Berlin's Kammergericht upheld a lower court ruling on 6 October 2020 ordering Mr Green to stop offering online gambling without a German licence, the judgment said. The court rejected the argument that the planned gambling treaty reform changed the legal position or showed the existing ban breached EU law.
The ruling reinforces the legal risk of offering online gambling in Germany without a licence.
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Frankfurt’s Higher Regional Court upheld a player’s claim to recover around €118,000 in losses from Co-Gaming Ltd, ruling on 1 September 2026 that the online sports betting contracts were void because the company lacked a valid German licence. The court rejected the company’s appeal and found the claim was not time-barred, according to the reported judgment.
It was reported that Cologne's higher regional court ordered an online poker and casino operator without a German licence to repay a player about €63,000. The sum covers losses the player incurred on its platforms from 2014 to 23 June 2023. The Bonn regional court ruled similarly on about €50,000.
The European Court of Justice ruled on 16 April in case C-440/23 that EU law permits national restrictions on gambling, according to the German Toto and Lottery Block. The DLTB said the ruling confirmed Germany could prohibit lottery betting and require providers to obtain German authorisation.
The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that EU law does not prevent Member States from prohibiting online casino games and certain betting products, including when operators hold licences in another Member State. The judgment concerned services available in Germany from June 2019 to July 2021 and leaves national courts to decide whether players can recover losses under contracts deemed void.
The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled on 16 April that EU member states may prohibit online gambling products and that consumers may bring civil claims to recover losses incurred where those products were banned. The case concerned a player’s claim against Lottoland over gambling in Germany before the country legalised online gambling; the ruling is to inform the pending Maltese court case.