Poker professional Bryn Kenney has filed a lawsuit towards GGPoker dad or mum firm NSUS Group. In the go well with, Kenney claims the corporate owes him $5 million in affiliate commissions. He additionally alleges GGPoker backed out of a deal that will have given him a 5% possession stake.
Kenney, poker’s all-time winningest participant, stated GGPoker CEO Mansoo “Michael” Kim agreed in 2018 to present him recurring affiliate funds and an fairness stake within the on-line poker model. He additional alleges the corporate hid safety flaws and knew gamers have been dishonest.
The lawsuit claims Kim later blamed Kenney for dishonest going down on the location. Kenney claims he helped construct the platform’s high-roller scene.
He argues that the corporate recruited him to assist develop the enterprise when it was nonetheless a small operation. In the go well with, he claims he recruited hundreds of gamers and brokers from 2018 to 2025 with the promise of the funds, the possession stake, and changing into an envoy for the platform.
Millions Of Dollars Unpaid
Kenney alleges breach of contract, fraudulent inducement, and different claims, and is looking for compensatory and punitive damages, together with a court-ordered accounting of firm data.
“In the world of poker, deceit, misdirection, and misstatement are fair game,” the lawsuit says. “In the world of commerce, they are illegal.”
The lawsuit was initially filed in Clark County District Court in July however was transferred to U.S. District Court in August, in line with the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Kenney says the unique affiliate settlement introduced in about $5 million in 2019. However, the lawsuit alleges GG started eradicating gamers from his monitoring system, limiting his earnings potential from gamers he recruited.
The go well with alleges the corporate additionally started charging unauthorized charges and contacting sub-agents straight, additional limiting his affiliate earnings. All this led to a drop in Kenney’s commissions to about $3 million by 2025.
The authorized motion alleges Kenney was by no means given the 5% stake within the firm.
NSUS later went on to amass the World Series of Poker in 2004 for $500 million, allegedly depriving him of a stake in that sequence as nicely. Kenney says his work for the corporate helped within the buying course of.
He alleges Kim reneged on agreements that price him thousands and thousands of {dollars}.
The lawsuit says the CEO “made deliberate misrepresentations to plaintiff Bryn Kenney to induce Mr. Kenney to stake his reputation, personal finances, and years of labor to transform GGPoker from a failing, distrusted platform into the most recognized online poker room in the world. Having obtained the benefit of Mr. Kenney’s extraordinary contributions, defendants then methodically dishonored every material promise they made to him.”
Cheating Allegations
Beyond the monetary implications, the lawsuit lays out assertions relating to dishonest on the GG platform. Kenney claims Kim assured him safety and anti-cheating groups have been in place when he agreed to work for the corporate.
Kim allegedly knew of appreciable dishonest issues however didn’t act to appropriate that, in line with the lawsuit. Kenney additional alleges Kim stated the dishonest got here from gamers the high-stakes professional recruited.
Kenney stated he assured bankrolls for gamers and paid one participant $1 million after Kim didn’t pay out $6 million to gamers.
Along with the dishonest allegations, Kenney says the corporate recruited American gamers and facilitated the usage of the platform. If true, this is able to be in violation of U.S. rules, the place on-line gaming is authorized on a state-by-state foundation.
NSUS and Kim haven’t commented on the case. But they made a movement to dismiss the lawsuit on Sept. 23. A listening to is now scheduled for Nov. 12.
In the previous, Kenney has confronted dishonest allegations. In 2022, Martin Zamani, a member of his participant steady, stated Kenney’s group had engaged in ghosting, used RTA (real-time help), and multi-accounted.
Zamani additional alleged Kenney pressured him to go to a shaman, who wished to make use of frog poison on his open wound. Kenney denied all these allegations.
In September 2020, GGPoker banned 40 online poker accounts over suspected dishonest, issued one other 40 warnings, and confiscated practically $1.2 million, which was returned to victims. The firm additionally revealed a “superuser” incident in 2023 and confiscated $29,795 in unfair winnings.
