Daniel Negreanu Lashes Out At Greg Raymer on Video: Raw And Uncut

Wednesday, August 9, 2006
by BroadbandPoker.com Staff

There seems to be a new feud brewing in the world of professional poker, but for once it doesn't include Mike Matusow or Phil Hellmuth.

This latest feud is between 2004 WSOP Main Event Champion Greg Raymer and the very likeable and crowd favorite Daniel Negreanu.

Raymer who along with six other top poker pros recently sued the World Poker Tour over disagreements about how their likeness can be used in WPT promotions and has sparked a response from one of the poker world's most loved players in Daniel Negreanu.

Negreanu who has been very open about his objection to this suit had recently only been critical of how these players could as he said, "Sue the hand that feeds you", but up until yesteday it had only been a general criticism of the lawsuit and had never turned personal. That has now changed.

Many poker forums that record actual online play of top poker pros and then blog about them reported watching Raymer play the other night online and when asked in chat about Negreanu finally being knocked out of the 2006 Main Event, he is reported to have said that he was glad and when asked about the lawsuit Raymer added that Negreanu was either stupid or a puppet for the WPT.

As you can imagine once Daniel got word of this the other day he was not happy and let loose on Raymer in his daily poker video blog.

To see the uncut video rant by Daniel Negreanu click here.

Raymer did post an apology after finding out the chat session was posted throughout the internet on various poker message boards and poker blogs. Here is the response posted on 2+2...

I'd like to mention two things. This is in reply to several different posts throughout the thread.

First, I was wrong to insult Daniel. Whatever my feelings, I should have kept the negative comments to myself. They don't help me or the cause we are fighting in this lawsuit, and they might have been hurtful to Daniel. For that I am sorry, and I do apologize.

Second, many people make the comment that if players don't like the WPT release, they can simply choose not to play. That is true. However, what if you wish to play in an open-to-the-public big-buyin televised tournament? Other than the WPT, where can you do this? The WSOP, of course; as well as the U.S. Poker Championships at the Taj. So, for a month and a half in Vegas you can play the WSOP, and then with the Circuit events and the Taj that's another half dozen events per year. What else?

I know of no other options within the U.S. Events like the NBC Heads-up Championship and Poker SuperStars Invitational don't count, because they are not open to the public.

So, if you have other events you think meet the above definition, let us know. I'm pretty sure there are none at the present.

Thanks, Greg Raymer (FossilMan).

Also, here is the report on the lawsuit filed against the WPT... (Courtesy FCP Forums)

Published on: Wednesday Jul 19, 2006
Players File Antitrust Lawsuit Against WPT

Seeks to Open Up Competition and End WPT's Control of Players' Likenesses
Seven poker players have joined together and filed a lawsuit against World Poker Tour Enterprises today, claiming that the company behind the World Poker Tour has violated antitrust laws by demanding players sign away the rights to their likelinesses before taking part in WPT events.

The lawsuit also claims that WPTE and casinos that host WPT tournaments have unlawfully conspired to eliminate competition and opportunities for the world's top poker players because casinos that host WPT events are not allowed to host other large-scale tournaments for broadcast.

Howard Lederer, Annie Duke, Andy Bloch, Phil Gordon, and past World Series of Poker champions Chris Ferguson, Greg Raymer, and Joe Hachem filed the lawsuit in Federal court in Los Angeles Wednesday, July 19.

"We have seven players here standing up without a union, and they're standing up for all the players," said Jeffrey Kessler, lead lawyer for the players. "It is about setting up a fair system and the players here are prepared to back up this case until a fair system is set up."

Image and Intellect

At the root of the lawsuit is the release form that all players who compete in WPT sponsored events must sign. The form gives WPTE the right to use the likeliness of the players in any way WPTE chooses for free. No matter how WPTE uses players' images, players receive no monetary compensation.

The release gives WPTE the rights to use players' images and likenesses in everything from books to video games, which it has done.

"This is about the control of your own name and likeness and in poker that's all we have," Lederer said. "You could find yourself endorsing products you don't believe in. I should be able to make that decision. I don't want the WPT deciding for me."

All the players involved in this suit have contracts with other companies that already give the companies exclusive rights to their names, images, and intellectual property rights. For example, Ferguson has a contract with Activision to exclusively appear in the "World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions" video game.

He says if he signed the release form to play in a WPT event, it would violate the contract that he has with Activision and all the other companies that he has chosen to work with. All the players involved with this suit believe this.

"I've been trying very hard to get a fair release," Ferguson said. "Sometimes this release conflicts with deals you already have."

Therefore, the seven players have not been participating in WPT events. As people who make their living playing poker, they claim that the release stops them from playing in some of the most lucrative tournaments.

"We all want to play, but we can't play right now because of the nature of the release," Gordon said. "We want to compete in the biggest and best tournaments in the world."

The lawsuit seeks to have this practice stopped, seeks compensation for the players, and asks that all the releases previously signed by the players be voided.

A Question of Fair Competition

The lawsuit notes that at least 11 casinos that host WPT events have signed written agreements not to compete with each other. The contract is set to expire in 2009. Because of this contract, the casinos are prohibited from hosting any non-WPT tournaments. This contract applies to all the properties in a casino chain, as well.

The suit claims that this eliminates competition between the casinos. If the casinos were able to compete with each other, everything from tournament structure and prize pools would naturally change to make it better for the players, the players say.

Because of the popularity of the WPT and the WSOP in recent years, many of the WPT casinos have been approached by outside companies to host other high-stakes poker tournaments.

The suit claims that due to this agreement, tournament poker players have fewer opportunities to apply their trade because, through the exclusive contract, WPTE has artificially restrained the number of televised high-stakes poker tournaments that can enter the marketplace.

The contract ? and the nature of WPTE's filming schedule ? also affects the quality of poker that's being played and broadcast because WPTE has the final say in how the blind structure of the tournament take place, said Duke.

She pointed to how the blind structure of WPT events are changed once the final table is decided, and then it's changed again once play goes to heads-up.

Before the final table, blinds are 90 minutes, which is standard for most high-stakes poker tournaments. Once the final table is established, blinds go up every hour and once it gets down to two players, blinds go up every hour "when two people might be playing for a $1 million," Duke said. "It takes the skill out of the game just when the money really matters."

Since the lawsuit was only filed today, WPTE has yet to see it and won't comment on the lawsuit until then.

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