Poker Philanthropist Jamie Gold and Celebrity Friends Officially Open New Poker Room
Professional Poker Player and WSOP 2006 winner Jamie Gold, celebrated the official grand opening of the Jamie Gold Poker Room at the new Tropicana in Las Vegas over the weekend, and Athlebrities was honored to be part of the celebration.
After interviewing Gold in September of last year about his philanthropy, there was little doubt that the weekend festivities would attract a slew of ‘good’ people, and it did…friends and celebrities in attendance to support Gold (AKA ‘The Poker Philanthropist), included UFC fighter Randy Couture, actress IIena Oliver, Soprano’s star Robert Iler, Ricki Lake (above), Boys II Men’s Nathan Morris, Twilight actor Billy Burke, actor Joe Reitman, professional snowboarder Adam Reynolds and many others. 
The celebration kicked off with a red-carpet event at RPM nightclub and culminated the next day in the first-ever deep-stack poker tournament. Ricki Lake was on-hand to help kick-off the celebrity-laden event which included Gold’s mom playing alongside Twilight actor Billy Burke (above) and Boys II Men’s Nathan Morris (below). Priceless.
Last year, when Gold’s deal with the Tropicana was announced, he said the hotel would serve as the…”conduit to all of my future poker and philanthropic endeavors.”
Indeed. Placing Gold in the heart of Vegas, with his own poker room is a genius move for his philanthropy. He has already attended, co-hosted or emceed hundreds of charity events, including: Global Creative Forum Fundraiser for United Nations; 4th Annual Monte Carlo Night; Foundation Charity Event at Poker in the Park; Sunflower Children Charity Poker Night at Cannes Film Festival; Children Uniting Nations: Oscars After-Party; Ante Up For Africa; Michael J. Fox Foundation Celebrity Poker Tournament; Montel Williams MS Foundation Pro-Celebrity Poker Challenge; Operation: All-In, Randy Couture Charity Poker Tournament; and many others….and most certainly, there will be many future charity related poker events in the Jamie Gold Poker Room.
Note: You may be wondering why Athlebrities has allowed a poker player to seep into a website that covers athletes and their charity work. In a word, he’s worth it. We’ve encountered many top athletes and celebrities whose reputation greatly contrasts who they truly are, we do our best to decipher fact from public-persona. We won’t take it as face value that someone is ‘good’ or ‘bad’, we make our own decision based on what we see and feel. You can tell a lot about a person by the company they keep, and Gold’s circle of ‘celebrity’ friends and childhood buddies are void of any ego or pretense, therefore solidifying our opinion that Gold is a mighty-mighty-fine man. Period. Cue Music.
We congratulate Gold on this brilliant partnership and look forward to watching his philanthropic career boom.
Many thanks to the new Tropicana, sponsors RPM Nightclub and Ambhar Tequila and of course, Gold and his pals who were as warm and sweet as the Ambhar Tequila.
As always, thanks for reading~
delinda@athlebrities.com
*Note: Athlebrities™ is NOT associated with E! Entertainment Television’s on-line ‘Athlebrity Zone’ or ‘Athlebrity Madness’.