOP Main Event loot, said the judge is expected to sign the order very soon. Jamie Gold will then have access to his half of the money and is expected to withdraw it from the Rio resort, the host of the 2006 WSOP. The other $6 million will be held by the Rio until the case between Gold and Crispin is settled.Schoenfeld is expected to introduce a number of well known big money professional poker players as witnesses to define and detail the long standing custom in poker tournaments of players making verbal agreements involving millions of dollars in prize money. I’ve watched first hand over the years as poker tournament players making final tables make verbal deals to split the prize pool most all the time. The practice is so common place that tournament poker just wouldn’t be the same without deal making. Having a situation of a poker player making a deal with another player or a backer then refusing to honor the agreement is unthinkable. Poker players just don’t do that. It’s kind of like the “honor among thieves” thing, a simple unwritten rule of poker says you honor your word.

I’ve never been one to think poker would be better if we Europeanized the game into a “gentlemen endeavor” complete with a book full of unwritten rules of “proper” etiquette all carried out in the hushed quietness of a morgue. Personally, I like the people that engage in chatter, show their emotions, and employ any of the antics that we often see at poker tournaments. The Matusow’s, Laak’s, Hellmuth’s and other sharp tongued players keep the fans tuning in for more. Personally, I deplore any poker player that doesnt make good on all agreements, even verbal ones, and I don’t believe the sport will ever have a place for a welcher. Remember, the game of poker rewards players that are capable of looking you in the eye and lying straight faced; but, poker does not reward or tolerate a player that cheats or steals. A welcher is no different than a common thief picking your pocket.