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.
The reported intervention concerns the legality of poker tournaments offered by an operator without a concession.
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The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that a player may generally rely on the law of their country of residence when suing foreign gambling-company directors over services offered without a local concession. In the case involving an Austrian player and Malta-based Titanium Brace Marketing, Austrian law applies under Rome II because the financial loss occurred in Austria, subject to a national court’s assessment of any closer connection to another country.
Austria’s financial police seized eight gambling machines in Vienna on 3 and 4 January, reportedly finding three in a café in Meidling and five in a private flat in Ottakring. Finance Minister Magnus Brunner said the inspections would continue as part of efforts against illegal gambling.
Austrian police reportedly found 11 people playing poker illegally in an apartment in Hall on Saturday evening. A 27-year-old local man had organised seven such gambling gatherings, and authorities filed a penalty application under the Gambling Act.
Austria’s financial police said officers seized two operating illegal gambling machines during a police operation at a Vienna flat in the sixth district in mid-August. Officers also took €2,300 in gambling proceeds into official custody, and police arrested two people; the operation followed a tip about the flat.
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.