The Tropicana Las Vegas has announced that 2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion Jamie Gold has been named the casino’s Poker Spokesperson and Ambassador. Additionally, the Tropicana’s redesigned poker room will be named “The Jamie Gold Poker Room.”
“The ownership and management of the new Tropicana, as well as Jamie, have an incredible vision for this relationship,” said Gold’s agent, Randy Kasper of Poker Players International in a press release. “This deal is by far the biggest of its kind and the poker world will be shocked by many of the components as they are unveiled.”
Gold will be on hand at the Tropicana every day until the mid-January re-launch of the poker room and plans to return at least once per month thereafter. Amongst the poker room’s promotion are fan-focused events, memorabilia, and the opportunity to actually sit down and play against Jamie Gold for as little as a $100 buy-in.
“For the past three years, I have been focusing on raising money around the globe for worthy causes,” said Gold. “It has been so rewarding; I couldn’t begin to put it into words. I will continue to live up to my nickname as ‘The Poker Philanthropist’ while at the same time getting back to the game I love which has given me countless opportunities.”
“This deal with Tropicana covers everything I could have ever wanted in a relationship with a major Las Vegas Strip resort and it will serve as my anchor and the conduit to all of my future poker and philanthropic endeavors,” he continued. “I really couldn’t be more excited!”
The Tropicana poker room has traditionally been a bit of an afterthought on the Las Vegas poker scene. The casino itself, while perfectly fine and generally more affordable than the more extravagant ones on the north end of the Las Vegas Strip, is not much of a destination casino for tourists. The poker is small and unassuming.
But the “Trop” has been undergoing a $100+ million remodel, which includes a new poker room, so things very well may change. The poker room offers free daily poker lessons at 9:00am and holds daily tournaments at 10:00am, 2:00pm, 6:00pm, and 11:00pm. While most of the games spread are of the Hold’em variety, Razz is offered on Tuesdays, HORSE is offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and special Dealer’s Choice games are offered on Saturdays.
Jamie Gold was a complete unknown in the poker world until storming through the 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event. He took a huge chip lead on Day 4 and ran that all the way through the finish, using an extremely loose-aggressive style of play, a lot of luck in key situations, and a knack for talking opponents into the decisions he wanted them to make. His $12 million win was the largest in WSOP history, coming just before the passing of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in the United States, which hurt subsequent registration numbers. Since his win, he has made some appearances on poker television shows, but has not won another live tournament.
