Switzerland: Player plays on his own machine and is fined

During the coronavirus pandemic, a Swiss man is said to have invited several friends to his hobby room. The problem: there were two functioning gaming machines in the room. Due to the contact restrictions in force at the time, the police checked the event and broke it up. The organiser was not only charged with a violation of the coronavirus regulations, but also with making the gaming machines available to third parties.

A few days ago, the Kulm District Court heard a case that is reminiscent of a long-forgotten time - the coronavirus era. According to the indictment, the case took place as follows in spring 2020: The 41-year-old defendant invited a total of seven friends to his hobby room. However, there were two slot machines here where real money could be wagered and won. When the Aargau cantonal police broke up the event shortly afterwards due to the applicable contact restrictions, the gaming machines were discovered, for which the organiser now had to answer in court.

Swiss Gaming Commission demanded 56,000 francs

The Swiss Federal Gaming Board (ESKB) then demanded 56,000 francs from the 41-year-old as part of a penalty order. The reason given: The man had violated the Gambling Act by allowing third parties access to gambling without authorisation.

As the defendant did not have the money demanded, he lodged an objection and the case was heard in court. According to his own statements, the man was addicted to gambling until four or five years ago. Today, he only visits the casino in Bregenz once a year. Around a year ago, GambleJoe published an article about the fact that more and more Swiss people have gambling problems despite the new gambling law.

Gambling addict bought two slot machines to live out his addiction

The defendant's explanation that he had bought the slot machines in his hobby room himself for 800 francs is interesting. He had used them to live out his addiction. He had also played on one of the machines on the day of the offence. The accused's friends confirmed in court that the 41-year-old sometimes spent hours playing on his own slot machines. At no time were the other guests encouraged to play on the slot machines. As these were his own slot machines, the defendant naturally also had the keys and was therefore able to open the cash compartment. Consequently, he was able to reuse his stake at will and thus play for hours without effectively losing or winning money.

Nevertheless, according to the court, the offence was fulfilled as the Swiss man had made the slot machines accessible to a third party ready to play. Ultimately, the court sentenced the defendant to a fine of 770 francs. In addition, the court reduced the compensation claim of the Federal Gaming Board to 360 francs instead of 56,000 francs. Just a few weeks ago, we reported on GambleJoe that Casino Baden was rightly sanctioned for poor player protection.

Image source: https://pixabay.com/de/photos/währung-reichtum-geld-bargeld-3211407/