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Twenty years after winning the 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event for $12 million, Jamie Gold is now helping lead a new partnership between the WSOP and blockchain platform Solana. The initiative will let players at next month’s WSOP Paradise in the Bahamas buy into tournaments using Solana Pay, cutting down on registration lines and avoiding transaction fees.
In a video interview with Solana, Gold explained that the technology eliminates the need to carry cash altogether. He called the ability to register for events with a simple digital transaction a major shift in how players manage their time at live tournaments.
Gold’s poker journey began long before his Main Event win, playing cards for candy at summer camp as a kid from a gambling family — his grandfather was a gin rummy champion. He later turned to poker more seriously after his father was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease, saying his dad wanted him to pursue something that made him happy.
Gold recalled being so confident ahead of his 2006 Main Event run that he invited 30 friends to watch him compete. However, his father was unable to attend in person due to his illness, a memory that shaped Gold’s perspective on the importance of time.
That philosophy, Gold said, is why he values the new Solana partnership, which he described as saving players from the hours once spent waiting in line to buy into tournaments. He noted that WSOP’s live app has already eliminated such delays.
Gold, who previously hosted a Solana-sponsored freeroll with crypto influencers in Las Vegas, said reducing wasted time ultimately adds more value to players’ lives.
