Amaya will appeal Kentucky penalty

The number 1 online poker provider, Amaya, is being forced to deal with Kentucky’s law. The company is now facing the penalty that Kentucky has brought up once again, a consequence from the Black Friday case that use Pokerstars as main reason to shut down the whole online gambling market in the United States. Kentucky continues to base the case on ancient statutes. But now, a state judge in the Commonwealth of Kentucky has gone further. The litigation is trying to provide the Commonwealth with enough authority to collect players’ losses, although this is not going to end up at any player’s account, as the Commonwealth would keep such recollection. The lawsuit filed back in 2010 by the Commonwealth of Kentucky is bringing back again one of the darkest episodes for the online gambling industry in the United States when real-money poker players from PokerStars saw how their money vanished after a ruling that illegalized any online poker operations.

For now the judge that is seeing the litigation had ruled a $290 million penalty but the fine has now reached the outrageous amount of $870 million, all for the Commonwealth. Online provider Amaya Inc. is now fighting this order and will appeal this decision. Marlon Goldstein, Executive Vice President, Corporate Development and General Counsel of Amaya, has said: “This is a frivolous and egregious misuse of an antiquated state statute to enrich the contingent-fee plaintiff's attorneys hired by the Commonwealth and not the people of Kentucky. Given that PokerStars only generated gross revenues of approximately $18 million from Kentucky customers during the five years at issue, a damages award in excess of $800 million is notable only for its absurdity.”