The Poker Players Alliance submitted what is called an “Amicus Brief” earlier today at the same courthouse where Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear filed a court order earlier this week on behalf of the state to attempt to seize 141 gambling and poker-related domain names.  The brief is the first attempt by the PPA to put a block on any court order that may cause many of the world’s top gambling sites to hand over their domain names to the Kentucky government.

It is uncertain what the courts may rule on this, mainly because something with at wide a scope as domain names is a delicate situation in the eyes of legislators.  As some of you already know, the Kentucky government filed a petition earlier this week to seize and essentially take over 141 of some of the biggest gambling domain names - namely PokerStars.com and FullTiltPoker.com.  Several companies have already willingly given up ownership of their names, despite there being no legal decision being made yet by the state judge in the matter.

This could be an unfortunate precedent for many poker players, especially since the main reason Kentucky is even filing such a suit is to take away the rights of thousands of online gamblers who AREN’T paying enough attention to the many casinos and racetracks the state already has.  Being that the biggest gambling events of the year - the Kentucky Derby - takes place there, it’s no wonder why they would want to make sure all those wagers are staying in-house rather than being placed on many online sportsbooks.

Below are the guidelines listed in the Amicus Brief that was filed earlier today:

• Extensive research citing expert opinion that poker is indeed a game of skill;

• References to academic, gaming and artificial intelligence experts citing the fact that skill is an essential element to winning at poker, be it against a human or a computer;

• Unequivocal consensus among experts that in the long run a skilled poker player will beat an unskilled poker player;

• Kentucky state law asserts that “a contest or game in which eligibility to participate is determined by chance and the ultimate winner is determined by skill shall not be considered gambling”;

• Under Kentucky law, poker is a lawful game of skill because the facts can easily sustain a finding that skill of the player predominates over chance in determining outcome;

• The current case provides no evidence to suggest that any of the poker games played on any of the 141 websites in question are based on chance as opposed to skill;

• Cases in other states as well as a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) letter verify that skill is the dominant factor in the game of poker; and

• The case raises First Amendment free speech issues in restricting residents’ access to poker websites that contain news, blogs and forums as well as the ability to play poker.

Download America's #1 Sportsbook and Poker Room - Now accepting bets and wagers 24/7!