Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2006

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Gold being sued for half his WSOP winnings

By Sarah Polson

Jamie Gold may only be the $6 million man instead of the $12 million man if a lawsuit filed against him holds up. The 2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP) champion is being sued by Bruce Crispin Leyser who claims Gold made an informal agreement to split his winnings with him.

Leyser, a television development executive, filed the suit in a Las Vegas District Court on Monday. As part of the lawsuit, Chief District Judge Kathy Hardcastle also signed a temporary restraining order preventing Gold from collecting his WSOP Main Event winnings at least until Sept. 1 when the first court hearing is scheduled.

Leyser had asked the court to keep Gold from claiming the money or spending it until the dispute is settled because he's worried that Gold will spend it all before he gets his share.

Gold had a contract with Bodog.com which paid for him to enter the Main Event in return for Gold finding celebrities to wear Bodog.com-branded clothing during the tournament. According to Leyser, after he met Gold in Las Vegas in July, they struck a deal where Leyser would help Gold find celebrities to wear the gear, and they would split whatever money was won from the WSOP seat.

Leyser claims to have fulfilled his end of the bargain by finding Matthew Lillard and Dax Shepard to wear Bodog.com gear. Gold went on to play in and win the Main Event earning $12 million along with the WSOP Champion title, and according to Leyser, he then backed out of their deal.

Richard Schonfeld, the Las Vegas attorney representing Leyser, didn't say if his client had gotten a written contract from Gold, but did refer to a message Gold allegedly left on Leyser's answering machine about three hours before final table play began in the Main Event. In the message, Gold supposedly tries to reassure Leyser that he would receive half of the after-tax winnings of whatever Gold won that day.

While the alleged message was meant to reassure him and gain his trust, Leyser claims that Gold is now refusing to direct the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino to pay Leyser his share of the money. In doing so, Gold has broken their contract and defrauded him.

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