Amaya to Appeal Ruling by Kentucky Trial Court in Rare and Controversial Suit Brought Under Arcane 200-Year-Old Commonwealth Law
Montreal, Dec. 24, 2015 - Amaya Inc. (NASDAQ:AYA; TSX: AYA) today announced it will appeal a judgment
issued yesterday by a state judge in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and will avail itself of any and all
remedies available to it. The litigation was filed by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 2010 and sought
recovery of alleged losses by Kentucky residents who played real-money poker on PokerStars’ website during
a period between 2006 and 2011. In the decision, the judge imposed an approximately US$290 million award,
which he trebled to approximately US$870 million excluding interest and applicable costs, in favor of the
Commonwealth. The latest ruling is in stark contrast to the same trial court’s decision just last month
when it determined that damages should be based on the net losses of players. Yesterday’s order applies a
methodology that is not grounded in applicable law as it calculates damages based on gross losses of
players without any reduction for winnings, bonuses or free play.
“This is a frivolous and egregious misuse of an antiquated state statute to enrich the contingent-fee
plaintiff’s attorneys hired by the Commonwealth and not the people of Kentucky,” said Marlon Goldstein,
Executive Vice President, Corporate Development and General Counsel of Amaya. “Given that PokerStars only
generated gross revenues of approximately US$18 million from Kentucky customers during the five years at
issue, a damages award in excess of US$800 million is notable only for its absurdity.”
To bring the action, Kentucky relied on a centuries old statute that was intended to allow individuals
who incurred gaming losses to sue their opponents; it was never intended to authorize the Commonwealth to
sue and collect such losses for its own benefit. In fact, no other state in the union has brought an
action under this type of antiquated statute to recover alleged gaming losses in the name of a state.
Amaya intends to post a bond to stay the enforcement of the order and to appeal in early January. The
appeal will, among other arguments, raise factual and legal errors (including violations of the state and
federal constitutions) that include, but are not limited to, the trial court’s ruling permitting the
Commonwealth to assert standing, its failure to find facts that give rise to the violation of the statute,
its clearly erroneous decisions of law, and its failure to properly apply the law to the facts. Amaya will
also vigorously challenge the trial court’s calculation of alleged gaming losses, which was based on an
improper reading of a 100-year-old leading appellate decision.
Regardless of the dollar amount, to the extent the PokerStars entities may be ultimately obligated to pay
any amounts following exhaustion of all appeals and other legal remedies, Amaya intends to seek recovery
against the former owners of the PokerStars business.
Amaya has been a leader in promoting the regulation of online gaming in the United States. Earlier this
year, following an extensive review, Amaya received approval to begin operating its PokerStars brand in
the regulated market of New Jersey, which it plans to launch in the first half of 2016. PokerStars is the
world’s most licensed and heavily regulated online gaming brand.
About Amaya
Amaya is a leading provider of technology-based solutions, products and services in the global gaming and
interactive entertainment industries. Amaya owns gaming and related consumer businesses and brands
including PokerStars, Full Tilt, BetStars, StarsDraft, the European Poker Tour, PokerStars Caribbean
Adventure, Latin American Poker Tour and the Asia Pacific Poker Tour. These brands have more than 97
million cumulative registered customers globally and collectively form the largest poker business in the
world, comprising online poker games and tournaments, live poker competitions, branded poker rooms in
popular casinos in major cities around the world, and poker programming created for television and online
audiences. Amaya, through certain of these brands, also offers non-poker gaming products, including
casino, sportsbook and daily fantasy sports. Amaya has various gaming and gaming-related licenses or
approvals throughout the world, including from the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Spain, Estonia, Belgium,
Denmark, Bulgaria, Greece, Ireland, Romania, the Isle of Man, Malta, the State of Schleswig- Holstein in
Germany, the Province of Quebec in Canada, and the State of New Jersey in the United States.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable securities laws, including, without limitation, certain
expectations and projections related to legal proceedings. Forward-looking statements can, but may not
always, be identified by the use of words such as “seek”, "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "estimate",
"expect", "may", "will", "project", "predict", "potential", "targeting", "intend", "could", "might",
"would", "should", "believe", "objective", "ongoing", “assumes”, “goal” and similar references to future
periods or the negatives of these words and expressions and by the fact that these statements do not
relate strictly to historical or current matters. These forward-looking statements are based on
management's current expectations and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, and assumptions,
including market and economic conditions, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and
trends and regulatory changes that affect us, our customers and our industries. Although Amaya and
management believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable and
based on reasonable assumptions and estimates, there can be no assurance that these assumptions or
estimates are accurate or that any of these expectations will prove accurate. Forward-looking statements
are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive risks, uncertainties and
contingencies that could cause actual events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such
statements. Such risks and uncertainties include those identified under the heading "Risk Factors and
Uncertainties" in Amaya's Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2014 and in its
Management's Discussion and Analysis for the period ended September 30, 2015, each available on SEDAR at
www.sedar.com, EDGAR at www.sec.gov and Amaya's website at www.amaya.com, and in other filings that Amaya
has made and may make with applicable securities authorities in the future. Investors are cautioned not to
put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date
hereof, and Amaya undertakes no obligation to correct or update any forward-looking statement, whether as
a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.
Contact
For investor relations, please contact: Tim Foran, Tel: +1.416.545.1325, ir@amaya.com;For media
inquiries, please contact: Eric Hollreiser, Press@amaya.com.