Flutter takes battle over Kentucky damages to US Supreme Court
| By Daniel O'Boyle
PokerStars owner Flutter has filed a petition to the US Supreme Court, appealing what it calls a “monstrous” $1.3bn damages claim it has been ordered to pay to the state of Kentucky, for offering illegal gambling.
The case began as the state claimed PokerStars offered online gambling to 34,000 Kentucky players between October 2006 – when the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was introduced – and April 2011, when its US operations were shut down by authorities.
Flutter said PokerStars made $18m from Kentucky customers during this time period.
In 2015, then-PokerStars operator Amaya was ordered to pay $290m by Franklin Circuit Court Judge Thomas Wingate for this Kentucky activity. The total was equal to the value of every losing wager made by a player in Kentucky, without deducting winning wagers.