Court orders player to pay back casino winnings in Austria

[conker]

A very questionable decision has popped up in Austria, where a court is ordering a player to pay back winnings because the casino wasn't licensed

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This just seems like all sorts of wrong here.

 

[jasonuk]

Not quite...

The player had deposited €22,000 and by July, they had amassed €29,100. Yet, the player will not be reimbursing the operator for the full €7,152.71 and will have to pay €626.60 to cover the operator’s legal fees instead.

Austria appears to be a "both sides" jurisdiction - so the offshore operator acted illegally and the player acted illegally.

So it looks like they are acknowledging the operator has a case, but only awarding them costs - as a deterrent against ambulance chasers (on both sides). As described in the final paragraphs of the article, the ruling even eludes to a variation of self-exclusion fraud we've seen in the UK, which is what they want to avoid for numerous reasons.

 

[conker]

Feels like it’s opening a Pandora’s box of if’s but’s, and maybe’s to me. I certainly would feel very hard done by if I was this player.

 

[jasonuk]

I wouldn't say it is opening one - this isn't the first such ruling, and is a fundamental risk when playing from a jurisdiction that blames the player as well as the operator. I recall that Washington state (US) has been highlighted many times as such an example.

I would argue this is the safest ruling without all hell breaking loose - the scenarios I can think of:

• dismiss outright
• costs to one side - adds a level of deterrent, as both sides will have lost out financially (as costs awarded will not cover all costs incurred)
• award to one side - makes no sense, given both sides have acted illegally; also want to avoid the ambulance chasing meta playing out in the Netherlands.
• confiscation order - this is the spicy one , it would make both sides think twice if there's a genuine risk of the money being taken away; although enforcement against a foreign entity will be tough, and a potential PR disaster regarding the player.

 

[DreamRJ]

pretty shocking this is to be fair.