[Espirit77]

Moral of the story: always get something in writing, even if via email. Although verbal contracts are equally binding as written, they are so hard to prove. Whenever I negotiate salary/benefits with an employer, I have no problem asking them to make several revisions to the offer letter/contract before I am happy with it. I may seem like a pest, but it prevents stuff like this happening, and causing way more trouble down the line.

Plus, as a shareholder, you would expect to get a certificate within a six months to a year of said share being promised, whether it is a startup or not. I worked for a company where I was told numerous times that I was getting X number of shares, and they never materialized despite much pestering, so I left. Obviously if I had a multi-million dollar interest in the co, I certainly would have sought legal advice if my co-workers suddenly started getting dividend checks, and I didn't. That's just B/S! But Clonie probably didn't think she was going to get stitched up by her friends and reputable players (not saying she was or wasn't, just that I can understand why she didn't push for something in writing). Still, if that person/people are really a friend/reputable, they shouldn't mind giving you something in writing if you ask for it. That's how *legitimate* business is conducted, and if she didn't want to be involved in something that wasn't legitimate, then she could have turned down the offer, or got out after a year or so when it seemed like the people involved had made false promises, and gone to another site where she was able to get something in writing, and possibly a better, or at least more "solid", deal.

PS. I think Clonie is gorgeous and smart and maybe it is a good thing to have left FT so she can pursue other sponsorship opportunities, either in or outside of poker. Still, she should certainly get what she is owed. Nothing worse than feeling cheated out of what you are owed, and I imagine this is a hundred times worse if it is your friends/peers doing it to you. To say her claim is "frivolous" and unfounded is really belittling and condescending. A lawyer wouldn't take on a case with no merit at all especially if they are working for a percentage of the settlement their client gets, rather than on an hourly rate, which i'm guessing is the case.

I think it probably boils down to misunderstanding and miscommunication, and I don't think either party is being deliberately obstinate. I've had a case before of a deal, where the terms were clearly stated in a contract, at least I thought they were clearly stated, and the other party tried to tell me that this meant something else, and I knew that, and was trying to cheat them! Eventually we got it resolved but it was pretty ugly there for a while even with a written contract in front of both of us. Its hard not to take this kind of thing personally, which is probably why such a big deal is being made of it, and I don't think Daniel adding fuel to the fire is very productive, but he's entitled to his opinion and to say what he wants about it. It's certainly an interesting case.

I'd be surprised if other FT pros didn't ask for something in writing after this debacle, if they don't already have something. It seems ludicrous to me to work for a multi-billion dollar company and not have an employment/shareholder agreement, regardless of whether it is legal in the US or not, especially if you are a member of the elite inner circle! The contract could be with one of the non-US entities, so the argument that she didn't have a contract b/c online poker is a "grey area" in the US makes no sense to me.