[JoshW]

LIAR'S POKER: ALL THAT GLITTERS IS NOT (WSOP CHAMP) GOLD - August 13, 2006

HOLLYWOOD, INTERRUPTED EXCLUSIVE


Freshly crowned $12 million poker king Jamie Gold is reportedly deeply indebted to background players...


WSOP moneymaker Gold prepares to chop his stack America's new poker poster boy Jamie Gold had railbirds and players alike scratching their heads and scoffing when he told ESPN that he didn't want the fame of being the latest WSOP champ. The black-clad endorsement-bedecked former Hollywood talent agent smacked disingenuous when he actually announced that he was willing dump his massive chip lead and settle for second place to avoid all the attention associated with the big win at the "big dance."

"I like making other people famous," Gold told the sports news outlet. "I've always been behind other people."

Hollywood, Interrupted has learned that, going into the WSOP tournament, there were people behind Gold, and now they are waiting in the wings, hat in hand champing for the champ to pony up.

According to sources in the WPT (World Poker Tour) and the professional player community in Vegas, the back-story goes like this:

When the splashy, online gambling web site Bodog.com agreed to sponsor Gold into the World Series, they pressed him to arrange for one of his famous friends to join their ball-cap wearing gang of camera hogs.

Gold, who boasts about having repped everyone from Sopranos star James Gandolfini to actress Lisa Liu, reportedly came up dry in the celebrity wrangling department, and turned to a friend inside the WPT (World Poker Tour).

Crispin "Easy Money"
Leyser

Matthew "The Bodog Shill" Lillard The friend, a young British chap named Crispin Leyser, who, with his wife Jules, tours with the WPT as a boot camp poker instructor, collared smarmy "Scream" star Matthew Lillard to fill the celebrity seat at the last minute, and - recognizing that his pal was failing to get his own 10k tournament buy-in together - the grateful Gold then offered Leyser half his winnings should he cash in the tournament.

And cash he did.

But the irony here is, should Gold make good on his reported 50 percent payout promise (not including the 10 percent fee he reportedly owes his much ballyhooed mentor, poker giant Johnny Chan), he's only cashing out to the $6 million 2nd place prize amount he flippantly said he'd settle for in the first place!
A high-level source at the WPT tells Hollywood, Interrupted that Gold has not paid anyone yet, but he is rushing to set up a quickie corporation to protect what's left of his winnings. And while it remains to be seen if he makes good on his nil-advised oral contract with the poker coach, it appears that the former ten-percenter is guilty of making one helluva bad business decision.

Says one poker pro, "In the gambling community, your word is gold." And, should the man of the same name as his word welsh on his promise, says the pro, "His name is dirt."

[jjgold]

This guy is going to make a ton anyway, so losing the 7 or 8 million will not dent him.

[isetcap]

What an idiot.

After his 15 minutes, the next story we'll hear about this muckhard is how he's being prosecuted for tax evasion.

[scottyy11]

Originally Posted by jjgold

This guy is going to make a ton anyway, so losing the 7 or 8 million will not dent him.

agree 100% the title is worth probably more than the winnings.......i'm sure pokerstars will be in touch soon

[JoshW]

The title would have been worth more if he wasn't such a liar, that puts whole new spin on this. Since Bodog paid his entry figure they would be going crazy spinning this win to their advantage.

[Illusion]

Originally Posted by jjgold

This guy is going to make a ton anyway, so losing the 7 or 8 million will not dent him.

Damn jj, how can you even say that? That's a whole lotta coin there.