Michael Mizrachi Full Tilt named in lawsuit
Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi was riding this summer. The professional poker player took home his first World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet, increased his WSOP career earnings to $2,271,327 and perhaps most significantly made the final table of the WSOP championship event.
Since that time, things have taken a slight turn for the worse for Mizrachi. He is facing a breach of contract lawsuit from online poker site Deliverance Poker. Also named in the suit is Tiltware LLC, the parent company of Full Tilt Poker.
The suit alleges that in July 2009, Mizrachi and Deliverance inked a contract that would pay Mizrachi $150,000, give him a 1.75% ownership stake in the company as well as provide him with “advance expenses related to poker tournaments” in which he would compete. In exchange for the aforementioned, Mizrachi was expected to “compete in tournaments, make personal appearances to promote (Deliverance Poker), exclusively wear memorabilia promoting (Deliverance Poker), and give interviews."
Deliverance states that Mizrachi was in compliance with the contract until July 2010. Mizrachi represented Deliverance “in over 20 tournaments.” One of these tournaments was the prestigious $50,000 buy-in Pokers Players Championship at the 2010 WSOP. Mizrachi won this tournament while prominently displaying a Deliverance Poker patch on his shirt.
The lawsuit goes on to claim that sometime after his victory in the Players Championship event, he entered into an agreement with Full Tilt Poker. Deliverance claims that Full Tilt became Mizrachi’s official sponsor replacing them and as a result they incurred financial losses.
Mizrachi subsequently made a deep run in the WSOP championship event while displaying a Full Tilt hat and patch.
Deliverance does not specify a dollar amount in their lawsuit, but they are seeking reimbursement for lost earnings, profits and earning capacity. With Mizrachi making the final table of the championship event and receiving a large amount of press, Deliverance could easily be seeking a six-figure judgement.
Both poker sites are currently using Mizrachi’s likeness in their promotions.
Mizrachi has been fairly quiet in regards to the lawsuit, only offering the following post on his Twitter page, “remember there are two sides to every story. I look forward to telling my side and the truth coming out.”
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