POKER PLAYER IN COURT CLASH OVER TOURNAMENT WINNINGS
2012-12-31
Back in 2010 poker pro Paul Carr placed second in a major Irish live poker tournament, taking home almost Euro 313,000, but this month he found himself in court fighting to reclaim Euro 36,000 of his prize, which he had left in the care of his friend Jason Ahern.
The money ended up in Irish police hands following an unsuccessful drug raid on premises occupied by Ahern's girl-friend, where it was seized as suspected fruits of criminal activity. Ahern immediately claimed the money was not his, and that he was safe-keeping it for Carr, who backed up the claim by saying that the money was part of his big win in 2010.
The case earlier this month in the Limerick Circuit Court is the result of a previous dispute through the lower District Court, where Carr opposed a government attempt to have the money forfeited to the state. The police had earlier been granted a court order to hold the money whilst its origins were investigated.
Carr has been playing in live poker tournaments since 2008 and has a career record that shows repeated small wins in a long list of tournaments, with the 2010 Irish Open being his most successful, and the source of his largest career payday.
In the latest development, the Limerick Leader newspaper reported that the prosecution asked Judge Carroll Moran for an adjournment to the New Year to allow it to call as a witness Paddy Power, the gambling company which organised the tournament where Carr made his big win.
Appearing for Carr, lawyer Michael Collins opposed the adjournment and questioned the need to have a witness from Paddy Power give evidence during the proceedings, saying that the winnings were legitimately made during a legal poker tournament, and that the issue has nothing to do with online gambling.
However, Judge Moran granted the state application for an adjournment, indicating he will fix a date to hear the full case in January 2013.