Haley Hintze just published an excellent piece on PokerOrg detailing how many dealers and floor staff on recent WPT-branded cruises haven't been fully paid. In all my years in the poker business, I've never seen anything like this. Certainly the most famous cruise operation in the poker space is Linda Johnson's and Jan Fisher's Card Player Cruises. While I am no cruise aficionado, I have never heard a bad word about one of their cruises, and plenty of people think they're the nuts. The WPT is famous for running top-shelf events, and it's clear that this wasn't their fault, per se.
What could have been done to prevent this?
The short version of narrative is that Kurt McPhail, who hired and paid all the dealers for many cruise operations, passed away suddenly in July of 2024. Setting aside the personal loss and tragedy for a moment, he died "intestate," meaning he left no will. Thus the probate process must pass through the courts, taking months or years, before the dealers are paid.
Should companies contracting for such dealer services ask their contractor what is the back-up plan if that contractor is hit by a bus (or a heart attack)? I certainly don't blame the WPT for not asking about this – certainly it's not something I would have thought about. But now that we have the object lesson, can we add that to best practices? It wouldn't be rocket science to understand what would happen to funds in a business account upon the death of the business owner.
I'd love to hear from anybody who has professional or personal experience with something like this.
Thanks, Lee
