Court Hears Kentucky Poker Domain Case - 10-26-09

October 26 - The online poker world watched intently as the Kentucky Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the ongoing case of the domain seizure attempts in the state.

The governor of the state is seeking to seize the domain names of 141 online gambling and poker sites, among the Ultimate Bet, Full Tilt Poker and Poker Stars.

After losing the case in a high court, the Kentucky governor vowed to take his case up to the Supreme Court, and arguments for both sides were heard on Thursday.

After the arguments ended, pro poker groups were optimistic that they had a strong case and a good chance of winning.

"We felt very good about the arguments we presented," said that acting attorney for the Interactive Gaming Council, Ian Ramsey. "We felt we had the opportunity to present the material issues for this court to consider and welcome a well reasoned decision."

The Executive Director of the Poker Players Alliance, John Pappas said that he believed the prosecution's presentation was extremely weak with lots of holes that the Supreme Court justices pointed out. "The attorneys for the side of the online sites did a very good job of presenting compelling, reasonable reasons for dismissing this case," he said.

Another poker advocate  who was optimistic about the outcome of the case was Rich Muny, the State Director for the Poker Players Alliance in Kentucky.

"I thought it went really well," he said. "The justices heard from both sides and asked informed questions of everyone. We had great legal counsel in the case and it seemed like questions were targeted more at the Commonwealth than at us, which may indicate which way they're leaning."

"It would be worse if we got peppered with difficult questions," he said.

The Supreme Court can take as long as four months to reach a final decision.