WPTE Sued by Top Poker Pros
July 22, 2006Question: What do three World Series of Poker Main Event Champs, a former blackjack specialist, a TV host and a brother/sister pair of poker pros have in common?
Answer: They've hired attorney Jeffrey Kessler of Dewey Ballantine LLP to help them in their antitrust lawsuit against the Los Angeles based World Poker Tour Enterprises, the parent company of the WPT.
Greg Raymer, a former patent attorney, has joined forces with fellow pros, Howard Lederer, Annie Duke, Chris Ferguson, Joseph Hachem, Andy Bloch and Phil Gordon. The pros are seeking injunctive and punitive relief under the Sherman Antitrust Act and California state law.
The pros are paying out of pocket for representation. According to the pros' attorney, the lawsuit alleges that the WPTE:
- Conspired with its "member casinos" to not hold televised poker events organized by other promoters,
- "Fixed" the price for using the image and likeness of any player who entered WPTE poker tournaments at "zero,"
- Engaged in a “group boycott" by forcing players to sign a release form that required them to surrender their image rights to WPTE for use in derivative media products such as books and video games, with no possibility for the players to negotiate individually with WPTE.
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