Danish poker player forced to give up gambling winnings
Posted by Sarah Banks on 16 Sep 2009 at 15:09
A court in Denmark has ruled making a living from poker online is illegal even if it is run outside the country and ordered a 35-year-old man to hand over 194,000 kroner in winnings.
The court ruled because poker had been his source of income over the period of a year, the man had broken laws on earning a living from gambling.
However, he was spared a 5000 kroner fine he had been given by another court when convicted in November because of uncertainty over whether or not online poker was covered by the law.
He is the second person in recent months to be found guilty of earning a living from the game, after another court found a poker tournament organiser guilty of the same accusation.
The basis of the court's ruling said although a service for online poker might be run outside of the country, the game would actually be played on a system based in Denmark, meaning it was in violation of the country's law.
Tens of thousands of Danes are thought to regularly play online poker, although legal experts have said the decision does not mean gambling is illegal over the internet in Denmark.
Crown prosecutor Svend Larsen said: "We will decide on a case by case basis whether someone is playing professionally."
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