Marcel Luske Engaged in Legal Battle with PokerStars
Written by
Teemu - Thursday, August 11, 2016,
Live poker
Former Team PokerStars Pro, Marcel Luske, is suing PokerStars by claiming the online poker giant stole his copyrighted poker tournament rules.
Luske founded the FIDPA (Federation International de Poker Association) in 2007 with a mission of creating a comprehensive and standardized set of rules for every major poker tournament around the world.
In his lawsuit against PokerStars, Luske claims that PokerStars agreed to pay him $25,000 annually for his International Poker Rules, that he created through his FIDPA in 2008:
Luske says PokerStars agreed to pay a $25,000 annual licensing fee and feature the FIDPA logo and branding on all PokerStars events.
The deal was sealed with a handshake witnessed by many professional poker players and affirmed in emails, Luske says, adding that his position with PokerStars made him comfortable enough not to demand a formal contract for the deal.
In October 2013, however, Luske says he was 'suddenly informed out of the blue that [PokerStars] would not implement the International Poker Rules' and instead had updated their own rules, called PSLive rules, and no longer needed the International Poker Rules.
A PokerStars official claimed the rules are the product of his own work and began using them in PokerStars events, but Luske says the updates to the PSLive rules were done with the 'exact proportions' of his International Poker Rules.
Luske, also known as the "Flying Dutchman", is the Netherlands' all-time live tournament money winner with over $4,4 million in career winnings dating back to 1999. He was sponsored by PokerStars many years, but parted ways with the site in 2014.
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