Poker player loses it all after day in court

Wednesday, 09 September 2009 14:34 KM News
The Copenhagen Post

Earning a living from playing poker is illegal, even if online poker games are run outside Denmark, the Supreme Court rules

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 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 man is the second person found guilty of the charge in recent months. In June, the Eastern High Court found a long-timer organiser of poker tournaments guilty of the same charge.

His sentence was later overturned by the Supreme Court, but the court upheld laws banning poker tournaments.

That decision covered only poker tournaments. Online poker was not considered during the trial. The court grounded its decision to waive the fine on the uncertainty over rules governing internet poker.

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.

An estimated 50,000 Danes play online poker, according to poker website pokernet.dk.

Lawyers for the state underscored that the decision does not outlaw online gambling.

‘We will decide on a case by case basis whether someone is playing professionally,’ Crown Prosecutor Svend Larsen said.