Should you enter into an oral contract, or should your agreements with others always be in writing?
Here is a story to think about:
Even professional bluffers can be held to their word
By Nick C. Sortal
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Copyright (c) 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
August 30, 2006
"I'll give you half."
Four words have triggered countless fights between lottery winners, and now they have tainted the biggest prize in poker.
Jamie Gold, who bills himself as a Hollywood talent agent, won $12 million earlier this month in the World Series of Poker. As he moved through the 8,773-player field, so did the rumor: He had promised half to Crispin Leyser, as repayment for a business deal between the two. And for a week, poker fans and blogs have debated whether Leyser's claim would hold up and if Gold would pay up.
Neither question has been answered. And last week, Leyser obtained an injunction in Las Vegas to stop Gold from claiming the $12 million sitting at the Rio in Las Vegas.
In the suit, Leyser claims he has a phone message from Gold: "I promise you -- you can keep this recording on my word -- there's no possible way you're not going to get your half ... after taxes."
Gold could have taken a check, cash or wire transfer almost immediately after his Aug. 10 win but has declined to do so.
But the situation also prompts another, obvious, question: In a sport based on bluffing, would you trust someone at their word?
"In gambling, your word is your bond," said Charlie Bury, of Boca Raton, who plays regularly. He cites Steve Dannenmann, who finished second in the 2005 World Series and immediately handed over half of his $4.25 million to his backer, Jerry Ditzell.
Bury, who watched the World Series final live via ESPN pay-per-view, said he had a bad feeling all along about Gold.
"I was rooting against him the whole way. He was a cocky jerk," Bury said last week during a break at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino tables. "But in fairness, show me the proof."
Mike Demont, of Jensen Beach, said Gold shouldn't have to split 50-50 with Leyser -- "Gold did all of the work" -- and Demont's friend, Tim Maxwell, visiting from New Jersey, said he questions Leyser's judgment about not getting the agreement in writing.
"For something that serious, you gotta put it on paper," Maxwell said. But other players say it's common for people to "stake" a player and they have always honored their verbal agreements.
World Series of Poker entries ("seats," in poker parlance) cost $10,000, and gambling Web site Bodog.com had offered Gold a seat on the condition that he provide a couple of stars who would wear Bodog garb (act as human billboards).
Leyser claims he found Scooby Doo actor Matthew Lillard (he played Shaggy) and MTV Punk'd comedian Dax Shepherd for Gold, who then agreed to share winnings, including via an Aug. 10 voice mail just before Gold headed toward the final table.
Verbal agreements have caused several disputes among Florida lottery winners. A Miami-Dade school board employee tried to claim $17 million in 1994, only for the courts to order him to divide it eight ways among friends who pooled their tickets. And a Palm Beach Gardens woman and her ex-husband fought over whether a $31.5 million ticket in 1988 should be shared. He claimed they had a "verbal contract."
If the claims are true, Leyser's case has a good shot, said Ronald Brown, who teaches contract law at Nova Southeastern University's law school. If Gold promised to split the winnings in exchange for Leyser's aid, that created an enforceable contract between the two. It doesn't require a written document, he said.
"It is really easier to create an enforceable contract than most people think," Brown said.
A hearing is Friday in Las Vegas.
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