Poker Player Suing Florida Poker Venue Following Shooting

A poker player was shot multiple times outside of the Bestbet poker club in Florida, and now, he’s suing the venue for failure to protect him. 

The player who was shot and injured is Karruah Parkinson. He was critically injured at the parimutuel facility in Orange Park. The incident occurred on Nov. 23, 2022. 

Additional Details of that Day

That night, Parkinson won about $6,000 at the poker table. As Parkinson cashed out, he left poker chips on the table for other players. His lawyer, Okoye Morgan, said this was a gesture of generosity. 

Following that, some of those players followed him outside the venue and shot him. 

This comes after police arrested a suspect in connection to placing explosive devices at Hard Rock Tampa earlier this month. 

No Security Officers on Site

“As he is trying to basically escape this shooting, he goes up to a security car or security stand or security post to try to flag down a security officer to no avail,” Morgan said. “There was no security officer there.”

Following the incident, Parkinson was found in his car with multiple gunshot wounds. He was taken to HCA Florida Orange Park Hospital. 

Today, he’s still recovering mentally and physically and dealing with pain in his stomach and arms. 

The bullets came close to vital organs. 

“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.

“I will tell you what – [Parkinson] is not interested in visiting a casino again,” Morgan added. “It has affected him, his mental health first of all. It is just a nightmare situation for anybody to survive and have to live through. It has affected his overall health.”

No Security Officers on Site

Police in Orange Park are still investigating the 2022 incident. However, according to News4Jax, they have three suspects they’re investigating. 

Bestbet hasn’t commented. According to a spokesperson, they don’t comment on matters that are still under investigation. 

There was another incident at Bestbet in Feb. 2024. This time, an armed robbery. A player exited with $20k in winnings before he was mugged with a gun to his head. The robber took $7,000 in cash out of the victim’s pocket. 

Police arrested 21-year-old Sean Evans after his phone was discovered at the scene.