The Supreme Court of Austria has ruled that bet-at-home.com Internet Ltd. must pay a former customer back €2.8 million ($3.11 million) in gambling losses.
The plaintiff’s lawsuit claimed he was a gambling addict, which meant he did not have the capacity to sign an informed contract with the operator. Thus, lawyers said, the bets were void and he was entitled to get his losses back.
The Supreme Court agreed with this viewpoint. It also ruled that the main company, Frankfurt, Germany’s bet-at-home.com AG, is liable for the payment, as one of its two subsidiaries in the case is now closed and in liquidation.
The news was revealed by bet-at-home.com AG in a press statement, where it said it had received inside information on the forthcoming judgment.
“bet-at-home.com Internet Ltd. did not offer online gaming services as a contractual partner to the plaintiff; bet-at-home.com Entertainment Ltd. (in liquidation) was the sole contractual partner,” the operator said.
“However, the Supreme Court assumes that bet-at-home.com Internet Ltd. is liable for gambling losses incurred in this case under tort law.”
The Lawsuit
That means €2.8 million for the plaintiff in this case. He gambled away his millions at the operator’s online casino between August 2018 and July 2020. The lawsuit said he was a serious problem gambler and bet-at-home should have prevented what they said was excessive spending.
The judge agreed, saying that the plaintiff was “legally incapacitated” when agreeing to the contracts of gambling with the operator, and therefore any wagers were void and should be returned.
Despite currently being in liquidation, the Supreme Court judge ruled that bet-at-home.com Internet Ltd is liable to pay judgments leveled against its now-defunct subsidiary.
“The Company holds indirectly all shares in bet-at-home.com Internet Ltd. and bet-at-home.com Entertainment Ltd. (in liquidation),” the main company said.
“bet-at-home.com Entertainment Ltd. (in liquidation) is not included in the consolidated financial statements of the Company. bet-at-home.com Internet Ltd. and the Company is assessing which impact the decision of the Supreme Court might have on the Company’s recent forecast for the 2024 financial year.”
The Operator
bet-at-home.com Internet Ltd ceased offering grey market casino services in Austria when the country certified its legal market in 2021. It was previously available through its European-wide licensed, Malta-based subsidiary bet-at-home Entertainment Ltd.
However, when Austria created a fully regulated online casino market, that company not only left the market, but closed down completely. The parent company’s share price fell by some 4% this week upon the release of the news.
The story is just one of several recent lawsuits against former grey market online gambling operators in Europe, as fully legal regulated online casino markets pop up across the continent.
Interestingly, in one recent Austrian case, a gambler was ordered by a court to pay up €7162 in gambling winnings to the former grey area casino owners he won it from.
“Every contractual partner can invoke the illegality and nullity of the contract,” the judge said in that case.
David is an online casino expert who specializes in online slots and boasts over 10 years experience writing about iGaming. He has written for a wide range of notable publications, including eSports Insider and WordPlay Magazine.
David graduated Derby University with a BA Degree in English Literature and Creative Writing.
