The times when slot machines were mainly operated in smoky corner pubs are long gone. In the meantime, the problem has shifted with power to the Internet. All variants of the game of chance are offered in online casinos - slots, roulette, blackjack and much more. And the offer is becoming more and more popular. The providers can have billions in sales, the players sense the chance of a quick and uncomplicated win - they are lured with bonuses and free spins. The casinos also attract attention with massive advertising on TV, print media and the Internet - more and more well-known football clubs are also being sponsored by betting providers. But is it even legal to play at these online casinos in Germany? The answer to this question is far from simple and clear. The following article is intended to give an overview of the unclear legal situation and shed some light on the darkness.
Actually, the question to the answer is simple and unspectacular: Playing in online casinos is illegal in Germany. However, every “actually” is inevitably followed by a “Yes, but!” - and really simple answers to legal questions are extremely rare anyway.
So let's start from the very beginning: Online casinos are virtual casinos that can be accessed via the Internet. Online casinos make it possible to bet and play casino games using devices connected to the Internet - such as computers, smart TVs, tablets, etc.
The national legal basis in Germany is the State Treaty on Gambling, which in principle excludes the organization of games of chance on the Internet. The main arguments used are reasons of addiction prevention and protection against fraud. Games of chance are only legal in Germany if they have been approved by the state and the operators have a corresponding license. In the real world, this includes, for example, the state casinos or commercial machine operators, and 20 licenses for sports betting providers have been granted in the virtual world. As a result, this means a gambling monopoly for the state - a regulation that has always been subject to massive criticism. Proponents of a liberalization of the betting market accuse the public sector of
The first crux is the State Treaty on Gambling itself - and for various reasons. On the one hand, regulation of the gaming market is a matter for the federal states. In principle, each federal state can decide for itself how to distribute its licenses. The federal state of Schleswig-Holstein has already started going it alone in the past and has given online casino providers the appropriate licenses. Although these explicitly only applied to Schleswig-Holstein, the betting offer was nevertheless advertised nationwide and thus attracted players from all over Germany to the website. The licenses have now expired. The Hessian state government around Prime Minister Bouffier recently announced that it would go its own way in 2019.
It is also discussed again and again whether the German regulations on gambling are compatible with EU law. In this context, it is always stated that there is a violation of the freedom to provide services guaranteed under European law. There are almost as many opinions in this regard as there are lawyers. But the fact is: the gambling contract is still valid to this day. The Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig ruled with a judgment of October 26, 2017 ( 8 C 14.16) that the ban on organizing or brokering casino, scratch card and poker games on the Internet, even after the partial opening of the "Internet" sales channel for sports betting and lotteries, is compatible with constitutional and Union law. There are repeated efforts to reform, but these have so far not had any noticeable effects.
As already mentioned in the introduction, you can hardly avoid advertising for online casinos. This is mainly possible because the providers usually obtain licenses from Malta, Gibraltar or the Isle of Man and claim to be able to offer their games throughout the EU. They argue that the German ban does not apply to them and violates European law. However, this is in clear contradiction to the decision of the Federal Administrative Court.
Nevertheless, the providers hardly have anything to fear. Because the supervisory authorities allow this and in fact do not enforce the existing bans. This applies both to the operation of the websites and to their promotion. Anyone who wants to gamble away their money in an online casino in Germany can do so without any restrictions.
The fact that there is no serious will to enforce the prohibitions is made clear above all by the fact that the underlying cash flows are not prevented. It is true that it is argued that an enforcement fails mainly because the gaming providers deliberately settle in states such as Malta or Gibraltar, which evade enforcement of German law in the absence of international agreements. However, it is an open secret that bets are also deposited into German accounts and game winnings are paid out from German accounts. In addition, German payment service providers are involved in the processing.
While the legal dogmatic questions and the further development are quite interesting, the following simple question arises for the user of an online casino: Do I make myself liable to prosecution by using an online casino or not? Above all, Section 285 of the Criminal Code (“Participation in illegal gambling”) must be observed. According to this, anyone who takes part in a public game of chance (Section 284 of the Criminal Code) is liable to prosecution. The scope of punishment ranges from a fine to six months' imprisonment.
Here again the question arises whether § 285 StGB applies to all online casinos worldwide: Is the user therefore liable to prosecution if he plays from Germany via the Internet with a foreign provider? Does it make a difference if the foreign provider does not have a German license but has a license from his home country? According to the express will of the legislature, every foreign online casino should in principle also fall under Sections 284 ff. StGB if it can be accessed in Germany. Otherwise there would be the risk that the provider would hide abroad and the penal provisions would come to nothing. As a result, however, this would lead to unlimited application of German criminal law, since every website can be accessed from Germany. As expected, For this reason, no uniform case law has yet developed. In fact, however, the majority of criminal courts seem to actually obey the legislature, free spins no deposit finland . The absurdity is obvious and completely misunderstands the internationality of the Internet.
In practice, however, it should be noted that convictions for the mere use of an online casino are the absolute exception. Investigations are also rarely initiated and, moreover, are regularly discontinued, should it ever come to that. But: A criminal prosecution is not completely excluded. In 2014, for example, the Munich District Court sentenced a blackjack player to a fine - specifically, however, it was also about stakes and winnings in the six-figure range. Sums with which the average person is unlikely to handle.
In civil court case law, the application of German law is limited on the basis of certain criteria. According to this, this should only apply if the website is (also) accessed as intended in Germany. Among other things, the language, the currency, the top-level domain and the place of performance play a role. A handling that is much more convincing than that of the criminal courts.
The bottom line is that the current legal situation can only be described as catastrophic. One cannot help but get the impression that the state authorities themselves do not know how to deal with the current situation and the constantly booming market. The hesitation and disagreement of the legislature are grist to the mill. A reform of gambling law would be urgently and imperatively necessary. In the near future, following the announced advance by the state of Hesse, a renewed and further fragmentation of the legal situation is to be feared.
For users of the services of an online casino, it must be emphasized once again that participation in these games of chance is illegal in Germany and can generally result in criminal law consequences. However, it is also true that the risk of actual persecution is only in the per mille range. Ultimately, it is up to everyone to assess for themselves whether they want to take this risk. Regardless of whether it makes sense to play in an online casino in general.
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