Jamie Gold, the 36-year-old TV producer from California who won the biggest poker tournament jackpot ever in the 2006 WSOP will perhaps remain with only half of the prize.
Crispin Leyser, a TV executive, who filed a law suit against Gold on August 21st, claims that he deserves half of the prize money. According to Leyser, they agreed to split the prize if Gold wins.
"The defendant now refuses to provide me with 50 percent of the winnings, as we had previously agreed upon," Leyser wrote in an affidavit filed with the suit. He also demands compensation for punitive damages and attorneys' fees.
So far, a temporary restraining order barring the Rio casino, where the WSOP was held, from paying Gold the $12 million.
According to the suit, Gold and Leyser, who lives in Los Angeles, met in Las Vegas in July, a few weeks before the tournament began. Gold told Leyser that Bodog.com, an online gambling website, had agreed to pay for a $10,000 seat in the tournament for him if he could bring in celebrities who would wear the company's gear in the tournament.
According to the law suit, Gold also left Leyser a voice mail message reassuring him of their deal: "You've trusted me the whole way; you can trust me a little bit more. I promise you there's no way anybody will go anywhere with your money. It's your money. All right, I send you love".
Gold has not yet responded to these claims but following his win on August 11th said:
"I'm going to share it with some of my friends." The rest, he added, would go to his father, Robert, who suffers from Lou Gehrig's disease.
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