A man who won $6k in a night of poker at a Florida cardroom, only to be shot outside by a sore loser, is suing the gambling venue for not having adequate security.
In November 2022, Karruah Parkinson was shot multiple times outside Bestbet, a gambling venue in the Jacksonville suburb of Orange Park. Two years later, he is suing the venue over the incident.
Parkinson says he twice tried to alert casino security that he felt threatened by a group of players he had won money from at the poker tables. But the lawsuit says security was either not present or did not respond when the assailants followed Parkinson outside the venue and shot him.
He is now suing Bestbet, claiming damages for his pain and suffering, which he says could have been avoided with proper security.
The Shooting
On the night of November 23, 2022, Parkinson was playing poker at the Bestbet venue in Orange Park, Jacksonville.
The lawsuit says Parkinson was up around $6,000 from the tables when he decided to call it quits for the night. As he left he tossed around $100 worth of poker chips back onto the table, in what the lawsuit says Parkinson considered a generous gesture.
However, some other players at the table took that as an affront. Minutes after Parkinson left, they followed him outside the casino.
The lawsuit alleges that the cardroom’s security should have seen this potential conflict before it occurred, but either they didn’t see or did nothing.
Once outside, Parkinson says the players headed straight for him in a threatening way. Parkinson says he approached a security booth outside the venue for assistance, but there was no officer present. Parkinson then ran for his car. He just managed to get inside before the assailants shot his vehicle with dozens of rounds.
He was hit by four shots in his back, arm, shoulder and stomach. The suspects made an escape before a bystander called police, who arrived and found Parkinson seriously injured in his car.
The Lawsuit
Okoye Morgan of The Black Law Company, based in Tampa, Florida, filed the lawsuit on behalf of Parkinson.
The lawsuit claims Parkinson has sustained life-altering injuries as a result of the incident, which could have been prevented if Bestbet’s security was adequate. He said he has no plans to visit a gambling venue again in his life, and he has suffered severe physical and emotional stress.
“Those facilities should have adequate security to protect its patrons,” Morgan said.
“We believe that the security was inadequate, and they owed our client a duty to protect him, and they failed.”
Police have reportedly identified three suspects and seized the gun they believe was used to shoot Parkinson. But they have made no arrests in connection with the incident.
The Bestbet cardroom was also the site of a gunpoint robbery in February 2024. A man had $7,000 of his poker winnings stolen from him in the parking lot of the venue when a suspect put a gun to his head and took the money from his pocket.
Police later arrested local man Sean Evans, 21, and charged him with armed robbery over the incident.
David is an online casino expert who specializes in online slots and boasts over 10 years experience writing about iGaming. He has written for a wide range of notable publications, including eSports Insider and WordPlay Magazine.
David graduated Derby University with a BA Degree in English Literature and Creative Writing.
