Gambling addict wins in legal action against Novomatic

An Austrian punter who ran up debts of Euro 800,000 over a four year period at land-based slot machines operated by the Novomatic company has exploited his addiction to gambling to win a court case.

The compulsive gambler won a Euro 440,000 judgment in a Viennese court this week after a psychiatric evaluation was presented in evidence, convincing the court that the man’s gambling compacts with Novomatic should be annulled.

Agence France-Press reports that in Austria slots are in many cases located outside of casinos in a variety of establishments, a situation which will be addressed on January 1 next year when new laws will ensure that land slot action is confined to casino venues.

With 1,500 of the estimated 2,600 non-casino slots in Vienna run by Novomatic, the company is understandably concerned about the impact of the new laws and has indicated it is prepared to take the issue to the Austrian constitutional court if necessary.

Regarding the addiction case, Novomatic commented to the Kronen Zeitung newspaper that it intends to appeal the court ruling.