Maltese casino refuses to pay out €167,500 jackpot
Maltese casino refuses to pay out €167,500 jackpot
Law, Legal, LGA, Disputes, Licensed Gambling
Oct 15th, 2010
A German online gambler has been denied a €167,500 Royal Flush Jackpot from an online casino, Casinoclub.com. The gambler has appealed to
Maltese authorities, but so far without any luck.
The German player, named "Mike64", won the €164,500 jackpot in 2008 after striking a royal flush progressive jackpot on a video poker machine.
Two years down the line, the player has however not seen a single cent of his winnings.
Shortly after he had released the jackpot the man was contacted by the Malta-based Casinoclub.com and encouraged to continue gambling, which he later declined.
Two weeks later the casino staff informed the player that his €167,500 winnings plus a €25,000 deposit had been confiscated, citing multiple illegalities such as collusion, multi-accounting, using bots and utilizing specially designed software as the cause for the decision.
"Mike64" was quick to point out that he had been playing at the casino since 2003, and that he had not encountered any objections or allegations of fraud until he won the jackpot.
He then hired a local lawyer and contacted the LGA, Malta's online gambling regulator, but yesterday the gaming authority informed that Maltese gaming law cannot uphold the German's claims.
According to Maltatoday.com, the Maltese Lottery and Gaming Authority explained its interpretation with a loophole in Maltese law that renders gambling debts unenforceable, which in turn makes it impossible for the authority to intervene.
While it is unknown whether the unknown German player will pursue the case further, the ruling points to a series of open question regarding online gambling sites and their conduct in the otherwise regulated gaming hub of Malta.
Effectively ruling out any kind of intervention on behalf of the island's gaming authority, yesterday's announcement from the LGA thus sets precedence and leaves it up to the gambling sites to legally confiscate both winnings and deposits if they choose to do so.
Moreover, players are left without the possibility to dispute the decision to any authority or regulator, even if they - as in "Mike64"'s case - believe that they are being subjected to unlawful claims or unsustainable allegations of fraud.
Casinoclub.com has not reacted to the ruling and was unavailable for comments when contacted by Poker.org earlier today.
By David Michael Barnwell
