Good creative thinking, but it's a losing case Cincy that no decent lawyer would touch for a number of reasons. All entrants to WSOP events (circuit or otherwise) are required to agree to abide by the WSOP rules, which are posted on the WSOP website. Rule I.25 says "Harrah’s reserves the right to cancel, change or modify the WSOP at any time, for any reason, subject to all applicable regulatory approval, provided that such modification shall not, as of the date of such modification, materially alter or change any participant’s prize already awarded." It could be argued that the WSOP is, in fact, altering a "prize already awarded" since the entry to the freeroll was part of the prize package for finishing in the top 20 of a Circuit Event. But the word "materially" is a legal term of art, and a $500 change in tournament equity (when factored in with the prize money already earned for the top 20 finish as well as the starting equity of over $18,000) would not be considered "material". This eliminates any breach of contract claim (or fraud claim, for that matter) right off the bat. The WSOP is allowed to change its rules without notifying the players.

In any case, there are no measurable damages. In contract law, there is no such thing as punitive damages. You are only allowed to be awarded the amount of actual damages suffered due to the breach. Given that equity in a tournament is not actual dollars earned, there is no measurable amount of actual damages here.

I don't think litigation is the answer. Better communication between tournament directors and the players is. The players have voiced their displeasure, and Harrah's has taken note. As Steve Rosenbloom wrote in his column on the incident:

"From a strictly competitive standpoint, Harrah's sounds like it knows this is not the way to do things. But from a long-term financial view, this is an error that could be a jackpot for both the company and the game.

And just so there are no surprises at next year's TOC, Harrah's has already said it reserves the right to offer six sponsor's exemptions."