Clonie Gowen has already had her name smeared through the media in the past when her byline appeared with an article that was totally plagiarized. According to both her and the ghostwriter, he had copied and pasted an article word for word and was going to change all of it, but he forgot to change the first paragraph before he submitted it. When the article ran, someone noticed it was plagiarized and the story hit poker websites everywhere.
Well now Gowen has her name in the news again for her lawsuit against Full Tilt Poker. In her lawsuit, she contends that she was offered 1% of Tiltware (Full Tilt’s owner) in exchange for her representing Full Tilt in tournaments and other events. According to her, she agreed to the deal and began wearing Fult Tilt gear at all the poker events she attended.
But a problem arose when Full Tilt began issuing checks to their player representatives in May of 2007; Clonie Gowen did not receive one of these checks. So she began questioning part owner Howard Lederer on the status of her ownership and/or payment. Lederer offered a $250,000 check, but she refused it since a 1% ownership in Full Tilt Poker is worth much, much more than this. The company is valued at $4 billion so 1% of that would be $40 million which is definitely an incentive to turn down $250K. The question is did she really get offered a deal this sweet?
Now, I think that she must have been due something if Lederer was willing to offer her $250,000 for representing the company but there is no way they would give her a 1% stake in the company. Daniel Negreanu said it best when he stated, “There is just no freaking way they?d offer her 1%. I hope she ends up with what she deserves….nothing. She?s ruined herself with this move. I?ll never speak to her again and I?m sure I?m not alone.”
Full Tilt has filed a motion for dismissal, but the case will probably go to trail. And the only reason I think it will go to trial is because courts will give her something for the 4 years she represented the company. However, that something surely won’t be $40 million.