Jamie Gold Auctions his WSOP Main Event Bracelet

Jamie Gold shortly after his historic victory

In less than two weeks' time, tens of thousands of poker players will descend on Las Vegas, Nevada each sharing one common goal, to win a World Series of Poker bracelet.

In recent years, the value of the WSOP bracelet has been argued about on forums around the world, with some believing the prestige in winning a bracelet has been devalued due to the number of bracelet-awarding events now on the various WSOP schedules. However, for most, winning a WSOP bracelet is evidence of them reaching the pinnacle of their careers. With that in mind, it makes you wonder why winners of this sought-after poker jewellery would sell theirs to the highest bigger.

Jamie Gold won one of the most famous bracelets in 2006 when he outlasted a field of 8,773 in the WSOP Main Event. This is still the largest-ever WSOP Main Event and the $12,000,000 that Gold won for his victory is the second largest prize in poker history, trailing only the $18,346,673 won by Antonio Esfandiari at the $1,000,000 buy-in Big One for One Drop in 2012.

Gold's win also hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons when was sued by Bruce Crispin Leyser for half of Gold's historic win after Gold reneged on a verbal agreement with Leyser to give him half of any winnings in the WSOP Main Event. Leyser successfully claimed half of Gold's $12,000,000 winnings after a court battle.
 
The bracelet that Gold won contains over 120 grams of white and yellow 14-karat gold and 259 precious stones including seven carats of diamonds and you could get your hands on it - or should that be wrist - because Gold has put it up for auction.

Gold joins an ever-growing list of WSOP bracelet winners to auction off their prize. Brad Daughterty, Paul "Eskimo" Clark and T.J. Cloutier have each sold a WSOP bracelet in the past few years. Arguably the most famous WSOP bracelet sale occurred when Peter Eastgate auctioned his 2008 WSOP Main Event bracelet on eBay, which went on to fetch $147,500 when Scotland's William Haughey bought it. 

At time of writing, neither Gold nor Heritage Auctions have commented on why the bracelet is up for sale, but one would suspect it is another of Gold's ideas to raise money for charitable causes. 

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