Kentucky seeking to seize 141 gaming domains

The governor of Kentucky is seeking to block residents from accessing 141 online gaming sites which include Full Tilt, Doyle’s Room and Bodog. The hearing has been set for this Thursday.

Steve Beshear, Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is determined to protect the state’s horse racing industry at all costs and to rid Kentucky of internet gambling, both poker and casinos, which he describes as “leeches” on a recent press conference: “Unlike casinos that operate on land or on riverboats in the United States, these operations pay no tax revenues, provide no jobs and yield no tourism benefits. They are leeches on our communities.”

The Kentucky lottery and horse racing industry generate millions upon millions of taxable dollars – the Kentucky lottery alone generated sales for $778 million in the fiscal year 2008. Beshear is determined that none of those dollars get diverted to poker or casinos, especially those outside of the state. The Associated Press reported: “Beshear said Kentuckians are likely spend ‘tens of millions of dollars’ on illegal Internet gambling sites each year — money that might otherwise go to Kentucky’s horse tracks, charitable events and the state lottery.”

Judge Thomas Wingate will preside over the Thursday hearing, when he is expected to decide the fate of these domains. If Beshear gets his way, all 141 domains will be blocked to Kentucky residents.

Below is a list of the endangered sites as reported by the Gaming Intelligence Group. We will feature more on this issue as soon as there are new developments.