Jamie Gold met a younger version of himself during the first condensed-for-TV episode of the 2026 WSOP Main Event on ESPN.
Jourdan Baptiste is a name you probably hadn’t previously heard. He has just one live tournament cash recorded by The Hendon Mob, that being a $1,750 min-cash in a World Series of Poker event this summer. But he emerged during the first of two episodes that aired Tuesday night on ESPN2 as an entertaining personality.
Who Says Personalities are Lacking in Today’s Game?
Baptiste was seated at the same feature table as Gold, who won the Main Event 20 years ago for $12 million. Gold became known for his speech play during that 2006 run, using it effectively to convince an opponent to call or fold, depending on if he had a big hand or not.
Gold, now 56, brought some of that 36-year-old trademark Jamie Gold speech play to the broadcast, although it potentially cost him some chips with pocket aces when he talked Baptiste, his new rival, out of calling with pocket queens. Baptiste, on the other hand, was able to talk an opponent into calling off his entire stack with a pair that was lesser than the pocket pair he had in the hole.
Baptiste brought plenty of table talk to the game, something many 2000s poker fans have complained the modern poker era has lacked. He built a big stack on Day 1 just like Gold did in 2006. And, ironically, he sent Gold packing before the session concluded with pocket aces beating ace-queen after a queen landed on the flop.
The broadcast felt nostaglic to the old-school poker fans, including Daniel Negreanu, who referred to the new episodes as “exceptionally good.”
Negreanu’s opinion was echoed by many poker players on social media who enjoyed the nostalgia, and of course the return of Lon McEachern and Norman Chad as commentators. The production crew, Omaha Productions, made a point to heavily feature the Poker Boom era stars like Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Jennifer Tilly, Chris Moneymaker, and Erick Lindgren.
But the show wasn’t only catered to those who ate, slept, and breathed poker in 2006. There were plenty of 2020s personalities featured, such as Martin Kabrhel and Jimmy D’Ambrosio (“Jimmy D”). Not only that, ESPN switched things up a bit and rotated Ali Nejad and Nick Schulman into the commentary booth for part of the broadcast.
One of the biggest questions poker fans had for the return of the WSOP on ESPN was if the modern era personalities would make for entertaining TV. Thus far, the answer is a resounding yes, and it wasn’t just Baptiste who gave the viewers a rooting interest.
Those viewers, however, won’t get to continue watching Baptiste play in future Main Event episodes. In the second hour-long episode that aired Tuesday night, which covered Day 2, he flopped the nut straight and raised James Burns, who flopped a set of kings. Burns then put him all in and the board paired on the turn, sending Baptiste home a couple days short of the money after building up a big Day 1 stack.
Episodes 3 and 4 will air July 28 on ESPN2 at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. ET. ESPN2 will have a livestream of the final table from Aug. 3-4, and the tournament will play down to a winner Aug. 5 on ESPN. Check your local listings for those who reside outside the United States.
ESPN to Air More WSOP Main Event Coverage Than Ever Before; Here’s the Schedule
