German Bank Refuses PokerStars Player His Winnings

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Saturday, May 2nd, 2015 | Written by Shane Larson

At the start of this year, the plight of a German blackjack player sent shock waves throughout the country’s online community, after the media reported that his home had been raided and €63,490 of his online winnings had been confiscated by the German Financial Services Authorities. The unnamed 25-year old decorator was also slapped with a €2,100 penalty for breaching Section 285 of Germany´s Criminal Code, which states:

“Whosoever participates in a public game of chance (Section 284) shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding six months or a fine not exceeding 180 daily units.”

The incident actually occurred when the man attracted the attention of authorities after trying to withdraw a large amount of money from his bank account, and a few months on since that story broke, yet another German Bank has caused further consternation amongst Germany’s online gambling community. In this case, involving an Italian man who won $59,480 on PokerStars, but was subsequently refused access to the money by German Bank Unikredit.

Early Joy Turns To Despair

An Italian player known as “RuiDeck” was working in Germany when he entered the $22 Micromillions Main Event on PokerStars, eventually finishing 3rd out of roughly 20,000 other competitors to scoop a massive $59,480 payday. The 29 year-old subsequently packed in his job as a waiter in Dresden, Germany, and decided he would pursue a career as a full-time poker professional instead. As he explained recently to media outlet ItaliaPokerClub:

“As soon as I won, I booked a flight to go home to Sicily to celebrate with my friends. Then, in the following days, I also resigned from my job to start a new adventure as a poker player.”

Unfortunately, the man’s joy soon turned to despair after he visited his bank and was told his fund transfer request would not be processed as poker is illegal in Saxony. Elaborating further, “RuiDeck” said:

“Initially, I have been told that my withdrawal would take approximately one week, as the policies against money laundering impose strict control on withdrawals of a sum bigger than €10,000 ($10,700).”

PokerStars Offers Assistance

A desperate RuiDeck then contacted PokerStars about the situation, who was subsequently able to provide him with a letter confirming he had won the money legitimately on the site, and that there were no concerns related to money laundering. Nevertheless, money laundering may have initially delayed the withdrawal, but its the current attitude in Germany towards unlicensed online poker websites that has resulted in the frustrating situation, and as RuiDeck explains:

“It’s absurd to find myself in this situation. Since I have an account correctly registered as a customer I feel deceived. I do not understand where the responsibilities lie between PokerStars or the existing legislation in Saxony, the fact is that I am unable to collect the win and what’s more I do not have a job.”

Online Gambling In Germany

Under the Intestate Treaty on Gambling, internet gambling is illegal across Germany’s 16 states, although the country is still considered one of the world’s largest online gambling markets and continues to maintain a monopoly on sports betting and lotteries. This has put Europe’s most populated country in direct opposition with the European courts, who would like to see Germany open its online gambling market to EU competition and allow free transfer of services across its borders. While negotiations between Germany and the EU continue, a number of major online gambling operators have in the meantime been scared away from Germany, including Playtech and Mansion, rather than take the risk of coming under the scrutiny of German law enforcement.

As well as targeting unlicensed online operators, Germany has also now signaled it intent to go after individual players with these two recent cases. The first instance involving the online blackjack winner actually represented the first time an online gambler had been convicted of that particular offense, although that case is complicated slightly by the fact he had originally been accused of social security fraud and tried to defend himself by saying that the money he possessed came from playing internet Black Jack. Nevertheless, the unnamed German man still had his money confiscated, and despite the best efforts of Italian player “RuiDeck”, ultimately he is likely to face the same fate.