Jeff Haney on how a lawsuit against the 2006 World Series of Poker champion is symptomatic of the changing face of poker

Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2006 | 7:17 a.m.

Regardless of who's right, who's wrong and how the lawsuit against World Series of Poker champion Jamie Gold shakes out, the litigation could signal the end of a more innocent age in big-time gambling.

A time when a poker player's word carried far more weight than any written document.

When a professional gambler would sooner take a corporate day job, or say the word "gaming" with a straight face, than end up in a courtroom fighting about poker tournament winnings.

"Any kind of old-school gambler will tell you your word is your bond," professional bettor Alan Boston said. "Of course, Jamie Gold is not an old-school gambler. He's a Hollywood agent."

Gold, who won the World Series' $12 million grand prize last month, was sued in District Court for half that sum by an acquaintance who claims they had an agreement to split any winnings.

Making such deals to help stake a player has long been a widespread practice in poker. And with the proliferation of televised "destination" tournaments such as the World Series, poker players have more minority partners than ever, Boston said.

"If some guy comes from Chattanooga, Tenn., or somewhere, a whole lot of people from back home might have 1 percent of him," Boston said.

Traditionally, agreements in which backers buy or barter for a percentage of a tournament player's winnings have been sealed with a handshake or less - a few words, eye contact, a nod.

"You do that, and it's etched in stone," Boston said. "Any other way would be totally foreign to me. At least that's the way it always was.

"But I'm not one of those poker players who travels all around the (tournament) circuit. A lot of them are just a bunch of punk kids now. I guess it's not like it used to be."

Boston said a financial understanding he has with a longtime gambling partner is typical in what he reverently calls the "old school."

The arrangement is based on trust. Nothing is put in writing. Yet Boston and his partner routinely exchange sums that would be considered exceptional in the workaday world.

When Boston recently had to tell his partner about a $50,000 accounting error, for instance, "He just said OK."

With the lawsuit against Gold pending, Boston issued his own indictment against the modern-day poker scene.

"There's not any sense of honesty," he said, "no sense of right and wrong."

But as tournaments such as the World Series evolve into international phenomena, attracting throngs of novice players and generating huge prize pools, a lawsuit might have been inevitable, said UNLV professor of public administration Bill Thompson, who studies gambling trends.

"A gambler's word is very, very important," Thompson said. "And I don't like to think that gamblers are inherently greedy or dishonest people.

"I don't think this (lawsuit) will besmirch the whole industry, but it does raise a flag. Maybe it puts gamblers on notice that they're going to have to put their deals in writing. Agreements like this are always going to be part of the game, but maybe you'll see more players saying, 'Hey, let's get it down in writing.' "

According to the complaint filed by Bruce Crispin Leyser, identified as a TV development executive from Los Angeles, Gold broke a contract and defrauded Leyser by refusing to release the disputed $6 million. Leyser's attorney declined to say whether a written agreement was involved. He referred to a detailed phone message Gold allegedly left for Leyser about the prize money.

The sheer magnitude of the cash prize, a record for poker, almost certainly played a role in the litigation, Thompson said.

"If (Gold) had won $500, I'm sure he would have said, 'OK, here's 250,' " Thompson said.

A big financial windfall can test anyone's morality, said Thompson, who does not invest in poker players but occasionally splits the cost of a few lottery tickets with his brother in Iowa.

That informal agreement has worked without a hitch, Thompson said. So far.

"But when we hit the jackpot for $30 million, will I be able to say the same thing?"