Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear has decided not to leave well enough alone and instead has taken crusade against internet gambling (with the exception of internet horse wagering) all the way to the Kentucky Supreme Court.

This decision comes only a day after Kentucky's Court of Appeals overturned a lower courts decision that would have allowed the state to seize 141 separate internet domain names which belonged to various companies involved with internet gambling unless they agree to no longer make their sites available to Kentucky residents.

The lower court was able to make such a decision by allowing a creative use of current Kentucky law, which argued that internet domain names could be considered a type of "gambling device" - an argument which the Kentucky Court of Appeals flatly rejected by a 2-to-1 vote.

Beshear's decision to not accept this conclusion came as little surprise to many and was considered a major disappointment to others, like Poker Players Alliance Executive Director John Pappas, who believes state resources could be better spent during these tough economic times.

"Kentucky residents should be outraged that the Commonwealth is investing another minute of time and another dollar of scarce resources in this quixotic case. The appeals court's sound rejection of the Commonwealth's case should have ended this legal debacle in its tracks. Unfortunately, the Governor and the hired-gun attorneys want to drag their ultimate defeat to another venue at the expense of Internet freedom and the rights of law-abiding Kentucky poker players." - John Pappas

For more on this still ongoing case, visit the Poker Players Alliance (www.pokerplayersalliance.org), poker's leading grassroots advocacy group.

Story by Mark Anderson