German player fined for playing on foreign website

According to legal firm Pinsent Mason, a German Blackjack player has been fined 70 days wages and around Euro 64 000  by a Munich District Court for illegally gambling on an unnamed UK-based website.

The player claimed ignorance, saying he/she did not know it was illegal to play on the foreign website, however, the Judge ruled it was the players’ responsibility to ensure the website operator was licensed to offer services in that market.

Dr. Igor Barabash, a technology law expert at Pinsent Mason opined: “Unfortunately, the court did not fully evaluate whether the unlawful gambling rules under the German Criminal Code comply with EU law.

“There is a clear anomaly between, for example, rules that allow a German person to visit a casino outside of Germany and those that prohibit the same casino games being played online within Germany.”

The player has reportedly appealed the decision.

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