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PokerNews.com is reporting that Judge Elizabeth White, of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, “has tossed a seemingly spurious – albeit markedly long-lived – lawsuit brought by Cardroom International, LLC, with an array of defendants including Phil Ivey, Chris Ferguson, Pocket Kings, Ltd., Andy Bloch and Erik Seidel.”
Indeed, Cardroom’s claims did appear a bit over the top.
For instance, it asserts defendants PokerStars and Full Tilt engaged in unfair competition through “racketeering” activity that included "massaging the checks put in place by financial institutions to allow for money transfers even after passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act".
The defendant also gained an unfair competitive advantage by entering into deals with various television networks such as Fox Sports, according to the suit. Presumably Stars could afford to do so based on their vast customer base and revenue stream. Perhaps Cardroom did not have that type of financial luxury.
The irony in all of this is that PokerStars continues to thrive and its several times larger than its nearest competitor despite not having a US presence.
- Patrick Flanagan, Gambling911.com
