An unfortunate situation involving this past summer's well-received WPT Voyage cruises has resulted in numerous poker dealers and staff having had the last of their paychecks frozen for what is likely to be a long and indefinite period. The situation involves the untimely and unexpected passing of Kurt McPhail in early July, just weeks after the WPT Voyage cruises ended.
Ask the Org: Could the non-payment of WPT Voyage dealers have been avoided?
McPhail, just 54 and believed to be in good general health, suffered a massive 'widowmaker' cardiac arrest and died on July 9, 2024. His death interrupted the final cycle of payments that were being sent out to staffers. Even worse for those awaiting pay, McPhail died intestate, meaning he left no will.
When any adult US citizen dies intestate, that person's personal and business assets are immediately frozen. The entirety of the deceased's financial state then automatically goes into a probate court process. That's what occurred with McPhail, whose probate case is believed to be working its way through a Kansas court, as he lived in the greater Wichita area.
WPT contracted with McPhail as vendor for cruises
McPhail's tragic passing left both the bereft staffers and the WPT itself without any way of freeing up the funds. The WPT had contracted with McPhail as an independent vendor for his poker cruise work, rather than as a WPT agent. The dealers and staff onboard the WSOP Voyage cruises were working for McPhail, who created an independent business entity, World Entertainment, LLC, that was then paid by the WPT for running the WPT-branded activities onboard. Dealer and staff gratuities collected by Virgin Voyages, the cruise line and gambling license holder, also went to McPhail's company for distribution and could also be part of the frozen funds.
The WPT is believed to have made all its payments to McPhail's business before his passing, and McPhail was widely regarded as an expert in putting together a workforce and working with cruise lines to ensure well-received events. McPhail, in turn, made all payroll payments to staff, but the final cycle was at least partly interrupted. According to text messages and emails viewed by PokerOrg, some workers didn't receive their final checks at all, while others did but had them bounce, likely due to McPhail's business accounts already having been frozen.
McPhail likely left behind computerized records of all payments made or still owed, which means that the affected dealers and staff are likely to be paid in full at some point. Probate cases, however, are typically slow, involving several rounds of auditing, notifications to creditors and debtors, filing of claims, and more. Depending on the complexity, probate resolution can take between six months and several years.
The WPT Voyage Championship Event was considered a big success and very popular with players.
Lengthy wait expected
McPhail ran numerous businesses, so resolution is likely to take a year or more. None of the employee communications seen by PokerOrg include specific mention of a probate case involving McPhail, however, which has likely been filed in one of two counties in the greater Kansas City, Kansas area.
As for the WPT trying to intervene in some way, it's not really an option. If the WPT made the payments to McPhail's business and wasn't defrauded or suffered some other unknown damages, then the WPT has no financial or legal interest in how the probate process is resolved, and it literally cannot interfere. The WPT may not even know exactly how much is owed to any specific dealer or staffer; those workplace records would have been maintained inside McPhail's business and not the WPT's. As a vendor, McPhail's contract with the WPT would have been something of a black-box arrangement, with McPhail likely compiling a proposal with projected expenses categorized but not broken down to the payments to be made to specific employees.
The use of a vendor-based relationship is also nothing unusual, especially for touring-based companies whose events and interests often span the globe. Being able to work with a trusted and knowledgeable contractor, as McPhail certainly was, allowed the WPT to use the available expertise far more efficiently. In addition, the probate process that automatically activated upon McPhail's unexpected passing isn't something that either the WPT or the affected staffers could have legitimately foreseen, as having a will in place is rarely among the topics discussed during business negotiations, large or small.
The entire sad episode will be remembered, more than anything else, as a worst-case scenario that suddenly emerged. The odds that the probate case will be resolved properly are very high, and staffers will be fully reimbursed sans interest, but that's little consolation in the short term for those left waiting.
