TV Producer Crispin Leyser Sues WSOP Champion Jamie Gold for 50% of His Winnings

Bruce Crispin Leyser, a TV producer who sued 2006 World Series of Poker champion Jamie Gold, is contesting Gold's explanation on why they agreed to share the WSOP winnings.

Bruce Crispin Leyser filed a lawsuit against Jamie Gold after the latter failed to honor an alleged verbal agreement to split the winnings between them in half.

According to Gold, he only offered the money to Leyser because he felt bad that Leyser was unable to secure a sponsorship to play poker at the $10,000 buy-in event, while Gold was sponsored by Bodog. Currently, Gold is retracting his offer to Leyser and fighting to keep all of the prize money. Gold further stated that Leyser has "shown his true colors by unnecessarily filing suit and attempting to discredit Gold's reputation in the media."

However, Leyser contends that the agreement had a business nature and was not a mere gesture of goodwill. Leyser granted Jamie Gold a favor before the event by helping him enlist the endorsement of Hollywood celebrities for Bodog. Gold, in return, allegedly made the promise to split any winnings he may have from the tournament with Leyser.

Leyser's lawyer, Richard Schonfeld, found the insinuation that Gold only offered the money because he felt bad for his client incredulous. As Schonfeld further stated, "Clearly, the uncontested evidence in this case demonstrates that the reason Jamie Gold left Crispin Leyser the telephone message on August 11, 2006, was because Crispin Leyser secured celebrities for Bodog who in exchange gave Jamie Gold the seat in the tournament'.

January 29, 2007
Michael Orwell