[Lawman007]

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Here's the way I see this lawsuit:

The Players want to be able to play in WPT Events, but can't because they have signed endorsement deals with other companies that prevent them from playing in the WPT because of the release forms. Presumably it is not just the contracts they signed with online sites, because people like Ivey, Greenstein, Mizrachi, and many others who are sponsored by internet sites, including FullTilt and PokerStars, are still playing in the WPT, so it must be some other deals that these players have signed that prevents them from signing the release. However, one thing I don't understand is that they sign the WSOP release form. This one must somehow not interfere with their contracts and sign away their images, likenesses, etc; however, Negreanu said in his video blog that someone from WPT (Berman, Lipscomb maybe, I forget who) said they would gladly accept if the plyaers used the WSOP release form in lieu of the WPT release, and Negreanu said that the WSOP one was actually "worse". So I'm still unclear as far as why the plaintiffs can sign the WSOP release but not the WPT, and whether there is some other ulterior motive for them to boycott the WPT other than the release form, if what Negreanu said is in fatt true.

Now, let's say the WPT has the right to effectively (directly or not) to choose who plays in their events and who doesn't, by virtue of the terms of their release form. I understand that they want to give themselves as many rights to players' images and stuff as possible, but shouldn't one of their goals be to come up with a system in which all of the top players can play without being restricted by deals they've signed with internet sites? People like Howard Lederer became stars because of the WPT, so now the WPT is essentially saying "you won, you're a star now, but by using your stardom to land a deal with a poker site, you can no longer play in our events, even though we made you a star. So you can look at it both ways. I guess a lot of this depends on whether the players are just choosing not to play in the WPT because they lose potential profits from signing away the use of their images, likenesses, etc, or whether the contracts they have signed with other companies who endorse them, actually legally prevent them from playing. If the latter is the case, then the players have a legitimate gripe for sure, because shouldn't the WPT be trying to negotiate a way to get the star players playing in their tournaments? Do people really want to see final tables with a bunch of n00bs like Alex Kahaner and Danny Nguyen? I know I don't. I root for idiotic players like them to get crushed. But maybe the mainstreat audience that doesn't know very much poker is consumed by that Rocky mentality, always rooting for the brainless, ignorant underdogs against the heavily favored professionals. That's not me, but maybe that's the WPT's target audience. If so, this saddens me. Obviously, I understand that the whole allure of poker is that anybody can win, even the retardedest play money qualifier, if they get lucky enough against the bigtime pros, but the format should still cater to having the final tables consistently filled by top players, or at least good ones, so Mike Sexton doesn't have to kiss their ass in an interview after they play horribly, and try to spin it to make it sound like they just climbed Mount Olympus. Okay this is verging on a rant so I'll keep going.

So the main issue for me is that these top players should not be excluded, effectively because of the benefits they have reaped from their star power. Just like the WPT has "fed" them, they too have benefited the WPT, and some kind of negotiation or settlement should be reached that allows the players to maintain some use of their likenesses and images so that it doesn't violate whatever contracts they have with other companies, because in my estimation, the WPT needs top players in their events. There of course is also the issue of how bad the release really is, why th ey can sign the WSOP release but not the WPT one, the claims Negreanu made in his blog, etc. I assume that all of this information will come out once the suit is carried out in court and a judgement or settlement reached. Hopefully this will not cause the WPT to go bankrupt or reduce operations or anything, as I'm sure that nobody wants that.

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Thanks. It's as clear as mud now. [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]