Austria’s financial police raided a suspected illegal poker venue in Vienna-Favoriten during lockdown, reportedly finding 20 players at two tables. Police seized €6,200 in cash and the financial police confiscated the tables; investigations were ongoing, and the event organiser had not been identified.
The raid highlights enforcement against unlicensed poker operations and the seizure of cash and gaming equipment in Austria.
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Austrian authorities raided a Vienna headquarters on 26 March as part of an investigation into an unlicensed lottery operation selling tickets in person and online, the finance ministry said. Officials found activity records indicating six-figure undeclared profits; people connected with the operation face possible charges, and some foreign nationals may also face deportation.
A poker operator without a concession told Vienna police, through a lawyer, that it was entitled to run poker in Austria, according to the report. The Austrian Finance Ministry then intervened and ended the operator’s attempt, the report said.
Austria's financial police said they seized five gaming machines and six poker tables during operations at three Vienna locations in January 2023. The authorities sought €88,000 in fines against operators; further investigations were under way into possible benefit fraud involving some people checked at one venue.
Vienna police found illegal gambling machines in a private flat in Floridsdorf during an operation on Friday morning, according to reports. The machines were removed later that morning, and the people behind the operation had not been identified while investigations continued.
Vienna police, financial police and the city's rapid-response group inspected a basement in Favoriten on Friday evening over suspected illegal gambling. Authorities reported that they checked 29 people, arrested two under immigration rules and seized five gambling machines, three poker tables, a cash-changing machine and €5,000.