World Poker Champ May Lose Half of $12M Purse

By Mark Hoerrner

Jamie Gold beat out 8,773 players to win the largest prize pot ever offered by the World Series of Poker. But his victory may be bittersweet if a district court judge decides that Gold will have to pay associate Crispin Leyser half the winnings, or $6 million.

Nevada Chief District Court Judge Kathy Hardcastle, who represents Clark County, issued a restraining order Tuesday directing the Rio Casino not to pay the poker champion until Sept. 1 when the case will come before her.

"As evidenced in the complaint, our presentation is strong," Leyser's attorney, Richard Schoenfeld, told ESPN. "The judge preliminarily found that we are likely to succeed on the merits of the case and therefore granted the temporary restraining order and the hearing on Sept. 1."

The suit arises out of a pre-tournament agreement allegedly made between Leyser, a television exec and instructor for the World Poker Tour Boot Camp, and Gold. The two became partners when a poker web site, Bodog.com, offered a seat at the tournament to whoever brought forth celebrities to play under the web site’s name. Leyser found two actors, Matthew Lillard and Dax Shepherd, for Gold and Bodog fronted the entry fee for Gold. Leyser claims that he and Gold agreed that of the two of them, whoever entered the tournament would split the winnings with the other.

The lawsuit includes a transcript of a message Gold left on Leyser’s cell phone.

"I promise you -- you can keep this recording on my word -- there's no possible way you're not going to get half after taxes. So please just be with me. I can't imagine you're going to have a problem with it. I just don't want any stress about any money or any of that [expletive] going on today, or even after the end of the day.

"But please just trust me. 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."

Despite the cell phone confessional, Leyser claims Gold is holding out on him and is not allowing the Rio Hotel to disburse his share of the winnings. According to a report by the Las Vegas Sun newspaper, Gold allegedly told Leyser that he would set up a corporation in Nevada and pay Leyser from there. Leyser, however, is worried that Gold will burn through the winnings before Leyser can get his hands on the $6 million.

There are also tax implications to consider. If Gold cashes out at the Rio, he’ll lose about one third of the money to taxes. If he then pays Leyser a 50/50 split – about 4.2 million – Leyser might have to forfeit another $1-2 million in taxes, leaving him about 20 percent of the original winnings. According to casino representatives, should the winnings be divided at the casino, each man could offer up taxes there and walk away with just over $4 million each.