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.
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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.