Online gambling site Bodog.com, has permanently terminated their business relationship with Jamie Gold, the 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion. Jamie gold was part of Team Bodog Poker along side David Williams, Josh Arieh, and Evelyn Ng.
Reports said that Bodog.com has confirmed the split, attributing it to normal commercial imperatives in the United States, including the termination of non-Internet advertising, switching their attention from the American market to Europe and Asia. They continued to say that it had nothing to do with the recent public row between Gold and Bruce Crispin Leyser, a television producer, over an alleged agreement to split Gold's WSOP paycheck.
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The spokesmen is quoted as saying: "In light of our decision to cease all offline marketing initiatives in the U.S., and instead refocus our efforts on growing our entertainment brand in Europe and Asia, Bodog has ended our business relationship with Jamie Gold. Bodog has enjoyed our association with Mr. Gold and wishes him the best of luck in his future endeavors."
Jamie Gold is a former talent agent and secured his $10,000 entry into the 2006 WSOP Main Event through Bodog by promising to get celebrities to play in the tournament wearing Bodog advertisements. Gold enlisted the help of Leyser, a television executive, to meet Bodog's celebrity quota. According to Leyser, Gold agreed to split his winnings in exchange for Leyser's help and then refused to pay after winning the Main Event. Last August, the U.S. Chief District Court Judge Kathy Hardcastle ordered Harrah's to place half of Gold's winnings in a Clark County, Nevada, trust fund pending the lawsuit's conclusion.
Many Poker fans are questioning the reasons for dropping Gold and not the other US Team Bodog Poker’s Williams, Arieh and Ng. Jamie Gold is by far the larger image of all of these players in the marketplaces Bodog are trying to muscle in on, which means it costs them more money to keep him compared to the others.
Jamie Gold is now the only WSOP champion within the last five years without a deal with an online poker room. The famous three, Hachem, Raymer and Moneymaker, are all signed up with Pokerstars and even Robert Varkonyi has tied up a business arrangement.
