Inside Gaming column: Trials after title for poker champ

[Hear the Gold interview on "The Strip" here or read Steve's NYT piece here]

April 1, 2007

NEVADA -- It's been a rough few months for defending World Series of Poker champion Jamie Gold. After winning a record-setting $12 million top prize, besting a field of 8,773 in last year's world championship event, Gold, a 38-year-old Hollywood producer, was sued in federal court by a fellow poker player who claimed he agreed to split any winnings.

The two settled the dispute in February, but Gold ran into more hot water for acknowledging he violated rules governing tournament play. In an interview with Las Vegas freelance journalist Steve Friess that appeared in The New York Times, Gold admitted he flashed his hole card to an opponent and told another opponent about one of his hands.

Under the tournament's rules, Gold could have been forced to sit out play for 10 minutes. Last week, World Series of Poker officials said Gold would not be punished retroactively for the violations, but they said they had spoken to him about the matter.

"I do want to stress, however, that we do not condone any violations of the rules," World Series of Poker Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack said in a statement.

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