Judge orders Amaya to pay Kentucky $870m for illegal gambling losses

A court has ordered Canadian online gambling operator Amaya Gaming and its PokerStars subsidiary to pay $870m to the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Last month, Franklin Circuit Court Judge Thomas Wingate awarded the state $290m in compensation for PokerStars’s dealings with Kentucky residents between 2006 and 2011. On Wednesday, Wingate granted the state’s request for triple damages, bringing Amaya’s total tab to $870m.

Wingate also warned Amaya not to dilly dally on making with the money, as the company will pay interest of 12% per year ($104m) until the debt is wiped clean. Wingate, who has routinely sided with the state in its multiple actions against online gambling sites, wrote that Amaya would probably view his $870m bill as “harsh medicine” but “such is the consequences for violating the laws of Kentucky.”

The state filed the suit in 2010, arguing that PokerStars had illegally provided gambling services to Kentucky residents between Oct. 12, 2006 (the date the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act was signed) and April 15, 2011 (the date of the Black Friday federal indictments that forced Stars to exit the US market).