NBC National Heads Up Poker Championship Red Carpet Photo Dump

All right, let's wrap this all up with some pictures (below) closing thoughts on the NBC National Heads Up Poker Championship red carpet/draw party last night.

First, job well done to Jon Miller of NBC for growing this event to what it is. This was easily the biggest red carpet crowd with the most excitement around it we've seen in the three years we've been covering it. Plus adding GoDaddy.com as a sponsor brings yet another big name mainstream advertiser into the fold (which = good for the game).

Now some random notes: Not sure if it was because he saw Phil Hellmuth talking to the RawVegas.tv crew or not, but Layne Flack couldn't have exited stage left into the party (and by-passed the video crews) any faster than if his ass was literally on fire and the only bucket of water within a three mile radius was in PURE Nightclub itself. / Congratulations again to Vanessa Rousso for landing a spot in that GoDaddy.com commercial with Danica Patrick. Also congrats on rocking a skin tight outfit that revealed a remarkably clear, um, something that rhymes with "mammal doe." / Speaking of Danica Patrick, while not super-model pretty, in person she's definitely better-looking than you'd think. Kind of "take-home-to-mom" pretty. / Jamie Gold had no problem immediately admitting he screwed up on getting a fake tan. / And while Annie Duke kind of makes sense on why she's not switching to FTP, we're still standing by our steak dinner offer.

Click the thumbs below for larger scale images.

Jamie Gold's PR People Still Monkey F'ing a Football

We have no idea whether or not Jamie Gold still uses the same monkey-fucking-a-football PR squad he did back during the BruceCrispin Leyser days, but all current evidence points to "yes."

In an extremely poorly crafted press release with multiple spelling/grammatical errors, Gold's team let's us know that on Oscar night this Sunday you can play in a charity tournament as:

"ACED [Gold's new online sponsor] has donated an [sic] very generous award...the lucky winner will have a once in a lifetime priceless opportunity: a $10,000 seat into the world's most prestigious poker event, along with an all-expense paid trip to Las Vegas, private dinner and complete coaching by champion Gold prior to the main event, the best chance our winner can cash in for over 10,000,000 dollars and be poker's next world champion! The CUN Viewing event is to raise money and awareness for foster and at-risk youth through schools and mentorship programs."

Gold is quoted as saying:

"Some things are more important than trying to win $7 million dollars! These kids need our help."

Ok, no one is questioning Gold's charitable bonafides. He's done a great deal for a number of philanthropic organizations and should be applauded for it. However, where in this press release does it say howhe is giving up a shot to win some mythical 7 mil prize? Wtf? Sure, the LAPC Main Event is going on then, and maybe it'll have a $7,000,000 total prize pool, and maybe the winner will see around $1.5M or so. Is that what they're talking about? If so, that's about as misleading as a stripper pretending she really likes you and is even considering your offer to take her to dinner some time...while she's giving you a lapdance of course.

You know what they say about history...You know what they say about history.

Read the full press release here.

Poker News Links Brought to You By Suelyn Medeiros

 
Figured we needed to bring some sexyness back on the homepage since you've been staring at Russ Hamilton's ugly mug the past few days. Enter Suelyn Medeiros, a Brazilian model who is so hot, that if it came out she was implicated in the UB super-user account scandal too, we'd be like, "Well, so what? What's the big deal? Who wouldn't do the same in her situation? Did you see her ass, btw?" View more below or the full set of pics here.

:: Tom Schneider's entertaining rant on Russ Hamilton sums up most people's thoughts on the guy pretty well. [link]

:: Jamie Gold signs with Aced.com, whatever that is. [link]

:: Among those who are victims of the Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme: Lyle Berman. [link]

:: Man it's a fucking slow day if we're fucking linking to this story. [link]

:: And Annie Duke, a woman, who we broke finished at least in the top 2 (pretty sure she won it) on Celebrity Apprentice and who we still have a standing offer of a steak dinner, is finally showing up in some Celebrity Apprentice clips. [link]

One Week Until 2008 WSOP + We're Off Memorial Day Weekend

Barring some crazy breaking story, Wicked Chops Poker will be off Memorial Day Weekend. With the 2008 World Series of Poker just a week away (meaning six straight weeks of unrelenting poker coverage), and 2/3 of the Entities in Ireland right now, and 1/3 of the Entities staggering drunk for three-days, let's be honest, not much is going to get done.

But to get in the mindset for the 2008 WSOP, here's some recommended reading from WCP coverage of WSOP's past.

2005 WSOP
Before going down on Dancing with the Stars' Derek Hough, Dancing with the Stars' Shannon Elizabeth went down in four-way action.
Wily Brit Barry Baskin smelled like shit.
Whatever happened to Johnny Rockets from Daytona? That guy seemed to have the total package.
Brad Garrett was urinating and so dork had an Elmo head.
The longest massage ever?
Some dude got real creepy around Greg Raymer.
Tiffany Williamson...that bitch is crazy!

2006 WSOP
Where to even begin? How about some Card Player Like You Were There Moments (TM) here here here here here here and here.
Phil Hellmuth wins a then record-tying 10th bracelet.
Clearly us at our absolute most bedlam ensuing.
Some chick played in a nun outfit which probably blew Gank's mind.
The Milwaukee's Best Light girls need to make a comeback.
Somebody told us that Bill Gates has a regular call girl he sees in France.
Our Sweats did OK in Day 1B.
Mean people applauded when Doyle Brunson busted.
Our mutual love-affair with Anna Benson began.
Joanna Krupa (above) officially became the hottest girl to ever play the WSOP.
Some more hot girls from the 2006 WSOP.
Vaughn Sandman (where ya been, bud?) absolutely toys with "Salty" Joe Hachem.
We were the first to introduce the world to Jamie Gold.
And we were the only ones to get a pic with Jamie Gold and Crispin "Don't Call Me Bruce" Leyser.

Jamie Gold's Personal Videographer Pissed, Will Auction 'Negative' Footage on eBay

Rae Valentine, the videographer who followed Jamie Gold around pretty much everywhere the WSOP Main Event champ went for several months before, during and after his controversial win in the summer of 2006, is set to auction off all of the video footage he has of Gold on eBay which he claims will "validate some of the negative imagery surrounding the life of Jamie Gold." Says Valentine on a website he created recently: "On August 10, 2008, the 2-year anniversary of Jamie's World Series Of Poker 2006 win, I will end a 5-day auction on Ebay providing the winning bid with all video content associated with the Jamie Gold Project, in its entirety. Maybe this day will prove to be lucky for me. I truly hope whomever ends up with this content has the same passion I once had of making a compelling movie documentary, even in it's moments of controversy, as interesting and entertaining a story, I know it to be." Valentine claims that he was hired by Gold per a "gentlemen's agreement" (Jamie's good at those) to produce a behind the scenes movie documentary and had followed Jamie "through airports and hotels, limos and casinos, from Los Angeles to New York." Valentine alleges that their friendship soured after Gold's win and that he has lost "an estimated $150k" because apparently Jamie no longer wishes to use the footage for a documentary, which we can't really blame Gold for considering how sucky poker movies are doing at the box office. According to Valentine: "A majority of the footage shows Jamie as an arrogant, paranoid, at times over-the-top individual who through all of his imperfections can be quite entertaining as he plots strategies (while in the comfort of his hotel bed with two plain clothes security guards posted just outside his door) on how he will defeat each of his opponents in the final days leading up to his poker world series victory." Arrogant, paranoid, at times over-the-top, and with security guards? No, not the Jamie Gold we know. No way. Check out all of what Rae has to say on his website, including a few transcripts from the footage featuring none other than our good pal Crispin Leyser, here. In related Jamie Gold eBay auction news, no one paid $5,000 for Jamie Gold's urinal mint. Semi-relatedly, Jamie Gold thinks Wicked Chops Poker is "awesome."

Neil Channing, a Ginger*, 'Jamie Golds' the Final Table at the 2008 Irish Poker Open

Neil Channing, a ginger, so he has no soul and may kill you in your sleep if he gets the chance, has won the 2008 Irish Poker Open in Dublin, Ireland.

After working his way through a field of 667 players, the 40-year-old from London entered the televised final table with more than a third of the chips in play and steamrolled over his competitors in a manner reminiscent of the way Jamie Gold dominated the final table at the 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event.

For the win, "Bad Beat" Channing takes home €801,400. Runner-up Donal Norton, the sole Irishman at the final table, walks with €420,000.

The rest of the final table finished as follows: Thomas Dunwoodie (€275,000), Tim Blake (€220,000), Danilo Paulsen (€175,000) and Edwin Tournier (€135,000).

While we weren't there in Dublin to cover the event as we've been banished from the Emerald Isle ever since the naked leprechaun tossing debacle in Kilkenny ten years ago, our pal Owen Laukannen was there and you can read his full wrap-up here.

Speaking of leprechaun tossing, for a video showing what all Canadians do to celebrate St. Patrick's Day besides freeze their asses off, go here.

Photo above of Neil Channing, a ginger, and last year's Irish Open champ, Marty Smyth, also a ginger.

*UPDATE: There's a good chance based on people who have played against him that Neil isn't an actual ginger although he does show some ginger tendencies. Perhaps it was just the photos Owen took that made him look pretty ginger-y to us. Same goes with Marty, although the dude's pretty much bald so it's hard to tell. Regardless, being labeled a ginger is a serious matter and if we're wrong, our apologies.

2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship Done: Wasicka, Forrest, Hellmuth, Dancing with the Stars' Shannon Elizabeth Do Not Advance

It was a bad opening day for previous NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship champs.

2005 winner Phil Hellmuth (above) took a devastating beat on hand number three against online pro Tom "durrr" Dwan. Hellmuth, holding pocket aces, called a re-raise all in by Dwan, who held tens. A ten hit on the turn, sending Hellmuth to the rail.

2006 winner Ted Forrest was gunned down by Orel Hershiser. The former Dodgers pitcher had just received heads-up lessons from Gavin Smith and Bill Edler the night before (footage of this will be up on RawVegas.tv on Sunday). Guess it worked.

Last year's champ Paul Wasicka was taken down by half-man, half-amazing Freddy Deeb.

And Dancing with the Stars' Shannon Elizabeth lost to Andy Bloch. So it's back to Dancing with the Stars for Shannon Elizabeth.

Phil Ivey, fresh of his WPT LAPC win, advanced to the second round, where he'll face Johnny Chan (who confirmed to us that he does not have a handicap sticker on his car).

Other compelling Round of 32 match-ups include: Gavin Smith vs. Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Scotty Nguyen vs. Gus Hansen, Jerry Yang vs. Phil Laak, Scott Fischman vs. Jamie Gold, Erick Lindgren vs. Doyle Brunson, and our pick to win it yet again, Huck Seed vs. Brian Townsend.

WPT LA Poker Classic: Vinnie Vinh Still Alive, Glum Girl is Here, Benyamine Looking Slim(mer), Negreanu Backing Barack

So we made it to the Commerce today after a night of relatively moderate bedlam that kicked off at the Library Alehouse in Santa Monica and somehow ended up with us at a Laurel Canyon mansion this morning with a group of Venice Beach trust fund hippies who graffiti'd are SUV rental with Obama stickers.

We'll save that story however for our forthcoming 4-part series entitled "How We Spent the Friday Night Before the WPT LA Poker Classic."

For now, the word from the Commerce is that the action got underway almost 3 5 7 plus hours ago and we're finally getting around to writing something and we don't have much to say besides that pretty much every poker player you know this side of the Atlantic is here including Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, Jamie Gold, John Phan, Carlos Mortensen, Are You Really Reading this List?, Paul Wasicka, Vannessa "Went to Duke" Rousso, Grover Cleveland, Layne Flack, Phil Laak, Josh Arieh, Rhahaeid Skaoodo, David Plastik, Barry Greenstein, Dan Harrington, Erick Lindgren, Mother Teresa, Eric Mizrachi, Scott Clements, Haralabos Voulgaris, Still Reading This?, David Williams, Freddy Deeb, We Wonder What We Should Eat for Dinner, Gavin Smith, David Singer, Lee Watkinson, Perhaps We'll Go to Panchos Tonight, Tom Schneider, Mark Seif, This Is Getting Tiring, Chau Giang, Tim Phan and Erick Seidel.

In total, 665 players started today, down considerably from last year's 791, and the total prize pool is $6,374,400, with first place set to take home $1,596,100. In 2007, Eric Hershler walked away with $2,429,970.

Of note . . .

Jamie Gold Did Not Hook Up with Brandi Hawbaker

How Wicked Chops Poker turned into the Brandi Hawbaker Network over the past 48 hours is beyond us, but whatever, it's great for ratings.

So we got word direct from the source that 2006 WSOP champ Jamie Gold never hooked up with Brandi (can we get a nickname for her from one of our readers? anyone?) as has been reported on WCP the forums. So let's strike that hook-up from the record for those keeping tabs at home. Didn't happen. Our apologies.

Jamie Gold's exclusive WCP interview

Jamie Gold on RawVegas.tv

Jerry Yang, God to Play 2008 NBC Heads-Up Poker Championship

NBC has announced its initial line-up for the (no longer?) Shana Hiatt-hosted 2008 National Heads-Up Poker Championship, and while most of the field is the same old same old (Doyle, Ivey, Chan, Jesus, Greenstein, Hellmuth, Shannon Elizabeth), a few new players on the scene are set to compete including Mirage Poker Showdown winner Jonathan Little, high stakes cash player Brian Townsend and God-on-his-side 2007 WSOP Main Event Champion Jerry Yang (seen at right), who besides his Chris McCandless-esque journey into the wilds of that cold ice mass north of America, we haven't seen much of since July.

Antonio Esfandiari, who hasn't done much on the poker circuit since Bush's first term, is also among the players set to play, for some reason. Or maybe he's just going to do table side magic or something.

The nationally televised single elimination tournament, which was won last year by Paul Wasicka, is set to take place February 29 - March 2 at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas just as the LA Poker Classic wraps at the Commerce. The show will air on NBC in April and May.

For more on the NBC Heads-Up Championship go to the official site here.

For what 2006 WSOP Main Event champ Jamie Gold had to say about Wicked Chops Poker at last year's NBC Heads-Up championship go here.

For why you should go read a book, go here.

People Got Drunk at Phil Hellmuth's Holiday Party

This past Tuesday night, Phil Hellmuth threw a big birthday/holiday party in a Palms fantasy suite. If we were retarded, we'd say it looked "off the chain" or "off the hook" or "was the bomb." The dude with that thing on his chin from Anthrax played, and apparently, plenty of booze was available.

Having some fun at the party included party tour guide Gavin Smith, recent Five-Diamond $5k runner-up finisher Sully Erna, Roland de Wolfe, and Jamie Gold (who provides one of the night's best lines about 3:45 in). Watch below or here.

Jerry Yang, Poker's New Squeaky Clean Ambassador

The Yin and Yang of World Series of Poker Champions.

So the era of Jamie Gold as the WSOP Main Event champ is over, which sucks for us because we don't expect Jerry Yang, the Ajax of poker, to give us any real good material to write about over the next 12 months, at least not like our favorite Malibu blowhard did. Sure Jerry Yang, a God-loving, clean-living, charity-giving, father of six immigrant from Laos, has a truly compelling story, one that is the ultimate manifestation of the American dream--kind of like Tuan Lam's tale of immigrating from Vietnam is except totally different because Lam finished second and lives in Canada. But what can we expect from our new champion as a storyline after the initial media honeymoon is over? Will he balk on giving to the charities he promised? Not likely. Will he produce a new show called "The Hottest Hmong in America?" with a website that says "You Hot Hmong You" every time you visit it? That would be awesome. Will he stiff the WSOP dealers out of a big tip? Wait, he did stiff the dealers out of a big tip? Anyway, lots of people other than us are talking about Yang and below are the best reads we've found so far on the game's new de facto ambassador. Check 'em out. :: Jeff Haney on how the new face of championship poker came from unlikely origins, gained fame lightning fast and plans to give away part of his winning - Las Vegas Sun :: Jerry Yang, the (Poker) World Needs You Now - Lou Krief's Blog :: Can Yang Save Poker's Face? - Casino City Times :: WSOP Epilogue: A Leap of Faith - Tao of Poker :: How to Catch an Animal With a Havahart Trap - wikiHow UPDATE: Stiff the dealer link fixed above. Be sure to also read the piece 2007 WSOP POY Tom Schneider wrote on tipping.

Jamie Gold Gone On Day 1 of 2007 WSOP

It was a disappointing return to the World Series of Poker for Jamie Gold (a paltry $14,000 in cashes and no deep runs) after a disappointing year with him as poker's ambassador.

Gold, who has been looking more like a homeless man around the Rio than the reigning World Champion of poker lately, was eliminated just after the dinner break on Day 1d of the 2007 WSOP. Gold had been at the ESPN featured table all day and proved to be more Varkonyi/Moneymaker-like than Raymer/Hachem-esque in his quest to repeat as champion.

"I'm just frustrated with the way that I played. I played really poorly," Jamie Gold told Lance Bradley of Canada's ThePokerBiz.com, minutes after he was eliminated from the second largest field in poker history.

Gold eventually hit the rail when he pushed all-in with Qs-9s and wasn't able to catch up to his opponent's A-7 off.

Gold's early exit falls far short of his prediction for this year's World Series of Poker. "I know this is the thing you guys are going to kill me on, but I think I'll make the final table this year," he told us during our heads-up interview with him last March.

For more on Gold's elimination, head over to ThePokerBiz.com. For less (clothes) on Jessica Alba, go here.

WSOP Flashback Forward: Jamie Gold Predicts He'll Make Final Table at WSOP

With the start of the 2007 WSOP Main Event just hours away, we thought now would be a good time to look back at what Jamie Gold told us about his predictions for this year's WSOP in our exclusive interview with the soon-to-be former World Champion.

Actually it really isn't a good time for that, or at least not as good of a time as looking at photos of the ridiculously hot Amanda Braun (seen in pic).

But since we brought it up, Gold had the following to say when we asked him for his prediction for this year's WSOP:

"I know this is the thing you guys are going to kill me on, but I think I'll make the final table this year. I know you're gonna slam me on this, but that's what I believe. If you don't believe that, then why are you playing?"

Gold also said: "The Main Event is really important to me. My dream would be to stay in Vegas a month and play as much as possible. I'd like to try and win a little bit of money just to say I've accomplished something in my second year."

Gold has cashed twice this year so far for about $14,000.

Read the entire Jamie Gold interview here. Hear what Jamie Gold has to say about Wicked Chops Poker here. Learn more about Amanda Braun here.

Is Jamie Gold the Next to 'Back' Brandi Hawbaker?

Hanging with the crew at ThePokerBiz.com as Event #8 broke for dinner, we saw Jamie Gold in his all-too-familiar-from-last-year rapid hallway shuffle to the pisser, sans the bodyguards, with none other than the freaky ass Brandi Hawbaker hot on his heels spreading pestilence on unsuspecting passerbys.

Our penises curiously gazed at the narcissistic, hot-enough-to-bang, flame tosser but thankfully the penises were smart enough to dive for cover as she got closer. They may not look it, but our penises are frickin' Einsteins . . . that is, if Einstein was known for sensing the herp from a few steps away.

So what's up with Brandi Hawbaker and Jamie Gold palling around? Is the 2006 WSOP champ "backing" the former pageant girl? Is she the next member of Team BuzzNation? Will our penises' curiosities ever get the best of them?

Well, ThePokerBiz.com team of writers have already jumped on the Jamie Gold-Brandi Hawbaker sighting, so read about it there. We on the other hand are busy trying to convince our penises it's OK to come out now.

Jamie Gold's Urinal Mint from 2006 WSOP for Sale on eBay for $5,000

No shittin' ya, click here to see for yourself.

Starting bid is $5,000.

And you only have five days to act to be the proud owner of this "ultimate poker collectible" that, according to its auctioner "poker-kitty", was "used" by 2006 WSOP champion Jamie Gold "just prior to winning the biggest cash prize ($12 million) in all of sports history."

Poker-kitty, who has a 100% positive feedback rating on eBay and is a 100% douchebag, goes on to say: "The mint in question was acquired (via rubber gloves) from a hotel men's room attendant (close friend of the family; can't disclose his name for obvious reasons), immediately bagged and labeled and stored for safe keeping."

"While this item is DEFINITELY different, that peculiarity and rarity makes it the absolute ultimate piece of poker memorabilia of all time," says poker-kitty. "Heck, you could even use it as a dealer button if you really wanted to, although I'd strongly suggest washing it first!"

There's really nothing we can add to this, except that if this person nabs $5,000 for Gold's piss mint, which is about as likely as it is the real deal, Tao of Poker's Pauly, who loves to write about the pros he whizzes next to at tournaments, has a whole new income stream, so to speak, available to him to pad his bankroll.

Thanks to Michael T. for the heads-up on this one.

The Case for Bombing the Crap Out of IranWSOP Won't Penalize Jamie Gold for Collusion

Editor's Note: Sorry about the first headline. That's for our other blog.

In surprising news that should be surprising to no one, WSOP commish Jeffrey Pollack said in a press release today that the World Series of Poker "will not penalize reigning WSOP World Champion Jamie Gold for two rules infractions that occurred during the 2006 WSOP Main Event."

For a refresher on those two infractions, read our "Forgive Me for Cheating" (aka "Jamie Gold is like herpes") piece here.

According to the press release, which you can read in its entirety after the jump, WSOP officials reviewed video of the infractions and discussed them personally with Gold and concluded that "he did not deliberately attempt to violate the rules and that no penalties would be invoked retroactively for the incidents."

"Not only were we impressed with Jamie's candor and contrition, but we also recognized that tournament officials didn't witness the incidents or take appropriate action at the time of the rules infractions," said Jeffrey Pollack. "We share culpability in this case and are satisfied that the actions in question were inadvertent mistakes. We look forward to Jamie's participation in the 2007 WSOP.

And Jamie of course is looking forward to returning to the WSOP. As he told us in our exclusive interview after the National Heads-Up Championship, "I think I'll make the final table this year. I know you're gonna slam me on this, but that's what I believe. If you don't believe that, then why are you playing?"

Full press release after the jump.

EXCLUSIVE: Jamie Gold Goes Heads-Up With Wicked Chops Poker

It's possible over the past seven months or so we've said some harsh things about Jamie Gold.

Granted, he, along with his monkey-fucking-a-football handlers, have deserved a good share of it.

It all started days before Gold won the World Series of Poker Main Event. In an interview with ESPN.com's Steve Rosenbloom, Gold said he'd rather finish second than win the Main Event.

Then, within days of winning poker's biggest event in one of the most dominating performances ever (aided by some insanely fortuitous flops, turns and rivers), a lawsuit filed by premature ejaculating, gun-jumping Crispin Leyser brought on one of modern poker's ugliest chapters.

A series of misteps in the press followed, as well as some unfortunate personal hardships.

Now, Jamie Gold is ready for a new beginning.

Last week after playing in the National Heads-Up Championship in Las Vegas and sharing on video what he thought of us, Jamie Gold sat with Wicked Chops Poker for a candid (and frankly, ballsy) interview on his rollercoaster year. Gold was honest, forthcoming and, as he put it, ready to step up as an ambassador for the game.

NOTE: After reading our WCP Heads-Up interview with Jamie Gold after the jump, visit Jamie Gold's Raw Perspective video on RawVegas.tv for more in-depth coverage.

WCP: What was your life like a year ago? 

Jamie Gold Wants Us to Like Him

After saying the lawsuit with Crispin Leyser was "all really stupid" and "only the press made it out to be a big thing," Jamie Gold tells RawVegas.tv's Denise Pernula (and soon-to-be featured in Playboy) what he thinks about Wicked Chops Poker.

Link to Jamie Gold on Wicked Chops Poker video here.

UPDATE: WickedChopsPoker.com will feature a "Heads-Up" interview with Jamie Gold next week.

Forgive Me for Cheating, Says Jamie Gold

After getting bounced from Bodog's pro team, settling up his legal shenanigans with Crispin Leyser before he lost even more of his $12 million and repeatedly goose-egging it at major tournaments and on TV since the WSOP, we didn't think we'd hear much from Jamie Gold for awhile, which was pretty foolish for us to think since Gold is basically like a case of herpes, which the game of poker first contracted last August. Disappearing at times only to pop up every so often to remind us how bad it's gotten since those final days last summer.

And so like herpes, or that girl from the Lotto & Groceries store who keeps calling us saying one of us is her baby's daddy, there was Jamie Gold popping up again today, this time chatting it up in a New York Times article about his regrets from the World Series of Poker and how easy it was to settle the lawsuit with Leyser.

Breaking News: Jamie Gold and Crispin Leyser Settle Lawsuit

Every time we say it's a slow news day something big happens.

The Associated Press is reporting that Jamie Gold and "Bruce" Crispin Leyser have settled their lawsuit.

In a joint, signed statement, the parties said:

"Jamie always intended on sharing his winnings with Crispin . . . Jamie and Crispin are happy to report they have fully settled this matter. They are pleased to be closing this chapter and look forward to continued success."

Gold allegedly promised Leyser half of his winnings for helping him land a few celebs to rep Bodog during the 2006 WSOP Main Event. Then unfortunately for Gold, he had to live up to his end of the bargain after winning the $12M first place prize.

While Gold was arranging payment of the funds, Leyser pushed the panic button and sued Gold for half the winnings.

The rest will go down as a really ugly chapter in poker's history.

We'll keep you posted on developments as they come. However, we'll set the line on what Leyser will receive at +/- $4.2M.

A Video Metaphor of How Jamie Gold Fared at the WPT Winter Poker Open

Since we mentioned the other day that Jamie Gold was, at one point, the chipleader during day one of the 2007 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open, we thought we'd update you on his progress by posting this video metaphor of how things went for him, followed by the text after the jump.

Link to YouTube video here

Breaking News: Bodog Issues Statement On Split with Jamie Gold

It's now official.

Bodog.com and embattled 2006 WSOP champ Jamie Gold have split ways. The online gaming site said today that the "Hottest Mom in America" producer sued for half of his $12 million winnings will no longer be a part of Bodog's pro team that includes David Williams, Josh Arieh and Evelyn Ng.

In an official statement today on the split, Bodog.com said:

"In light of its decision to cease all offline marketing initiatives in the U.S., and instead refocus its efforts on growing its entertainment brand in Europe and Asia, Bodog has ended its business relationship with Jamie Gold. Bodog has enjoyed our association with Mr. Gold and wishes him the best of luck in his future endeavors."

Whether those future endeavors will include Gold starting a Team Buzznation poker team consisting of himself and anyone who can stand to be on the same team as him is yet to be seen. There's been no official word yet from the Gold camp, who we suspect are too busy still trying to fuck a football to get a statement out any time soon.

Relive all of the excitement, passion, glory and other emotions that don't come remotely close to summing up the way you've felt about Jamie Gold over the past 6 months here at Wicked Chops Poker.

Photo courtesy of the guys over at WickedChopsPoker.com. We love those guys.

Have You Met the Big Poppa, Jamie Gold?

The first hand of the first episode of High Stakes Poker on GSN was a gem, with Jamie Gold making a move on "Big Poppa" Doyle Brunson on the turn when he had bottom pair and a straight draw while Brunson held the nuts, and it's now up at YouTube.com, which you can view below. Up For Poker has a transcript of the hand, in part, but watch the video (beginning about 3 minutes in) for Gabe Kaplan's priceless commentary and for Sheiky and the gang's digs at the high stakes newbie.

Mark Seif Rips Jamie Gold

If there's one thing we've learned in covering the Crispin Leyser v. Jamie Gold case is that both guys have some seriously loyal friends. People who are sticking by them, through thick and thin, defending them in the media and via emails and phone calls to us, and sometimes with annoying ass comments to our posts that rival some fat ass hoochie momma on Jerry Springer who thinks she's all that and a bag of chips and we're just jealous of them.

And we here at Wicked Chops Poker often find ourselves in the middle of all this, as we report on the case and share our instant opinions on both guys, because a number of our friends and acquaintances in poker are among these seriously loyal friends, and when we diss on either, they're the first to let us know we suck.

Well, one seriously loyal friend of Crispin Leyser, poker pro Mark Seif, who also happens to be a FOWCP and a past WCP Heads-Up interviewee but likely thinks we suck, has just publicly aired his thoughts on Gold and the lawsuit in his first blog for BluffMagazine.com.

Jamie Gold Likely to Lose Leyser Case, Says Judge

Jamie Gold, the controversial WSOP Main Event champ, isn't having the best December.

Just last week his ailing father, Dr. Robert Gold, died just as Jamie landed in Las Vegas to play the Five Diamond Something Something Doyle Brunson Something Something.

Then yesterday in Vegas, the U.S. District Court judge in the Leyser v. Gold court case, the Honorable Roger Hunt, ruled against Gold's motion seeking a lift of the freeze on the remaining $6 million and delivered this not so promising remark:

"His actions, in the court's view, do not give the plaintiff much assurance that the money would, in fact, be available in the event of a judgment in his favor. The likelihood of success weighs on the side of the plaintiff."

Ouch.

Jamie Gold's Father Succumbs to ALS

Early Thursday morning, Wicked Chops Poker received word from a friend of Jamie Gold that Dr. Robert Gold, the father of the 2006 WSOP Main Event champ, had passed away at the age of 76. As most know, Jamie's father was battling ALS, the crippling neurodegenerative disease commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig's Disease.

According to Gold's friend, Jamie was set to play the Five Diamond World Poker Classic in Las Vegas and had just landed at McCarran Airport when he got the news from his mom and caught the next flight home. Jamie Gold's father became an integral part of Gold's WSOP story after Jamie pledged to use the money from his winnings to make his father as comfortable as possible and when Gold called him from the final table immediately after winning.

More on the Jamie Gold "Help or Hurt" Question

Right before the Holiday break we posed the question "Does Jamie Gold help or hurt poker?" and asked readers to voice their opinions over at BluffMagazine.com. In response, millions went over to the Bluff site over the weekend, give or take some large number of people, and voiced their opinion while a few expressed their views on this site. One of those, Craig Tapscott, recently interviewed Jamie Gold for FOXSports Poker and thinks Gold is getting the raw deal.

Paraphrasing--word for word--what Craig said in his comment:

"How in the world does Gold hurt the game? I see a lot of haters out there that are simply jealous. No real facts to back anything up. Go see the on camera interview I did with him for FOXSports for 1 hour and your opinion will change. Straight forward, humble guy who loves the game.

You can view the video of Tapscott's FOXSports interview here and let us know what you think.

Also worth viewing is the excellent, level-headed comment from reader Waynebullet, who leans towards thinking Gold is not good for poker but without resorting to the kind of hoochie-mama-on-Maury-saying-she's-all-that-and-a-bag-of-chips argument we've been seeing in the Gold-Leyser debate. For the record, we wholeheartedly agree with Waynebullet when he says that the lawsuit is bad for poker. It's something we've said before, and while the damage is already done, the sooner the parties settle the better.

Token Jamie Gold-Crispin Leyser photo from the 2006 WSOP after the jump.

Does Jamie Gold Help or Hurt Poker?

Since our October spread in Bluff Magazine, where we asked whether controversial WSOP champ, Jamie Gold, is good for poker, Bluff has had a poll up on their homepage where people can vote and voice their opinion on the matter, and boy do we know people have strongs opinions on this because, as they say, opinions are like assholes and everyone we know is one, and they stink like poop.

Or however that analogy goes.

Go express your asshole over at Bluff now. Currently the results are as follows:

Gold hurts the game --- 60%

Gold helps the game --- 7%

Just another side show --- 33%

Jamie Gold's "Hottest Mom" Definitely Not Porn, Says Spokesman

"Hottest Mom In America", the yet-to-be-completed-or-signed-to-a-network reality TV show hawking a "dermal filler" for women that is being produced by WSOP champ Jamie Gold and his production team at Buzznation, is in the middle of a trademark fight over their name and concept, and as the LA Times reports, "Testy lawyer letters have been exchanged. High-profile litigation firms have been retained. And an awkward chapter in feminist history unfolds."

Apparently a woman named Jessica Denay, who has a bit of a celebrity following and who co-founded an online community called HotMomsClub.com and published "The Hot Mom's Handbook: Moms Have More Fun!," has two TV shows and a radio program in development and isn't happy about Gold busting in on her hot moms market. "This has only hurt our company," said Denay, who said her business was "started by moms, not a big corporation, not a marketing firm, not men — real moms who know what it is like to juggle our own needs and the needs of our families."

What she means by this whole juggling "our own needs" stuff, we have no idea. Like is she talking about food and sex? The way she says it makes it sound like she has "needs" that a man can't satisfy with a good meal and a romp, which if this is the case, she might as well be talking about journalistic integrity to us in Farsi, or better yet, be Canadian. All very foreign to us.

An equally interesting quote, on the other end of the battle of the sexes, is when Gold's biz partner and Buzznation executive VP, Jeff Greenfield, was asked about the fine line between celebrating motherhood and the whole "sexiness" thing of it all. Seemingly out of nowhere Greenfield brought up the "P" word, saying, "There's a fine line between Porn and regular stuff. This is a show that is sexy enough to satisfy the people that are looking for that, but it is definitely not that at all."

So to be clear here, "Hottest Mom in America" is definitely not porn. Absolutely not. No way.

BUT it will satisfy people looking for porn?

Sounds like a website we know.

By the way, Wicked Chops Poker totally sides with Jessica Denay in this trademark battle solely because her silhouette of a hot mom is way hotter than Buzznation's. Seriously, if you had to bang a silhouette, Denay's mom, sans the brats, would be right up there alongside Charlie's Angels or a Bond girl silhouette. Also, and in no way ironic, Jessica Denay is hot herself, so she has that going for her. Yes, photos of her after the jump.

Crispin Leyser Is Charles Bronson Tough

We've mentioned before that we don't like 90% of the people in the world, so it's no surprise that 90% don't like us either. Lately it's been friends of both Jamie Gold and Crispin Leyser, who are turning out to be on the same level as Nickelback and Anna Benson fans (i.e. Anna Benson) in terms of their hatred of us, with the key difference being that no one sucks more than Nickelback fans. Except Al Qaeda, maybe. We hate those guys.

Anway, because we've made unfair slights against Crispin Leyser and his manliness lately, we thought it would be journalistically responsible (a phrase that means about as much to us as the word "sesquipedalian" does, which we have no idea what that means) to point out that Leyser is actually a tough guy. Like Charles Bronson in Hard Times tough, if Charles Bronson in Hard Times slapped wrists instead of beating the shit out of people.

Don't believe us that Leyser is that tough? Go to a WPT Boot Camp sometime and try raising in early position with a weak ace. The word on the street is that Leyser will unleash a slap of fury on your wrist so fast you won't know what slapped you. On your wrist. And if you're really bad, he may just slap you across the face. And if you're REALLY bad, he may...uh oh, we better stop, cause this is kind of turning us on.

By the way, if our photoshop expert was in right now we would have put Leyser's face on Charles Bronson's body on the poster to the left to drive the point home that Leyser really is Bronson tough. But you'll have to settle for second best, photos here and after the jump of Keeley Hazell in her recent Zoo spread doing Christina Aguilera's boxing in her panties and chaps tough girl thing. There are also photos of Keeley doing the Britney Spears Catholic school girl number and a video from her Kylie Minogue bit, which aren't so tough looking as they are Keeley doing the Britney Catholic school girl number and Kylie bit.

Leyser's Shyster Slams Gold's Shyster, Calls Gold's Claim Absurd, Says Helps Case...Oh and Doogie Is Gay and Scarlett May Have a Sex Tape

In an article in today's Las Vegas Sun, Crispin Leyser's attorney, Richard Schonfeld, called Gold's position that his promise was an unenforceable gift "absurd." Schonfeld goes on to say that the fact that Gold admitted to the promise (something he pretty much had to do considering the voicemail) helps Leyser's claim to the $6 million.

"We're glad they finally took a position," Schonfeld told the Sun's Liz Benston in an interview. "Even though we were extremely confident in our case, we are more confident now that we will prevail."

Read the complete article here.

In related news, poker blogger Drizztdj points out that Doogie Howser is gay. Asked to respond on the Crispin Leyser-Doogie Howser news, Wicked Chops Poker said, "Sorry we're taking the week off. We need to rest up after hearing that Scarlett Johannson may have a sex tape."

IMPORTANT UPDATE: One more photo of Scarlett Johannson after the jump. Think Keeley Hazell meets 1970s Green Bay fan/college girl. Actually, don't think and just go to the next page.

Jamie Gold Makes a Compelling Argument (that Crispin Leyser is Desperate, Super Needy, Annoying + Wrong)

We're not going to suggest that Crispin "Don't Call Me Bruce" Leyser is a few wine coolers away from joining the Clay Aiken fan club or that his "wife" Jules is his "beard." Or that Bob Stupak, Jeffrey Pollack, Lance Bass and Crispin Leyser may all have something in common, not that there's anything wrong with that. To suggest any of this would be inappropriate.

Regardless, we're just saying.

What we will say though is that Jamie Gold's attorneys have finally told his side of the story in the Motion they filed on Wednesday, November 1. And it's compelling; first, in the way that it shapes Gold's promise to share his winnings as a non-enforceable gift rather than a bargained-for agreement, and two, in the way that it makes Crispin Leyser seem like a sad, desperate, overly eager, down-on-his-luck guy who Jamie felt sorry for, that is until he began harassing Gold like an obsessive, needy girlfriend who wants to know everything is fine with the relationship and calls and calls and texts and texts like an annoying bitch girl and then files a lawsuit against you without notice.

Anyway, download a pdf of Gold's Motion to Dissolve Preliminary Injunction here, and draw your own conclusions.

For those who think reading legal documents is, well, like reading legal documents, a summary of the allegations after the jump, along with photos of Crispin's wife, Jules Leyser....

Jamie Gold Knows James Gandolfini

Sorry for the lack of posts today but the entities that comprise Wicked Chops Poker are too busy buying state lottery tickets online, betting on horses, checking into rehab, taking the hearts out of cats, and praising Jesus while IM-ing our 17-year-old "pages" to report on any real poker news other than that we heard James Gandolfini, the actor most famous for once being represented by 2006 WSOP champ Jamie Gold, was seen at Michael Mina's SeaBlue restaurant in the Borgata on Tuesday night eating with none other than 2006 WSOP champ Jamie Gold. Strangely enough the Borgata PR peeps didn't send out a press release on this one which is disappointing because we'd really love to know if Jamie ordered the Lobster Corndogs or the Kobe Beef Carpaccio. We're guessing the Corndogs.

You may be asking why we have a photo of Brooke Burke above when this post is about Jamie Gold dining at Seablue with James Gandolfini, and to that we say there is no such thing as a dumb question EXCEPT for that one. Because this post could be about plasma microturbulence in fusion reactors and a photo of Brooke Burke would make perfect sense. Why you say? Seriously what's with all the questions? Can't you just enjoy pics of Brooke Burke without asking questions?

Oh and for the fun of it, the first person to correctly guess why we thought of using a pic of Brooke Burke with a post about Jamie Gold wins a Wicked Chops Poker t-shirt. One of the links above offers a clue. Sort of. The 5 photos of Brooke Burke after the jump provide no clue whatsoever so don't even bother looking at them.

The Price Tag on Jamie Gold's Word

In a recent interview with The New York Times, Patrick Byrne, the new attorney for the embattled Jamie Gold, said, "We don’t believe Mr. Leyser is entitled to any money as a matter of law."

The operative words here, of course, are "as a matter of law."

Because if it was "as a matter of Jamie's word," or "as a matter of principle," or "as a matter of not fucking with poker's longstanding tradition of handshake deals," then Crispin Leyser would likely already have his half, and we'd be able to watch the Main Event on ESPN with at least some sense of enjoyment and a modicum of respect for Jamie Gold's confident table talk and spectacular big stack play (and yes, his fortunate flops).

Instead, we watch the ESPN broadcast hoping somehow, someway it was all just a bad dream, that the past has miraculously changed and someone else like Allen Cunningham or Paul Wasicka (and definitely not Richard Lee) goes on to become the face of poker for the coming year. Someone who would rather talk poker than pitch crap reality TV shows. Someone who would rather stand behind his word than stand behind his lawyers. And someone who didn't let money get the best of him before it was even his to claim.

Regardless of our opinion of Gold's actions and the ugly lawsuit that has ensued, this isn't a one-sided, black-and-white argument. Jamie Gold, himself, isn't totally to blame...

Mike Sexton to Take Stand in Support of Leyser

Mr. Poker himself, Mike Sexton, is scheduled to testify on behalf of "Don't Call Me Bruce" Crispin Leyser, reports the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Asked to comment after Tuesday's hearing in the Leyser v. Gold case, Sexton said 95% of poker players who enter high-stakes tournaments agree to split the pot with others and it's rarely in writing.

"It's very common. It happens in every tournament. People have agreements and no one signs."

According to the article, Sexton said he was concerned about the effect the case might have on poker tournaments.

"This is the premier event in the poker world, so it bothers me. It bothers me because poker has come so far in these past few years."

Sexton and Leyser know each other from the WPT Boot Camp, where both are trainers and are set to appear together this Sept. 19 at the camp's next stop in AC at the Borgata.

Other news discussed in the article include:

:: Gold has withdrawn his $6 million from the Rio,

:: Gold has picked up a new attorney, Patrick Byrne,

:: Gold's flacks are still staying tight-lipped on all matters, and

:: Matthew "Shaggy" Lillard and Dax "Punk'd" Shepard were mentioned in this article, as they have been mentioned in almost every major story on the Leyser-Gold dispute, which has to be the most press these two have had in their careers, for whatever that's worth.

Gold-Leyser Lawyers Agree to Freeze $6 Million

While Jamie Gold was busy spamming online forums looking for America's hottest mom and sounding even more like a Hollywood blow-hard from his poolside perch at the Mondrian, his lawyers were busy today in the U.S. District Court of Nevada, where the deal splitting case between Gold and "Don't Call Me Bruce" Crispin Leyser had been moved. Before the court was a preliminary injunction that would freeze half of Gold's $12 million WSOP winnings, and according to Richard Schonfeld, the lawyer for Crispin Leyser, "Everybody agreed the preliminary injunction would be issued."

The injunction means that the disputed $6 million would not leave the Rio until the case concluded.

With this bit of news we think now is a good time to post a bit of a transcript from the oft-cited Jamie Gold "Rounders" radio interview, in particular the part in which Gold talks out of his ass about Crispin Leyser, who he describes as a "good friend," which apparently is Hollywood talk for "a person he has only known since July of this year." Gold was asked by Mike and Adam about the possibility of him not playing this year's WSOP because the seat could have gone to Leyser instead, to which Gold's ass said:

"It turned out that Crispin was very helpful - this is true. He is a good friend of mine and he was very helpful in securing some celebrities for the Bodog celebrity team and for that they offered me - and I felt bad and I said you know what, maybe you should be offering it to Crispin and I'm gonna put up the money anyway and they said no....

....They didnt know Crispin but they knew I was a great poker player .... and they said ... 'Everyone is telling us you are like Kobe Bryant coming out of high school - that you actually have a shot to make it so we want to see what you can do' . . . 'You're not allowed to transfer this to Crispin' - cause I had talked to him and that is true. I had said maybe you should just play and I'll give it to you and they said absolutely not, and with no offense to him, they didn't know him. They just had no idea who he was."

And as you digest that, just for the fun of it, or better yet, to make you feel better about the fact that you don't make millions pawning crap reality TV shows to American audiences, after the jump is an example of what Jamie and his peeps are spamming online forums with for their "Hottest Mom in America" show. There's also a shorter one out there that hypes: "Felicity Huffman's former manager and a producer from Survivor are coming to Dallas to audition hot moms like you." It's all just a parody of itself really, which kind of sucks because we can't really add anything here to make it funnier.

Jamie Gold Is Looking for America's Hottest Mom

If Jamie Gold needed an image makeover so he'd appear more like an arrogant Hollywood blow-hard not worthy of our siding and sympathy in light of a $6M lawsuit, then mission accomplished.

In his latest interview, this time with Norma Meyer of Copley News Service, Gold does little to dispel the notion that he's just another sleaze-ball Hollywood agent. His latest project? Producing a show called "Hottest Mom in America."

While this is an admirable goal, as there are a lot of MILFs who aren't getting their just due (like LeeAnn Tweeden, at left, who while she actually isn't a MILF yet, she one day will be, and at which stage we'd like to F her), Jamie Gold pimping his cheap, lowbrow Babette Pepaj-side that spams Internet forums looking for contestants for a null-of-creativity reality show while directing people to a website that is dead won't win him any fans. But neither will going to great lengths to tell us how precociously smart and great he is at poker, as Gold does in this article and did a few weeks ago on the Rounders radio show.

But that's not to say we don't understand where he's coming from. One thing that the entities that compromise Wicked Chops Enterprises LLC are not known for is "modesty." In fact, "modesty" is a word we just learned a few minutes ago. Our journey started by going to thesaurus.com and typing in "narcissism" to see if there were any antonyms listed. We then went to dictionary.com and entered all of the antonym options we found, and "modesty" was the best choice available.

The Leyser Affidavit

Earlier today while (not so) busy breaking news that Jamie Gold filed a motion to move the Leyser suit to federal court, the entities that comprise Wicked Chops Enterprises LLC engaged in a heated discussion concerning the tax implications surrounding Crispin Leyser's claims, except replace "heated" with "frequently off-track and mildly interested." While we were on-track though the conversation focused primarily on Leyser's statement in paragraph 6 of the affidavit he filed in support of his complaint. It says:

"I am concerned that if Defendant transfers my 50% of the winnings from the Rio Hotel and Casino to an unknown account and does not fill out a form 5754 and direct the casino to provide two separate W-2G forms, that there will be adverse tax consuquences and that I will be unable to collect the $6,000,000 that I am entitled to received."

Read the entire Leyser Affidavit here.

Form 5754 and W-2G, by the way, are the tax forms U.S. residents must fill out to report gambling winnings and money withheld on those winnings, and Leyser's statement refers to what Gold allegedly told him in his now-famous $6 million voicemail message:

Jamie Gold Seeks to Move Case to Federal Court

While waiting to find out the result of today's hearing in the Leyser v. Gold lawsuit, we got word from an inside source that Gold's lawyers filed a petition yesterday to have the case moved to federal court and that a hearing for such will take place Tuesday, September 5.

Developing...

Jamie Gold's People Respond to Lawsuit, Finally

You ever hear the expression "a monkey fucking a football?"

Well it seems to apply to Jamie Gold's team of publicists at B|W|R , the firm that was hired by Gold the day before he won the the WSOP and who wasted all this week before coming up with a lame, boilerplate statement on the lawsuit filed by Crispin Leyser against Jamie Gold over half his WSOP winnings. How they didn't have this ready to go the minute the suit was filed beats us, but being slow to act, or not acting at all, has been par for the course for them since day one, or Day 8 at the WSOP to be exact.

Anyway, below is the lame, boilerplate statement from Alfred Hopton at B|W|R :

“Jamie Gold is disappointed that the plaintiff, a person he has only known since July of this year, has elected to file litigation rather than continue the parties' discussions in an effort to find a resolution to this matter.

"Mr. Gold believes strongly in the American judicial system and believes that it is better to present his case there than to try the matter before the court of public opinion.

"He is pleased to have had the opportunity to participate and win the World Series of Poker and is pleased with the quality of the tournament, his outstanding opponents, and Harrahs, the event organizer. Mr. Gold further appreciates the support of his fans and sponsor, bodog.net, and hopes that this unfortunate litigation will not detract from the outstanding efforts of the entire field of participants in the World Series of Poker."

For more on the statement, check out CardPlayer.com and be sure to check out Lisa Wheeler's thorough summary of the lawsuit here.

Image of a monkey fucking a football courtesy of the site MonkeyFuckingAFootball.com

Looking Back at the Leysers

When I (Snake) first met Crispin and Jules Leyser at this year's WSOP I was chowing down on greasy food just outside the Poker Kitchen as Milwaukee's Best Light girls took turns dancing in front of me like ecstacy-soused Carmen Electras strutting their stuff on the dance floor at Hef's house. It was a spectacular, suggestively-sexual, pseudo-striptease spectacle, alliteratively speaking, and one that would have been best enjoyed had it not been interrupted. But no such luck.

First to intrude on my rare moment of WSOP solitude and visual delight was Colin Malone, the loquacious amigo and longtime client of Jamie Gold (in)famous for his cable access and porn star video exploits.

And soon after that, the Leysers.

To be honest, I didn't know much about the Leysers at the time except for what was obvious during our conversation: they were apparently friends with Jamie Gold, knew a lot about poker, lived in Hollywood, spoke like Londoners and Jules was a pulchritudinous brunette with a resplendent smile (gets old saying "smoking hot" all the time). Shortly after this encounter though I learned that the pair were WPT Boot Camp Instructors and had a 50-50 split deal with Gold because Crispin had helped Jamie land some players for Bodog's celebrity team. And it was shortly after this (say, about 3 and a half minutes later) that I remembered how we had done a post more than a year ago about a radio interview with a couple who knew a lot about poker, lived in Hollywood, spoke like Londoners and the wife sounded like she may have been smoking hot. I thought, "Could this be the same people? Could the world really be this small? Could Pluto (at left) really not be a planet?"

Well, low and behold, the answer was yes, Pluto isn't a planet, which is really just blowing our fucking minds here at Wicked Chops Poker. We mean, that's some crazy shit. What was all that we learned back in elementary school? All a lie? Why are they just figuring this out now? What's next, George Washington didn't really cut down the cherry tree? Or, that's it's NOT OK to be touched "down there?"

Anyway, indeed that was the Leysers in the radio interview and you can check out the post we did here. After you listen to the first piece be sure to check out the follow-up piece entitled "Paying the Bills Playing Online Poker." Riveting stuff.

You can also find out more about Crispin and Jules Leyser at their website, PokersPairOfAces.com, which could also be read as www.PokersPairOFaces.com, as well as www.PokerSpairOfAces.com, that is, if you had too much time on your hands.

Finally, for the visual-image impaired, find out what an ecstacy-soused Carmen Electra strutting her stuff on the dance floor at Hef's house looks like after the jump...

The Best of the Worst: Jamie Gold WSOP Headlines

There's a saying about people who live in glass houses throwing stones.

It's a saying that we often stones rocks at, or choose to ignore.

One of the overlooked benefits to the dominating Jamie Gold WSOP win (and ensuing lawsuit) is the volume of uninspired or lazy headlines it has produced. We, in fact, have had one or two of our own (See: No One As Good as Gold).

However, this will not stop us from pointing out the faults of others, because in a lot of ways, that is our job. After the jump are some of our favorite Jamie Gold headlines from other "media":

Jamie Gold + The $6 Million Dollar Freeze-Out

In an effort to repackage as much content as possible this week, it's time to revisit the Jamie Gold lawsuit, because this story is not going away.

As we first reported earlier this week, the ex-agent/current producer is being sued by Crispin Leyser over an informal arrangement made between the two regarding Gold's potential WSOP winnings. It started when online gaming giant Bodog pledged to cover Gold's $10k WSOP ME buy-in in exchange for Gold recruiting some celeb players on Bodog's behalf. When Gold couldn't come through, he turned to Leyser, who was able to land the likes of Dax Shepard and Matthew Lillard. For this help, Gold pledged Leyser half of his WSOP Main Event earnings.

According to court filings, just three hours before the WSOP final table began, Gold allegedly left a message on Leyser's cell phone stating, "I promise you - you can keep this recording on my word - there's no possible way you're not going to get half [of the winnings] after taxes."

And as seen in this exclusive Wicked Chops Poker pic snapped right after his victory, Jamie's promise seemed to remain Golden, as Cripsin and his seriously hot wife, Jules, joined in the celebration.

However, Crispin has yet to see even one single crisp dollar bill, or even a silver nickle, from Gold. And a temporary restraining order has been issued this week by Clark County District Judge Kathy Hardcastle to prevent the Rio (where the WSOP ME is held) from disbursing half of Gold's winnings--the $6M he pledged to Leyser--for 15 days. A hearing is set for Sept. 1 to determine if the freeze will continue.

The national "media" and other pubs are picking up this story as it continues to gain steam. Read the articles below for more information on the happenings.

USA Today | ESPN.com | Hollywood, Interrupted | Bloomberg | Chicago Tribune | Defamer | SLAM! | Pokerati | Las Vegas Vegas

A Wicked Chops Poker Photo Moment: Jamie Gold + The Leysers

If we had our shit together this morning when we did our story on Jamie Gold getting sued by Crispin Leyser for half of his WSOP winnings, we would have realized that we had in our possession an exclusive photo of Jamie with Crispin and Jules Leyser standing over the disputed $12 million (the blonde next to Jamie is his girlfriend ex-girlfriend). We also may have used one of our photos of the $12 million dollars and tear it in half to illustrate Leyser's claim, kind of like we did the DJ AM/Nicole Richie photo but different, because Nicole Richie is a do-nothing, need-a-sandwich, F-list celeb who is not $12 million.

But truth be told, we didn't have our shit together. No, we were too busy NOT looking at the photos we took at the WSOP, like the ones to the right and after the jump, and instead were looking at photos of an Atlanta girl named Lennox Miller, who emailed us this morning and wants to play one of our upcoming home games, which if you are one of our current/first wives reading this, we kid. Lennox Miller doesn't exist. She's just a figment of our imaginations, perversions or something. If you aren't one of our current/first wives, check out a photo of Lennox Miller after the jump. She's the one in the lingerie below the $12 million.

Jamie Gold Gets Sued for Half His Winnings

Three hours before this year's WSOP final table got underway, Jamie Gold allegedly left a message on the cell phone of Crispin Leyser (seen at left), a Brit-born/Hollywood-based TV producer who some may know from the WPT Boot Camp, where he and his hot wife, Jules, are instructors.

"I promise you - you can keep this recording on my word - there's no possible way you're not going to get half after taxes," Jamie reportedly said about the $12 million he would go on to win. "I can't imagine you're going to have a problem with it. I just don't want any stress about any money or any of that shit going on today, or even after the end of the day."

Gold continued, "But please just trust me. You've trusted me the whole way, you can trust me a little bit more. I promise you there's no way anybody will go anywhere with your money. It's your money."

Gold's word, as captured in this message, is now a crucial part of a lawsuit Leyser filed yesterday in the District Court in Clark County, claiming that he is entitled to half of Gold's $12 million because of an informal arrangement the pair had made after Bodog enlisted Gold to recruit celebrity players in exchange for his $10k buy-in. It seems Leyser had more ins with the in-crowd than Gold, and therefore, Leyser agreed to help Gold recruit celebs (like Matthew Lillard and Dax Shepard) in exchange for half of any Gold's WSOP winnings.

So basically it was like the Steve Dannenmann-Jerry Ditzell deal at last year's WSOP, where the two Maryland-ers each put up $5k and agreed to split the winnings, but completely different--because Gold and Leyser are from Hollywood and rich folks from La La land don't pay for measly shit like buy-ins to the WSOP. Not when you got Shaggy's and Dax's digits, baby. Those are worth their weight in gold, which in this case, may be worth $6 million (by the way, both went out early Day 1, for what that's worth...again, maybe $6 million).

Not the Friday Night Parting Shot: Jamie Gold

If I (Snake) wasn't busy last friday sleeping all day after being up 24 hours covering the final table at the WSOP only to finally wake up around 5pm-ish to eat dinner and play the Caesar's 7 o'clock tourney only to get knocked out when it was down to 3 tables because my pocket aces were no match to pocket fours that found a third on the river only then to head over to the Bellagio to play a NL cash game only to have my pocket aces cracked again with over $1k in the pot preflop because some pimple-faced pansy with A-Q hit a flush on the river, then these photos (below and after the jump) of Jamie Gold in the Bodog lounge with the only two Bodog Girls awake at 7 am on Friday morning when I took this photo would have been our Friday Night Parting Shot last Friday.

Just saying.

Richard Lee Bashes Jamie Gold During Interview

It would be easy to label Richard Lee, the sixth place finisher in this year's WSOP, a sore loser after he repeatedly ripped WSOP champ Jamie Gold as a horrible player in a radio interview he did 12 hours after busting out.

Granted, there's a saying regarding something about glass houses that may be applicable here, as we've called people way worse things in the past for much, much less. So we'll tread lightly.

And perhaps Lee is entitled to voice his own opinion of Gold without much deference to grace. Perhaps he earned that right after eight grueling days of poker and outlasting more than 8,700 players, only to get knocked out by Gold when Gold had...um...a much better hand and Lee failed to account for the former Hollywood agent's tendency to not laydown easily in the face of a massive reraise. We also understand that it all may have been said in the heat of the moment, the fog of battle, or perhaps, the haze from many long hours of poker followed by an early morning of drowning away sorrows and drinking away thoughts of a WSOP title that might have been.

No One As Good As Gold

In what will go down as one of the most dominating performances in poker history, Jamie Gold has won the 2006 WSOP Main Event.

The ex-agent/current producer/Team Bodog member was chip leader since Day 4. He never relinquished the chip lead during nearly 14 hours of final table play. Only for brief periods did he not have at least a 2-to-1 chip advantage over his nearest competitor.

Gold defeated Paul Wasicka heads-up for the title. On the final hand, Gold raised pre-flop and Wasicka called. On a flop of Q-8-5, Wasicka fires a 1.5M bet. Gold moves all-in and Wasicka calls, flipping over pocket tens. Gold shows Q-9. Wasicka doesn't improve, and Jamie Gold's ridiculous run ends with a WSOP ME title.

Gold banks $12M for the win. Wasicka will take home $6,102,499. Michael Binger finished third and receives $4,123,310.

Read more WSOP coverage here, here, here, here, and here.

* Photo from Bodog Beat.

Allen Cunningham Has Been Eliminated

Jamie Gold has knocked out proverbial favorite Allen Cunningham in fourth place.

Cunningham got all-in preflop with pocket tens. Gold called with K-J. King hit on the flop, and Cunningham was gone.

Gold has over 60M in chips now. Paul Wasicka is second with 16M. Michael Binger has 12M.

Rumor has it Rhett Butler was eliminated in fifth.