poker superstars: SEVEN POKER PROS FILE ANTITRUST LAWSUIT AGAINST WPTE

By Oliver Tse
Special to PokerBiz411.com

LOS ANGELES and LAS VEGAS -- Seven high-profile professional tournament poker players have filed an antitrust lawsuit against Los Angeles-based WPT Enterprises (NASDAQ: WPTE), the parent company of the World Poker Tour (WPT).

The seven players -- 2005 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event World Champion Joseph Hachem, 2004 WSOP Main Event World Champion Greg Raymer, 2000 WSOP Main Event World Champion Chris "JESUS" Ferguson, Howard Lederer, Annie Duke, Andy Bloch, and Phil Gordon -- have hired attorney Jeffrey Kessler of the law firm Dewey Ballantine LLP to represent them.

The lawsuit, filed at the Federal District Court in Los Angeles, seeks injunctive and punitive relief under the Sherman Antitrust Act and California state law.

"It's time to bring justice for professional poker players," said Kessler at a press conference held at the Rio Pavilion Convention Center on July 19. "These [seven] players are standing up for their peers...They are seeking a fair deal."

According to Kessler, he had successfully represented former professional football player Freeman McNeil, former professional arena football player James Guidry, and former professional basketball players Oscar Robertson and Ulysses "Junior" Bridgeman in antitrust lawsuits against the National Football League (NFL), the Arena Football League (AFL), and the National Basketball Association (NBA) respectively.

"Those same [antitrust] laws apply to professional poker as they do to other sports," Kessler added.

The seven poker pros are paying for the cost of the lawsuit with their own personal funds.

"I expect to lose several thousand dollars on this case", said Raymer, a former attorney. "We want some precedents set to allow all players and casinos to be able to compete for our services."

According to Kessler, the lawsuit alleges WPTE: 1) Conspired with its "member casinos" to not hold televised poker events organized by other promoters, 2) "Fixed" the price for using the image and likeness of any player who entered WPTE poker tournaments at "zero," and 3) 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.

The lawsuit did not name any WPT "member casino" as a co-defendant.

Kessler said that the seven players are seeking: 1) Injunctive relief to declare all previous release forms signed by the players void, 2) Injunctive relief to prevent WPTE from enforcing the exclusivity clauses in its agreements with member casinos, and 3) Punitive relief, in the form of triple damages, for the loss of "significant potential income" as a result of the players having to sit out WPT poker tournaments within the past year.

"We are professional poker players and we want to play," said Gordon in a passionate and angry tone. "I would have to break every endorsement contract I have in order to play [WPT tournaments]...This is a watershed moment...It's time for the players to stand up...Enough is enough! This is not just about the seven of us."

"[WPTE's] attitude has been, 'It's good for us (players),'" said Lederer, referring to WPTE's assertion that WPT poker tournaments offer players valuable television exposure. "I want to be able to decide what is good for me, not the WPT."

Duke added that video game producer Crave Entertainment, which has exclusive image licensing agreements with Duke, Lederer, and Raymer for its World Championship Poker video game, is currently suing WPTE over the use of Duke's image in a WPT-branded video game.

"We had tried very hard to avoid a lawsuit," said Duke, who added that her entertainment lawyer had attempted to negotiate with WPTE since last November, when WPTE changed its player release to include the use of a player's image and likeness in derivative media products. "We attempted to negotiate an [alternative] release prior to the WPT Championship in April [without success]...We feel the lawsuit is our last resort."

Both Raymer and Lederer cited specific instances in which WPTE's "member casino" exclusivity agreements prevented other televised tournament poker producers from shooting video at WPT "member casinos."

"My wife Cheryl wanted to organize a charity [tournament poker] event at Foxwoods," said Raymer, who alleged that WPTE denied a request by Mrs. Raymer to hire a video production crew to videotape the event for a documentary. "We then offered WPTE a chance to videotape the event, and [WPTE Founder and CEO] Steve Lipscomb declined."

"The producer [Henry Orenstein's HSOR, Inc.] of Poker SuperStars wanted to rent a hotel suite at the Bellagio to videotape the player interviews," said Lederer, who was one of the eight players who participated in the original Poker SuperStars tournament poker television series in 2003. "The Bellagio was afraid that WPT would recognize the suite in the video and denied the producer permission."

The seven players have posted documents pertaining to the lawsuit on the website wptlawsuit.com.

WPTE General Counsel Adam Pliska said in a telephone message that he had not received the official legal complaint filed by the seven players, and was unable to comment on the merits of the case.