2007 World Series of Poker Champion, Sally Anne Boyer, who won a WSOP bracelet and $262,077, sued WSOP Academy. The name of Sally Anne Boyer and her image is said to be featured in advertisements by WSOP Academy. In the advertisements, it is claiming that WSOP Academy is the quickest way to a WSOP bracelet. The message is that WSOP Academy is behind the championship of Sally Ann Boyer.
For her part, Sally Anne Boyer says that while she indeed attended WSOP Academy, she did this only for one day. She therefore did not graduate from the academy as it is being claimed. Thus, in her suit, she claimed that the learning she acquired if indeed she acquired any from WSOP Academy had nothing to do with her performance in the Ladies Event of the 2007 WSOP.
Winning the WSOP Bracelet in 2007 and a corresponding amount of $262,077 is the fruit of many years of practice that honed her poker craft.
She says that because of the advertisements featuring her and the claim that WSOP Academy is the quickest way to WSOP bracelet, she is now seeking unspecified damages and recovery of profits earned from using her name and her image. In this case, Harrah’s has refused to comment on the nature of this issue.
There are other lawsuits that are filed which may affect the poker gaming society, most of them are however filed against online poker rooms.
One significant lawsuit filed is against online poker giant, Full Tilt Poker. The lawsuit claims that the operators of the site had been using poker robots to take the money from online poker players. This however is found to be untrue and the lawsuit was correspondingly dismissed.
Even after this lawsuit, Full Tilt Poker remains one of the most trusted USA poker rooms.
Many have tried to bring down online poker rooms. However, to date most of them have been proven to be wrong.
Another significant lawful issue that affected the world of poker is the passing of the bill, Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). It continues to cloud the online poker gaming community because there is still that threat that US players will be unable to play online poker.
However, a new study released by Rep. Jim McDermott estimates that the US government is possibly loosing as much as $41 billion in not taxing online poker.
The Joint Committee on Taxation performed the study and McDermott said that this money if claimed by the government might be used for critical and economic recovery programs.
The UIGEA set December 1, 2009 as the last day for the banks to implement the bill and thus, any appeal or reconsideration being applied needs to be acted upon immediately.
Lawsuits and legal impediments like the UIGEA may affect online poker room. Some of these legal issues may be dismissed outright and some may take sometime to resolve. Just the same, poker gaming either online or in brick and mortar casinos continue to boom even amidst these legal controversies.
