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Poker Business News Round Up - Nov 17th

A slight glimmer of hope for the ongoing issues with online gambling in the States, as the controversial Kentucky Domain Seizures case has been granted a stay until December 12th by a Kentucky appeals court. The motion was filed by the Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association (iMEGA), who commented "We're pleased that the Court of Appeals has given us the opportunity to challenge these seizures. The commonwealth has tried to take these domains for their own financial gain, violating Kentucky law, exceeding their jurisdiction, and setting a terrible precedent in the process."

Poker stays in the court room now, as it has emerged that Clonie Gowen is suing her sponsors Full Tilt. In a Nevada District Court suit "Gowen vs Tiltware LLC, et al.", the former red pro is suing the shareholders (Including a who’s who of world poker – Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, Phil Ivey, Mike Matusow, Erick Lindgren etc etc) for a number of offences including Breach of Contract and Unjust Enrichment.

Gowen says she was offered 1% of the company in exchange for promoting the brand using her ‘celebrity’ status. She has made several claims including not receiving her Team FTP distribution cheques and that the company is worth $4 billion, and thus she is owed $40 million. There is apparently no written contract between Gowen and Full Tilt and we expect a quick out of court, hush hush settlement on this bizarre story soon.

Some slightly better business news for our poker friends across the pond finally, as the WSOP ratings are in and it seems the 3 month final table delay was a big success. 2.36 million Americans tuned in to watch the final table of the ‘November 9’ which is 53% and 52% more than the previous two years that saw Jerry Yang and Jamie Gold lift the titles respectively. Any increase would have been good for ESPN and this will surely mean the final table delay will become a regular fixture:

ESPN spokesperson George McNeilly said: “We’re thrilled with the results and it’s a tribute to the leadership of Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack and his team at the WSOP in growing poker into a spectator sport. If you saw the telecast or were there in person, then you know the crowd went wild for their favorite players. The balcony seating was a capacity crowd. All nine players were unheralded coming in and were not household names, so it speaks to the great drama that is televised poker.”

By Barry Carter - November 17th 2008

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