With a sledgehammer: public order office destroys slot machines

A few days ago, the Ludwigshafen public order office was allowed to take physical action against illegal gambling. Using a sledgehammer, an official smashed several gaming machines that had previously been confiscated by the authorities. The feeling was "liberating" for him.

It was only in mid-November last year that we at GambleJoe reported that a total of 45 illegal gaming machines had been destroyed in Frankfurt am Main. Ludwigshafen has now decided to carry out the destruction of the illegal machines in a more publicized manner. To this end, the public order office has invited the press to destroy the confiscated illegal gaming machines on camera.

The video, in which the public order officer in uniform destroys the illegal gaming machines with a sledgehammer, can be viewed online here at SWR.

Over 100 illegal gaming machines seized in Ludwigsburg alone

As the authorities announced a few days ago, the police and public prosecutor's office have taken over 100 illegal gaming machines out of circulation in Ludwigshafen alone in the last year and a half. In the past, these were mainly found in pubs, betting shops and back rooms of other establishments. A small number of the seized gaming machines have now been destroyed on camera.

To be more precise, Ludwigshafen's public order officer, Florian Bauer, smashed four illegal gaming machines at a recycling center - with a sledgehammer. According to the public order officer, destroying the machines was "liberating" for him. He was happy to finally be able to physically vent his anger at illegal gambling. According to the responsible public prosecutor's office, the illegal gaming machines are destroyed as it is not economically viable to "repair" the manipulated machines. Only at the end of last year, an article published on GambleJoe dealt with a major raid due to illegal gambling in East Frisia.

Illegal gaming machines cause huge damage

Illegal machines are a major problem not only in Ludwigshafen, but also in the rest of Germany. As the perpetrators usually play illegal software on the machines, players here have no realistic chance of winning anything at all. Instead, the primary aim of the criminals is to take the money out of the players' pockets as quickly as possible. The criminals often either do not pay the gambling tax on the illegal machines at all or pay too little.

In addition, there are usually no player protection measures in place at illegal gaming machines, meaning that gambling can take place almost uncontrolled and without limits. In October 2024, we reported on an NDR documentary on the topic of "Million-dollar fraud through manipulated slot machines".

Source of the image: https://pixabay.com/de/photos/kasino-spielautomaten-aufregung-2336610/