PokerWorks

A battle that began in 2008 seems to have concluded with bad news all around for Clonie Gowen. She originally filed a lawsuit against Full Tilt Poker seeking damages in the arena of $40 million dollars for breaches of contracts and agreements, but the U.S. District Court has now ruled that those allegations were without merit, thus dismissing the case in its entirety. If that wasn’t enough, Full Tilt is pursuing its own grievances against Gowen via a court case to demand that Gowen formally rescind her claims against the company with a statement to that end.

Gowen’s case began in November of 2008 when she filed suit against Full Tilt Poker, a company that sponsored her as a professional poker player for years as part of their primary Team Full Tilt. Her suit made numerous claims, including breach of contract and fiduciary duties, breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and fraud due to intentional misrepresentation. Altogether, she sought compensation in the amount of $40 million.

But in January of 2009, Full Tilt Poker and Tiltware LLC filed a motion to dismiss Gowen’s entire complaint, a motion that contained allegations that Gowen’s “typhoon of litigation” was fueled by her “thirst for publicity” and ultimately requested that 13 of the defendants be dismissed. Gowen’s response (http://pokerworks.com/poker-news/2009/05/06/majority-gowen-lawsuit-against-full-tilt-poker-dismissed.html) was to simply amend her complaint to add more defendants and charges and request a hearing. But in April of 2009, the judge dismissed the vast majority of her claims due to their lack of merit, leaving only three defendants on the suit - Tiltware, Ray Bitar, and Howard Lederer. Gowen responded again, this time with a request to extend the case and leave other claims open for appeal.

The final blow to Gowen came on February 10, 2010, as U.S. District Court Judge Robert Jones ruled on the most current complaint by dismissing it in its entirety, citing the failure of Gowen’s attorneys to provide sufficient proof in the case. Specifically, she failed to prove the terms of the original agreement with Full Tilt, her responsibilities to the company, details about her alleged ownership interest in the company, and specifics about the nature of the payments she claims were denied her. The judge’s decision noted, “After three amendments, it is clear at this juncture that there is no answer.” He went on to respond to her allegations about a share in Full Tilt by concluding, “Therefore, it is not plausible that a partnership, limited or general, was offered.”

With that case closed, there is only one pending, which was filed by Full Tilt Poker in January of 2010, which sought a public statement from Gowen to rescind her claim of any stake in Full Tilt Poker. Reportedly, the motivation behind the case was to compensate for court costs and legal fees, but the unstated implication seemed to indicate a desire to see Gowen publicly discredited after bringing such potentially harmful allegations to Full Tilt.

There is no word on whether or not Full Tilt will drop their lawsuit against Gowen, and no statement is likely forthcoming from Gowen or her attorneys.