Raw Deal by World Poker Tour to 7 Star Players
July 21, 2006
Seven of the world's best poker players have pulled their
chips together to fight the World Poker Tour. And they're
not bluffing.
The world-renowned players — who include Howard "The
Professor" Lederer, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson
and Annie Duke, often billed as the best female professional
poker player in history — filed suit Wednesday accusing
the tour's Los Angeles-based parent company, WPT Enterprises,
of stifling competition by forcing them to hand over rights
to televise their poker faces for free.
The players say the World Poker Tour conspires with casinos
to use their likenesses to flog poker programs, while insisting
that they waive their rights to promote their own video
games and promotional products if they want to compete against
the big boys and girls.
Casinos are instructed to boycott players who refuse to
forfeit their rights, the lawsuit contends.
The casinos are banned from holding poker tournaments outside
of the tour, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in
federal court in Los Angeles.
The World Poker Tour sponsors and televises high-stakes
tournaments in glamorous casinos from Las Vegas to Paris.
Now in its fifth season, the tour has made household names
out of such players as Andrew Block, Phil Gordon, Joseph
Hachem and Greg Raymer, who also are plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
Jeffrey Kessler, the players' lead attorney, said the rules
have been around since the tour's start, but his clients
decided to take the company to court as the popularity of
televised poker grew — and WPT Enterprises' terms
became more restrictive.
Kessler said the casinos are also probably complaining,
"behind the scenes," because of the World Poker
Tour's restrictions.
The players are seeking damages and to void their contracts
with the tour.
"If the WPT is essentially the only place to be a
professional poker player … you either go to WPT or
you stay home," Kessler said. "All they want to
do is create some competition."
World Poker Tour representatives, including lawyer Adam
Pliska, issued a statement Thursday calling the lawsuit
an "unfounded attack."
"We find it disappointing that a handful of players
— of the many thousands who play in WPT events each
year — have decided to make these claims even as the
sport continues to grow," Steve Lipscomb, World Poker
Tour WPT founder and chief executive officer, said in the
statement.
Kessler said his clients still want to play professional
poker — but with a fair deck
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