ShareJamie Gold took the poker world by storm in 2006. The then 36 year old TV producer was able to outlast the World Series of Poker Main Event field and take down the biggest prize pool in the history of the series.
As impressive as the prize pool was, it was not the most impressive aspect of Gold’s Cinderella run. What stood out the most during the 2006 Main Event was Gold’s table presence and his ability to cunningly dismantle his opponents with his gab alone.
His table mannerisms were deemed questionable by players and officials alike, and, as a result, the Jamie Gold rule was established.
Gold’s Golden Mouth
In order to understand just how influential Gold’s table manner was, let’s take a look at some hands in which he convinced his opponents to fold the best hand.During the middle stages of the tournament, Gold got involved in a hand with 65o. His opponent opened the pot with AJo, and Gold decided to flat in the big blind with his much weaker hand. The flop came KKJ, giving his opponent two-pair.
Gold checked it over to the villain, who decided to make a bet of 100,000 chips. But just as his opponent was stacking his chips to make the bet, Gold decided to intervene with his mouth.
“Don’t worry, you still got three kings,” Gold said to his opponent who double checked his hand. Gold decided to fire a check-raise to the tune of 200,00.
“I’ll show ya either way,” Gold then said to his opponent who was scanning him for any possible tells. “You got aces, you probably have no choice. You got a king, I'm in a lot of trouble.”
“I’m just trying to decide if you have the king,” his opponent told him. “Which I think you do.”
“This isn’t the way you want to go out,” Gold told him as he pushed his cards into the muck.
In another hand against poker professional Prahlad Friedman, Gold made a river bluff with just king-high and began working his talking voodoo on the young man.
Friedman had some intel on Gold and his bluffs from earlier in the tournament, and it seemed as if he had just caught him red-handed. Gold wasn’t going down with out a fight.
“You got me,” Gold said to Friedman. “I can’t believe you got me.”
Gold hemmed and hawed while Friedman made his decision, visibly uncomfortable. “I don’t even want to watch,” he said as he stood away from the table. Friedman eventually slid the best hand into the muck.
The Jamie Gold Rule
Although table talk is a completely viable strategy in poker, Gold eventually pushed the boundaries. Gold would not only try to intimidate and stump his opponents into folding, he also would discuss the contents of his hand.As a result, the Jamie Gold rule was established. After 2006, discussing the contents of one's hand with another player while the hand is ongoing is not allowed, as it could be categorized as a form of collusion.
So there you have it, a look at how one single man’s epic Main Event run resulted in a change in the tournament poker rule book.
