Poker Players File Class-Action Lawsuit Against Lederer, Ferguson

On Thursday, Nick Hammer, Robin Hougdahl, Steve Segal, and Todd Terry filed a lawsuit in Nevada against Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson charging the two front men of FullTilt poker with “conversion and of exercising unlawful dominion and control over player funds” before and after Black Friday. The lawsuit requests that the defendants refund player funds and pay punitive damages upward of $150 million, claiming that U.S. players have been wrongfully denied access to funds they deposited on the site and that Full Tilt Poker misled players into thinking their funds were safe.

According to the lawsuit, Lederer received approximately $42 million in distributions and 'profit sharing' payments. Portions of these funds were apparently in the form of loans, which may or may not be outstanding. Ferguson is alleged to have received $85 million, some of which may have been in the form of loans.

“Additionally, defendants approved distributions and loans to the other owners of Full Tilt Poker from funds directly traceable to the player accounts," the lawsuit says. "The distributions and loans to Lederer, Ferguson and the other Full Tilt Poker owners were from intermingled funds containing monies from the player accounts.”

A similar previous suit was filed by the four plantiffs last June against a broader list of defendants. U.S. District Judge Leonard B. Sand, who said he did not believe that charges alleged in the class action complaint directly caused the confiscation of player funds, dismissed that suit in January.