Denmark: Man Must Turn Over All Winnings From Online Poker
A 35-year-old unemployed man has been told by the Supreme Court to hand over 194,000 kroner he won playing online poker, The Copenhagen Post reports.
The court ruled that because the man had earned the money over the course of an entire year, and because it was his sole form of income, he had violated laws banning earning a living from gambling.
The court chose, however, to throw out a 5000 kroner fine the man had been given by the Eastern High Court when he was originally convicted in November due to uncertainty about whether online poker was covered by the law.
The individual is the second man to be found guilty of this charge in recent months. Another man had his sentence overturned by the Supreme Court, however, the court upheld laws banning poker tournaments.
In issuing its decision today, the court ruled that even though computer servers used to run the poker games are placed outside of Denmark, the individual computer used to play is located in the country and subject to Danish law.
Denmark has long had a reputation for being one of the most fertile nations for online casino players and in recent years is home to a handful of successful online poker players including Gus Hansen and Theo Jorgensen.
An estimated 50,000 Danes play online poker, according to poker website pokernet.dk.
Gambling911.com Staff
