Full Tilt Poker and the FTP Team Sued for Racketing over the Use of Poker Robots

October 2, 2:23 PMLA Poker ExaminerMarie-Lizette Acoba

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Full Tilt Poker (“FTP”), one of the biggest poker websites worldwide has been named, along with several members of FTP Team, in a racketeering lawsuit filed by Lary Kennedy aka PokerGirl_Z and Greg Omotoy aka Greggo777, a nightclub manager at Elevate Lounge (collectively “Plaintiffs”) who allege to have been defrauded by the online poker site.

The lawsuit entitled, Lary Kennedy, et al. v. Full Tilt Poker, et al., Case No. BC 423036 was filed on October 1, 2009 in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles by Beverly Hills attorney Cyrus M. Sanai. (Mr. Sanai credited himself as a major player in exposing United States District Court Judge Alex Kozinski’s publicly accessible website featuring sexually explicit photos and videos in June 2008.) The two poker players claim that after opening an account at fulltiltpoker.com and raking in winnings of more than $80,000, FTP confiscated the Plaintiffs’ money.

FTP contends that the funds were seized after an investigation which lead to the conclusion that Plaintiffs’ style of play was consistent with that of a “Poker Bot. The site forbids any form of cheating, which includes the use of robots and collusion with other players.  FTP also asserts that one of the players had at least one other account at FTP in further violation of its policies.  FTP and co-defendants Patrik Antonius, Andy Bloch, Allen Cunningham, Chris Ferguson, Perry Friedman, Phil Gordon, Gus Hanson, Phil Ivey, John Juanda, Howard Lederer, Erik Lindgren, Mike Matusow and Erik Seidel (the only female player on the FTP team, Jennifer Harman, escaped being named in the action) have over a month to file their respective responses to Plaintiffs’ Complaint, which includes allegations that FTP manipulates the game through the use of Poker Bots of its own as props to fill seats and as an element of chance and/or other unpredictable outcome rather than a controlled game of skill, in violation California Penal Code sections 330-337z, et seq.

Given the controversy over the legality of internet gaming websites and the concerns in the poker community over the existence and use of Poker Bots, the outcome of this lawsuit (should it survive the procedural and statutory challenges that are sure to be brought on by an all star defense team) could possibly have significant consequences for on-line gaming.

See also, the related article:
Are Poker Robots the Real Deal and Do They Impact the Odds?