Jamie Gold is helping lead a partnership between the World Series of Poker and Solana that will let players at WSOP Paradise use crypto to enter tournaments. The system is intended to reduce fees and eliminate registration queues, giving players another way to buy into events.
Players at the Bahamas tournament next month will be able to make payments through Solana Pay. Gold, who won the 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event for $12 million, described the arrangement as a way to make registration simpler and avoid carrying cash.
“My relationship with the World Series of Poker, my new relationship with Solana has given us an opportunity to help other people with a simple, clickable button,” Gold said in a video interview with Solana. “The idea that I will never have to carry large amounts or any amount of cash changes my life.”
A focus on time and access
Gold said the practical benefits of the partnership are tied to the time players have traditionally spent registering for tournaments. He recalled that players once waited four to six hours to buy into an event. The WSOP live app now allows them to avoid those lines, he said.
“The less time that we waste, the more value that we have in our life,” Gold said. He called the Solana partnership “a game changer,” adding that it was “giving me time, is saving me and making me money.”
Gold’s interest in the issue reflects his own emphasis on time. He said his father was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease before Gold shifted his attention from playing for candy at summer camp to pursuing poker. His father wanted him to do something for himself that would make him happy, Gold said.
Gold was confident enough about his chances in the 2006 Main Event to invite 30 close friends to watch. His father was not among them; his health prevented him from travelling to Las Vegas.
“As we get older, we realize that time is one of our most valuable commodities,” Gold said. “Life is about time and how you spend it.”
Gold’s role in the partnership
Gold, whose grandfather was a gin rummy champion, began playing poker for candy with friends at summer camp. He recalled winning their candy by the end of the summer, then giving it back, saying the competition mattered more to him than the prizes.
Earlier this year, Gold hosted a Solana Freeroll with crypto influencers in Las Vegas. He has also discussed his 2006 Main Event run on the Life Outside Poker podcast at 2024 WSOP Paradise.
