Television cable channel, GSN (The Game Show Network), have invited World Series Main Event winner, Jamie Gold, to participate in the third series of their highly acclaimed show, High Stakes Poker.
With names such as Barry Greenstein, Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, Freddie Deeb, Sammy Farha, Ted Forrest and poker legends Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan all seen to have made appearances on the show, Jamie Gold would be in very esteemed company indeed.
Not only is the table destined to be full of stars, but they will consist of some of the toughest talent in the World, which therefore begs the question, why would Gold accept this offer?
Even with 12 million behind him, this is certainly not a small stakes game. Many will recall Negreanu sitting down with 1 million bucks in Series One, of which would be a twelfth of Gold's WSOP winnings, quite a considerable amount when you consider the potential that money is being spent elsewhere and that he may have been obliged to pay various backers.
Having said that, however, being WSOP champion brings in a lot of alternative income and can lead to much prosperity aside from the money received for 1st place. We must also take into consideration the fact that Gold's recent sponsors, Bodog, may well stake him for the game or, rather controversially, he will receive an appearance fee from the show, thereby making up for any losses he may endure.
Either way, I expect Gold will accept this offer, if only to publicise himself and Bodog further. High Stakes Poker truly has become a poker sensation (almost to the groundbreaking extent of the WPT a few years back), and so would provide a lot of added notoriety for someone who is already the name on everyone's lips.
Whilst us Brits await the much anticipated second series of High Stakes Poker, the third season is due to be filmed shortly in an established Las Vegas location - specific details have yet to be officially announced, but what we do know is that this year's latest millionaire could well be participating. Surely the toughest test of his short poker career.