AUTHOR: Jerry "Jet" Whittaker TITLE: Poker Pros Request Summary Judgment Against The World Poker Tour DATE: 10:09 AM ----- BODY: Seven of the world's leading professional poker players filed a motion for
summary judgment against WPT Enterprises, Inc. ("WPTE"), this week in
federal district court in Los Angeles. In their motion for summary judgment,
plaintiffs Chris Ferguson, Andrew Bloch, Annie Duke, Phil Gordon, Joseph
Hachem, Howard Lederer, and Greg Raymer (click on names to see Player
Profile) presented undisputed facts claiming that WPTE, which owns and
manages the World Poker Tour (WPT) and all its tournaments, has committed
multiple violations of federal antitrust laws. The dispute originated from
an earlier confrontation between the poker pros and WPTE (click here to see
prior PokerPages Article) where poker players accused WPT of unlawfully
conspiring to force them to sign non-negotiable "releases" which required
players to grant WPTE the right to use their names, likenesses, voices and
images (collectively 'brands') and to permit WPTE to exploit their brands to
promote WPTE products and services, but with NO compensation. The seven
players filed a lawsuit last July against the WPTE. In that suit, the
players, now Plaintiffs, contend that the undisputed facts establish that
WPTE and the casinos have agreed to boycott and exclude from WPT events any
poker player who does not sign such a "release." The Plaintiffs have also
offered undisputed evidence that WPTE and the casinos are conspiring to
restrict the number of poker tournaments in competition with the WPT by
agreeing that the casinos cannot sponsor any televised non-WPT events. The
Plaintiffs contend that these agreements constitute "per se" or "quick look"
violations of federal antitrust laws. The "per se" and "quick look" tests
apply to conduct which is so inherently anticompetitive that a court may
summarily decide that such conduct violates U.S. antitrust laws without the
need for full discovery or a trial. --------