Traunstein District Court: Online casino must pay back USD 7,670

After losing more than $7,500 at PlayCherry Casino over the course of about a year, a player has demanded his losses be returned in full - with success. The Traunstein District Court ruled on 6 September that the gambling company must pay back the casino losses in full. But what were the reasons for the ruling and why is this case about US dollars and not euros?

In the past, we have reported on the subject of casino clawbacks. Most recently, in May this year, we published an article on the "instant payout" business. In other cases, we have looked at specific instances where players have subsequently recovered their lost money. In December, for example, we reported on a ruling by the Ulm District Court that a player should receive €170,000 back from an online casino.

Traunstein Disrict Court: Player receives full refund of casino losses

A player from Germany allegedly participated in various online gambling games through the website "PlayCherry". Between March 2021 and September 2022, the player lost a total of 7,670 US dollars. The player's deposits in the online casino were made in US dollars. As a result, the player, through his solicitor, requested a refund in US dollars.

In court, the player argued that he was unaware that participating in online gambling was illegal under the circumstances at the time. At the time, the provider "PlayCherry" did not have a German gambling licence from the Joint Gambling Authority of the Länder (GGL). Consequently, PlayCherry had violated the German State Treaty on Gaming (GlüStV) with its offer.

The court agreed with this argumentation and ordered the foreign gaming provider to compensate all losses. The contract between the player and the provider had been null and void from the outset, so the provider had no legal claim to the money and therefore had to pay it back (§ 134 BGB).

PlayCherry now with German gaming licence

PlayCherry Limited, based in St Julian's, Malta, now holds both a sports betting licence and a virtual slots licence. According to the official whitelist, the websites "sunmaker.de", "sunnyautomaten.de" and "comeonwetten.de" are licensed. This means that PlayCherry can now legally offer online slots in Germany. Of course, the unwanted player protection measures such as the minimum play time of five seconds and the autospin ban must be implemented accordingly.

Get to know the sunmaker online casino: get up to € 100 in bonuses!

In an older article, we wondered if it was a good idea to claim back casino losses. In fact, we found several arguments why it is not a good idea. Not only does it hurt the gambling industry. In addition, it is simply immoral to claim back lost money when the player had a "real" chance of winning. 

Image source: https://pixabay.com/de/photos/gerechtigkeit-statue-lady-justice-2060093/