Virtual gambling en route to legality

by: Dr. Wulf Hambach/Dr. Stefan Bolay

With more than four million players, the German online poker market is the second largest world-wide. However, with regard to the legal framework, online poker does not even exist in this country. The players are acting in a grey zone; putting it bluntly, one could even say they are committing a crime. Up to now, the only federal state wishing to change this is Schleswig-Holstein – “the others will have to follow suit as soon as possible”, is the opinion of Wulf Hambach and Stefan Bolay.

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Online Gambling in Belgium further to the approval of the new Royal Decrees of execution

by Thibault Verbiest and Tatjana Klaeser

General Introduction

On 3 December 2009 the Belgian Parliament adopted the new Belgian Gaming Act, entered into force on 1 January 2011 even though its implementing provisions (Royal Decrees of execution) had not been adopted given that the Belgian government was outgoing.
Further to the new Gaming Act, online gambling licenses may only be issued to land-based operators already operating in Belgium under an A, B or F1 license (the so-called “offline requirement”). They are therefore referred to by the legislator as “supplementary licenses”. Additionally, online gambling servers are required to be located in Belgium. … Continue Reading

DW-WORLD: Online poker lures German players despite ban

By Sarah Harman and Martin Kuebler (editor), published on www.dw-world.de (Deutsche Welle)

People who play online poker in Germany are operating in a gray zone. Internet gambling is technically forbidden, but it’s almost never prosecuted. The lure of easy money is too much for many people to resist. (…)

Please read the complete article on www.dw-world.de (Deutsche Welle)

GamblingCompliance: Bwin.Party Shrugs Off German Court Defeat

By Daniel MacAdam, published on GamblingCompliance.com

Skill game for money in France: is it legal?

by Thibault Verbiest & Pascal Reynaud, Ulys law firm

Skill games for money are becoming more and more popular in France on the internet. But is it legal? This is the question we are trying to answer below.
Concerning the legal framework of skill games in France, we should first say that there is no specific law on that topic.  Four laws provide the legal framework of the game of chance or bingo, and sometimes give some information concerning skill games: the 1983 Act concerning the prohibition of games of chance; the 1836 Act concerning the prohibition of bingo; the 2010 Act concerning the opening of on line game of chance; and article 121-36 of the Consumer Code concerning the legality of specific games of chance during sales promotion. … Continue Reading