Jamie Gold Launches Free Poker Site

2006 World Series of Poker Main Event winner Jamie Gold has launched a free poker room targeted at the USA market, joining an increasing number of sites that are finding unique solutions to current governmental policy that has targeted traditional online poker sites.

The new site – FreeGoldPoker.com – is part of the ZEN Entertainment Network. ZEN markets itself as a “massive multiplayer online gaming tournament network,” and began operation in 2006. The network runs a number of different gaming activities in partnership with various brands, including another poker site – CardPlayerPoker.com. On the ZEN Network, players earn free points just by logging into their account, which they can use to participate in tournaments – including the poker tournaments on FreeGoldPoker.

This makes Gold’s site entirely free to play on. Unlike some other subscription sites (such as ClubWPT), there is no monthly charge to play in the tournaments. However, there will still be prizes of up to $100,000 available over the course of each month. These prizes will be supported primarily by advertising and sponsorship deals.

“This is an amazing opportunity for me to create a fun, accessible and unique experience for the poker community,” Gold said in a statement. “As importantly, I will be able to continue to accomplish meaningful, vital and life-changing charitable goals with the additional support and commitment of the ZEN platform. It will also provide my dedicated partners a platform beyond anything I could have imagined as we are now able to create targeted demographic promotions.”

Gold was a poker unknown before winning the WSOP Main Event in 2006, where his table antics made him a polarizing figure – some fans loved him for being colorful, while others simply found him an annoyance. While Gold has had only very limited success since winning the $12 million prize in 2006, his $12.2 million in overall winnings still places him 5^th on the all-time money list.

According to Gold, the issues in the USA market prompted him to help promote a fully legal system for Americans.

“After Black Friday and all the negativity surrounding online poker,” Gold said. “I asked myself what I could do to help our community enjoy playing a game they love legally while at the same time elevate awareness about the fantastic brands and amazing charitable opportunities I come into contact with on a daily basis.”