A Clark County District Court judge has ruled that Las Vegas-based gaming equipment manufacturer Light & Wonder jumped the gun by marketing a no-commission baccarat game from the British Columbia Lottery Corp. called Ruyi Baccarat before an agreement it had with a rival gaming provider had expired.
District Court Judge Joanna Kishner on Jan. 17 signed off on a partial summary judgment against Light & Wonder subsidiary L&W Gaming Inc.
The case is ongoing with attorneys now deposing officials in British Columbia in advance of a final ruling.
Kishner determined that Light & Wonder breached a strategic alliance distribution agreement it had with a small Las Vegas company, The Talisman Group, manufacturers of EZ Baccarat, by marketing and taking pre-orders for Ruyi Baccarat on Aug. 4, 2023. LNW’s agreement with Talisman didn’t expire until Sept. 8, 2023.
The judge did not rule on requested relief.
“Talisman is a two-person gaming company going up against one of the largest gaming companies in the world,” said Joshua Gilmore, an attorney with Las Vegas-based Bailey-Kennedy LLP, who represented Talisman. “We are extremely pleased that the court has ruled in our client’s favor on this important issue.”
Light & Wonder, which now markets Ruyi Baccarat in a partnership with BCLC, argued that the strategic alliance agreement it had with Talisman was vague regarding whether the company could market and sell a digital version of the game instead of the live green-felt version. They also said it was unclear what North American markets the agreement covered.
Talisman, founded in 1997 by Robin Powell and Francisco “TJ” Tejeda, is a consulting firm specializing in gaming industry expertise. Its EZ Baccarat game is now being offered in North America by Las Vegas-based Galaxy Gaming Inc.
Representatives of Light & Wonder did not respond to requests for comment.
On Feb. 25, the company reported double-digit percentage growth in gaming revenue and earnings in the fourth quarter and for 2024. Gaming industry analysts have continued to praise the company’s results.
The legal action with Talisman was the second court matter in a year for Light & Wonder, which in September was ordered by U.S. District Court Judge Gloria Navarro to remove 2,200 of its Dragon Train-themed slot machines from North American casino floors because they too closely resembled the Dragon Link and Lightning Link games produced by Australia-based Aristocrat Technologies, which said Light & Wonder was distributing “cheap knock-offs” of their products.
Light & Wonder complied with the order and ended up replacing those machines with other games from its inventory.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.
