The Commonwealth of Kentucky filed suit against Pocket Kings - the owners of Full Tilt Poker- and "Unknown Defendants" seeking to recoup losses by state residents in online poker games. Now, the industry has had a chance to speculate on the case’s future. Kentucky, which has been attempting to gain control of 141 Internet gambling and poker sites to shut them down for illegally doing business in its jurisdiction, is now trying to recover money lost by Kentucky residents wagered at Full Tilt Poker.
Pocket Kings, the Irish-based owner of the Full Tilt online poker sites, is being sued by the state of Kentucky in an effort to force online casino sites to return gaming losses. The latest filing by the commonwealth from late March is actually a new case, and lists Pocket Kings, Ltd., the parent company of Full Tilt Poker. It says: "the Commonwealth is entitled to sue and recover triple the value of the money lost during the statutory period between March 25, 2005 and September 25, 2009 (the five year period preceding this Complaint but excluding the most recent six months) by persons located within the borders of Kentucky." In addition, the Commonwealth is seeking pre-judgment and post-judgment interest, attorney fees, and "such further relief as the Court deems just and proper." No dollar amount is given and the case is numbered 10-CI-505.
The Full Tilt Poker collective is accused of accepting business with 13,000 residents of Kentucky, which the document refers to as a personal jurisdiction, for financial gain, and the details of those transactions are referred to as "tortuous acts." The Commonwealth claims that Full Tilt Poker has its chance to leave the Kentucky market when the above-mentioned domain case was filed but failed to do so, thus leaving itself open to this lawsuit. Full Tilt Poker is now accused of being in violation of Kentucky statute 372.010, which essentially states that any contract entered into for a game or bet of money or property is void.
Other internet gambling sites are targeted in the newest Kentucky case, which also names "unknown individuals and entities [that] have acted in concert in joint ventures to facilitate, host, operate, and profit from online gambling businesses." A variety of domain names are spelled out, including those belonging to Absolute Poker, Bugsy’s Club, Cake Poker, Crazy Poker, DoylesRoom, Golden Palace, Microgaming, MySportsbook, Pitbull Poker, PlayersOnly, PokerHost, PokerStars, PokerTime, Red Star Poker, Reefer Poker, Sportsbook.com, True Poker, and WSEX. UltimateBet.com, not UB.com, is listed. Also misidentified is BodogLife.com, which appears instead of Bodog.com. Several USA-friendly sites including Carbon Poker, Power Poker, and Poker Nordica are not listed.
The ramifications of this case have the potential to be wide and damaging. A response from Full Tilt and other defendants is anxiously awaited, as is word from online poker lobbying organizations like the Poker Players Alliance and the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative.
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