Famous WSOP champ files lawsuit against PayPal over seizure of funds

[The Buzz]

A class-action lawsuit led by Chris Moneymaker, the 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event champion, was filed Thursday against PayPal after private fantasy sports leagues noticed their entry fees were frozen or seized altogether by the payment service after NFL season.

From TheLines.com:

The complaint filed in United States District Court, Northern District of California alleges, “This action stems from (PayPal)’s widespread business practice of unilaterally seizing funds from its clients’ financial accounts, without cause and without any fair or due process.”

PayPal’s terms and conditions state unless a gambling merchant has been approved by PayPal, “account holders may not use PayPal to send or receive payments for any form of gambling activities, including but not limited to payments for wagers, gambling debts, and gambling winnings.”

However, the plaintiffs in the PayPal lawsuit contend while it may be within its terms to ban users from their app/site, “PayPal’s user agreement and acceptable use policy cannot be used as a ‘license to steal.’ There is no equitable or legal argument which condones theft.”

Multiple e-mails sent by TheLines to PayPal Media Relations asking for clarity so others in fantasy sports leagues do not have their funds frozen or seized were not answered. If that changes, we will update this article.

So how did the 2003 WSOP champ get involved in this lawsuit against PayPal? Moneymaker was playing in a 12-team fantasy football league with his friends with entry fees at $1,000 each. PayPal froze that money. All $12,000 worth of entry fees.

Moneymaker told TheLines PayPal has since returned his $12,000 but others have not been as fortunate. Since his funds were returned, he is no longer a plaintiff in the PayPal lawsuit but has stayed on as an advisor for The Bensamochan Law Firm Inc., the attorneys that filed the complaint.

“They returned my money after I threatened a class-action suit, and it gained steam,” he said.

Moneymaker posted Thursday night a way to join the class-action lawsuit for anybody who has experienced a similar situation with PayPal or Venmo, which is owned by PayPal.

Read more here: https://www.thelines.com/paypal-laws...neymaker-2022/

[potentialeight]

Well he does have a master's degree in accounting if I'm remembering correctly, so he's definitely the guy to push back on this at least from an optics point of view.