Hana Marvanová is facing a lawsuit from the casino. Will Prague be involved in the dispute?
The city leadership’s efforts to regulate gambling led to the adoption of a decree that completely bans gaming on slot machines, which are also popularly called “boxes”. They should gradually disappear over a number of years until the casinos expire their licenses and should even expire in 2023. These are devices where players directly withdraw money and hope that luck will smile on them and make a win. According to the rules that have been in force since 2015, these devices can only be used in companies operating so-called live games.
This means, for example, roulette or various wheels of fortune. However, many people have criticized that often in casinos live play is basically for the sake of form, no one plays them here, and in fact they are casinos full of slot machines.. The Customs Office for the Capital City of Prague also identified such as the so-called quasi-casino. m. Prague, which performed inspections.
It’s just a game room
Marvanová is sued by the Happy Day company, which, among other things, operates a casino on Wenceslas Square. Even before the start of negotiations the court asked if the two parties could not reach an agreement, but refused the company’s legal representative. The company is mainly bothered by the statement from last September, when the councilor spoke about the fact that she visited a number of companies and wanted to know what the real situation is. According to her, casinos, where mainly live games are played, were rather a minority. “At first I believed that live casinos alone could not survive economically, that it had to be combined with slot machines. I saw it as a logical argument before I went to those casinos, the owners who spoke to me, to watch. For example, the Happy Day casino on Wenceslas Square. I thought it was a luxury casino. I found out it was just a game room, that there were only slot machines,“It was stated at the meeting of the council.
Why do they really mind?
This is exactly what the company that is suing her can do to damage its reputation. Councilor Marvanová Ladislav Málek commented in court on why the designation gaming room actually bothers the casino. “The word ‘gaming’ implies an activity which the applicant carries out on dozens of technical installations and it doesn’t contradict it in any way. It seems strange to me in itself that the use of this term must have given rise to some doubt that it may have been due to an interference with his reputation,“He said.”
The councilor insists that at that time she described only what she saw and at that time also spoke more generally. “When I visited the casinos, then really only some are casinos where it lives and there are croupiers with live play“She said after the meeting.
The defense also allows, as one of the proofs, on the casino website, where there are photos of the interiors and it is clear on them that there are dozens of slot machines inside, and according to Marvanová, it looks the same as when it was in the company.
What do the camera recordings say?
The prosecution wants as one of the evidence the above-mentioned camera recordings from the time when the councilor visited the casino. That is why the court postponed to December so that both parties would have time to get acquainted with them. The judge submitted that they consider these materials to be essential evidence. The casino’s lawyer said that only a few minutes were important from the records.
Marvan’s indictment also criticizes the statement that at the time of her visit there were no staff at the tables for live play. for the needs of those interested in the game. The company, on the other hand, claims that the record shows that they played normally throughout their visit and that the company operates under the conditions laid down by law.
This is not the first dispute
According to Hana Marvanová, the capital should be included in the whole dispute as an intervening party, because she said her statements as a deputy and councilor, and this is not the first case that Happy Day joined forces. “The capital has a legal interest in the outcome of this dispute, because the plaintiff is conducting various proceedings against Prague for the adoption of the decree, for example at the Office for the Protection of Competition“She remarked in court. The involvement of the city in the case will be resolved on Monday at the City Council. city, but the plaintiff must also agree.
Slot machines
Author: Profimedia.cz