CLLB Rechtsanwälte Secures Victory for Client in Illegal Online Gambling Case

CLLB Rechtsanwälte wins judgment at Augsburg Regional Court

München, 25.08.2023. In around five weeks, a player had gambled away more than 27,000 euros in online gambling. The Augsburg Regional Court ruled on August 22, 2023 that the defendant operator of the online casino must compensate the client of CLLB Rechtsanwälte for the loss. The reason given by the court was that the defendant did not have the license required in Germany to offer online gambling and therefore had no legal claim to the money.

The plaintiff had participated in online casino games via a German-language website of the defendant between April and May 2020. In the short time he lost a total of more than 27,000 euros. He didn’t know that online gambling was banned in Germany until July 1, 2021, with a few exceptions. “During the period at issue, the operator of the online casino did not have a license to offer public online gambling in Germany. We have therefore demanded repayment of our client’s loss,” says attorney István Cocron, CLLB Rechtsanwälte.

The LG Augsburg upheld the lawsuit. Online gambling was banned in Germany in accordance with Article 4(4) of the 2012 version of the State Treaty on Gambling. The defendant violated this prohibition. The contracts concluded with the plaintiff are therefore void, so that the defendant has obtained the stakes without legal grounds and must therefore compensate for the loss, the court decided.

The plaintiff’s claim for repayment does not conflict with the fact that he participated in illegal online gambling. On the one hand, he credibly stated that he was not aware of the prohibition and, on the other hand, the defendant, who had to provide evidence, did not state the opposite. In addition, she advertised her offer on a German-language website and thus gave the impression of admissibility. In addition, despite the ban, it enabled the plaintiff to participate in the online casino games, the Augsburg Regional Court further explained.

“The judgment shows that players have a good chance of recovering their losses from prohibited online gambling, which also includes sports betting on the Internet. On July 1, 2021, the ban from the State Treaty on Gambling was relaxed somewhat. However, this does not apply retrospectively and a license is still mandatory,” says lawyer Cocron.