WPT-Players’ Dispute Settled Out of Court

According to PokerNews, the WPT has settled its dispute with several prominent players (Duke, Bloch, Ferguson, Lederer, and Gordon) regarding the terms of the release that players must sign to play in World Poker Tour events.:

“In their original lawsuit, the players claimed that the terms of the WPTE player release would force them to violate other endorsement agreements and rights to images that the players and their sponsors had otherwise contracted for, and as a result, the players were forced to forego participating in WPT events. The action was framed in antitrust terms, alleging that WPTE and its partner casinos unlawfully conspired to eliminate competition and violated the intellectual property rights of these players. WPTE strictly denied that its standard player release was in any way “in violation of antitrust or other laws.” The modified player release, while not detailed by WPTE, likely addresses related concerns.”

Lacking the time, money, and inclination to play any WPT events, I never looked into the exact wording, but I trust that the players were on the right side of this one. Those are some pretty wise folks, and I would trust their judgment on an issue like this. Now that the release has been changed, I’m probably a bit more likely to play a WPT tournament in the next year. But first I need to remember how to be good at poker….