WSOP Champ Gold May Have to Give Up Half of His Winnings

A television development executive, Crispin Leyser, is suing Jamie Gold, the winner of this year's World Series of Poker Championship, for half of his $12 million in winnings.

Here is a synopsis of this confusing case as we understand it as reported by ESPN. Bodog.com, an online gambling super power, said they would grant a seat to the WSOP to any person who could find celebrities to play under the sponsorship of Bodog. Gold then went to Leyser to request help in finding celebrities with an agreement that if he did, whoever took the seat from Bodog would split their winnings with the other.

According to Leyser's attorney, his case is very strong, which is why the Nevada Chief Discrict Court Jude, Kathy Hardcastle, issued a restraining order to prevent Gold from collecting the money until at least Sept. 1, when the first hearing of the lawsuit is scheduled.

ESPN obtained a copy of the lawsuit, which claims that Leyser found actors Matthew Lillard and Dax Shepherd to play for Bodog. A seat was awarded to Gold, who later beat the biggest field in WSOP history (8,773 players) and claim the tournament's biggest grand prize ever.

According to the lawsuit, hours before the final table began, Leyser received the following message from Gold on his phone: "I promise you -- you can keep this recording on my word -- there's no possible way you're not going to get half after taxes.

"So please just be with me. I can't imagine you're going to have a problem with it. I just don't want any stress about any money or any of that [expletive] going on today, or even after the end of the day.

"But please just trust me. You've trusted me the whole way, you can trust me a little bit more. I promise you there's no way anybody will go anywhere with your money. It's your money."

August 24, 2006
Posted By Bob Hartman
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