Euromat vice president Helmut Kafka has described the gaming law in Austria as "a mess" after the Constitutional Court overturned hundreds of administrative sanctions linked to unproven claims of illegal gambling.
Following the 2010 Gambling Act, illegal gambling in Austria is sanctioned by administrative law for stakes of €10 or less, or by criminal law for stakes higher than €10. Businesses across Austria have complained about the excessive actions carried out by the so-called ‘financial police’ against slot machine owners – including the seizure of gaming machines.
In a similar vein, Austria’s Constitutional Court has repealed poker regulations from the 2010 Gambling Act, declaring them unconstitutional. The ruling means that poker is no longer considered a gambling activity and legalises private poker rooms again.
The passing of the Gambling Act had previously drawn a lot of criticism from operators and the EU. They argued that the licensing conditions for poker rooms were tailored to provide former monopoly operator Casinos Austria an unfair advantage.
