WPT Sued By Tour Players

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Seven of the best-known poker players in the U.S. sued WPT Enterprises Inc., operator of the World Poker Tour tournaments, accusing the company of persuading casinos to host only its televised events.


The suit was filed in a Los Angeles federal court and accuses the Los Angeles-based company of violating antitrust laws by conspiring with the casinos to eliminate competition for the players’ services and intellectual property. Among those mentioned in the suit are Chris Ferguson, Joseph Hachem and Greg Raymer, all of whom were winners at the World Series of Poker Main Event, along with Andrew Bloch, Annie Duke, Phil Gordon and Howard Lederer.


According to the release, which lists law firm New York-based Dewey Ballantine LLP as the contact, the lawsuit seeks to void contracts signed by the players that give the WPT rights to use their names, likenesses and also seeks to void agreements between the WPT and Las Vegas casinos that prohibit the casinos from staging poker tournaments that compete with WPT events, attorney Jeff Kessler said.


WPT was unable to be reached for comment.

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