The State of Kentucky is trying to stop online poker and other forms of online gambling by seizing the domain names of Internet gambling sites that operate in the state.

According to media reports, Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear has asked a Franklin County Circuit Court judge to give the state control of 141 domain names for gambling websites that operate in Kentucky.

Among the websites targeted are three major ones that offer online poker: Doyles Room (www.doylesroom.com), Full Tilt Poker (www.fulltiltpoker.com) and Bodog Life (www.bodoglife.com.)

A hearing is scheduled for Thursday before Judge Thomas Wingate, media reports said.

Kentucky is the first state in the USA to try to block online gambling by taking over the domain names of gambling websites.

At a news conference Monday at the state capitol in Lexington, Beshear told reporters: “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 siphon off money from regulated and legal games, such as Kentucky’s thoroughbred racing industry, our lottery and charitable gaming activities. They are leeches on our communities.”

Kentucky Secretary of Justice J. Michael Brown added that the state is asking the court to forfeit control of the domain names to the Kentucky state government, so the domain names would then controlled by Kentucky and subsequently blocked.

“There is gambling going on on the Internet and we know that it is illegal in Kentucky,” Brown said.

Once news of the latest legal effort to thwart online gambling became known, the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), a lobbying group in favor of online poker, reacted.

John Pappas, PPA executive director, issued a statement in which he said: “Online poker is enjoyed by millions of Americans as a recreational sport. The actions by the State of Kentucky are extraordinary and ill-conceived. Poker has a proud heritage in Kentucky and simply because the game has evolved into the 21st century, it should not be treated as suspect activity.”

(E-mail Tom Somach at tomsomach@yahoo.com.)