Jamie Gold was born in Kansas City in 1969 – he was originally called Jamie M. Usher, but his surname was changed to Gold when his mother got divorced and then married Dr Robert Gold. The family moved to New Jersey, where Jamie studied at Paramus High School until 1987, before going the State University of New York to get a bachelors degree. He also went on to study Entertainment Law at UCLA.

Jamie has been interested in poker for much of his life – his mother was a keen poker player, and his grandfather played Gin Rummy competitively. Jamie played poker casually at first, but met Johnny Chan, one of the World Series of Poker champions, during filming for a TV show. Chan mentored Jamie, and he went on to play competitively.

His first major win was $54,255 in a Texas Holdem tournament at the Bicycle Casino. 

Jamie Gold won the 2006 World Series of Poker in an impressive manner – he took the chip lead on day four, and retained it all the way to the end of the event. He eliminated 7 opponents on the final table, Paul Wasicka eliminated the other finalist, and the face-off between Wasicka and Gold led to Gold taking the $12,000,000 prize.

His victory was controversial – Jamie broke several rules, including telling opponents the contents of his hand, and, at one point, showing an opponent one of his cards to trick them into folding, even though the rest of his hand was weak. Jamie Gold was not punished for doing this, although he was warned to avoid a repeat of such actions before taking part in the 2007 World Series of Poker.

The controversy continued after his win, as Jamie had made a deal with Bodog.com Entertainment to find celebrities to take part in the WSOP – he came to an arrangement with Crispin Leyser, who would compete in the tournament in return for half of any winnings earned by Jamie. After Jamie won the tournament, he decided to keep all of the prize money. Leyser sued Gold for the $6 million he was owed. Eventually, they decided to settle out of court for an undisclosed amount.

Gold is no longer working with Bodog.com entertainment – he continues to play tournaments, and has several money-finishes under his belt, including fifth place in Winnin' o' the Green at the Bicycle Casino, and a $60,000 win at the Stars and Stripes tournament – which was also held at the Bicycle Casino.