Franklin County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Wingate again delayed a decision on whether 141 gambling-site domain names are forfeit to the Common- wealth of Kentucky Friday. Although Kentucky lawmakers originally sought a ruling at hearings last week, Wingate’s suspension now pushes any possible resolution in the case into early October.

The case is the result of a suit filed by the Kentucky Public Safety Cabinet, which demanded 141 online gambling sites block Kentucky residents’ access to their games or relinquish ownership of their URLs to the state. After the filing, Wingate ordered a temporary seizure of the domain names until he could determine if the sites were making an effort to comply with the state’s demands.

The case has drawn worldwide attention from pro- and anti-gambling organizations alike, as well as a swift legal response from the Interactive Gaming Council, Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association, and the Poker Players Alliance. All three associations represented the online gambling community at Friday’s hearing and have hailed Wingate’s continuance as a small but sound victory.

After the judge ordered the continuance, PPA Executive Director John Pappas stated, “We wanted to get a continuance so that they couldn’t enact the order. We wanted to get more time to prove our case.”

The PPA hopes to make the case that online poker cannot be considered illegal because, according to language in Kentucky law, it is considered a “game of skill,” not chance. The relevance of the PPA’s argument remains to be seen, however, insomuch as they do not represent the owners of online-gambling sites, but the players.

Rick Muny, Kentucky State Director for the PPA, summarized the state’s argument Friday: “Their point was to make counsel on our site identify who the owners of the domains are in order to grant standing. The judge permitted all of the testimony on both sides.”

Both iMega and the IGC are expected to receive standing in later hearings because they represent several sites’ owners. Yet neither of organizations’ lawyers have been forthcoming with owners lists. As a result, Wingate left the seizure order standing, and addressing the sites’ counsel, said, “You are going to have to eventually pony up and say who these people are.”

The sites’ small victory may also be Pyrrhic because many have already moved to comply with the state’s suit. According to the Associated Press, some have ceased dealing with Kentucky residents altogether, as did Goldencasino.com which sent e-mails to its Kentucky players Tuesday notifying them that their accounts were canceled.

Meanwhile, other sites have now replaced their seized URLs and begun operating under new names.

Judge Wingate has ordered that all three organizations prepare legal briefs presenting their respec- tive arguments, saying that the case is “very complex.” The next hearing could be held as early as October 6th or 7th, though an exact date has not been set.

Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Bruner announced Friday that MyOhioNow.com had raised enough signatures to keep a gambling referendum on the Nov. 4 ballot. At issue is an amendment to the Ohio constitution that would allow casinos to operate in the historically anti-gambling state.

MyOhioNow.com, a limited liability company owned by Ohio residents Rick Lertzman and Brad Pressman, submitted a total of 812, 978 signatures on Aug. 5, 480,003 of which have been verified by the state. This verified number neatly tops to 402,000 minimum required to put an issue on the Ohio ballot.

The referendum, called Issue 6, ran into rocky territory when MyOhioNow.com competitor Penn National Gaming filed a protest against it. The protest cited a Lake County Sheriff’s Deptartment investigation into an Issue 6 supporter who admitted to signing blank forms before distributing them to fellow organizers. Less damning accusations also included one voter’s claim that MyOhioNow.com failed to file the necessary forms for a referendum.

Regardless of any wrongdoing, however, the state’s official signature tally included certified signatures in at least 77 of its 88 counties, giving Bruner no choice but to deny Penn National’s protest.

If passed, the amendment would allow Pressman and Lertzman, in cooperation with Michigan-based Lakes Entertainment, to build a sprawling 220 square-foot casino in Ohio’s southwest corridor. The planned attraction would house 5,000 slot machines, 100 gaming tables and 1,500 hotel rooms. It would be situated off Interstate 71 in Wilmington, Ohio.

According to a MyOhioNow.com commercial that showed a charter bus headed down the highway, packed with interstate tourists, “Our tax dollars are leaving the state at 65 miles per hour.”

The implication is that Ohio, which is bracketed by casino-friendly Pennsylvania, Michigan, Indiana and West Virginia, is leaking valuable tax revenue every time an Ohioan crosses a state border to gamble. Lertzman and Pressman say revising the state’s statutes—and allowing their casino in—would create an estimated 5,000 new jobs, each paying an average of $34,000 per year, and would pump much needed funds back into Ohio’s rustbelt tax base.

Penn National Gaming spokesman Eric Schippers has rebutted these claims saying that a go on Issue 6 would result in a monopoly for MyOhioNow.com’s casino. But according to Lertzman, “Penn National fears we will take away their business.”

“Our casino will be 40 miles away (from theirs), and we will attract the Ohioans who have been going across the boarder,” he said.

Penn National Gaming is owner and operator of the Argosy Casino in nearby Lawrence, Indiana.

No doubt, both sides will continue their match of words in the coming weeks. But whatever the case, whether Issue 6 will become law is now officially in the hands of Ohio’s voters.