Complaint about the exclusion of a poker player from Casino Innsbruck
Posted on: 12/20/2022 at 9:49 am.
Last updated on: 12/20/2022, 9:52 am.
A poker player from South Tyrol is said to have been banned from playing poker at Casino Innsbruck after making high, efficient profits. This was reported, among other things, by the Austrian daily newspaper Heute on Monday.
The 32-year-old is now suing against the lockout. He hired two lawyers and also filed a lawsuit for payment of the lost profit.
The 32-year-old partially played in the Concord Card Casinos until 2020 Austria played poker.
In 2020 had to die Concord card casinos close their doors due to a change in the law. The applicable guidelines stipulate that poker may only be offered by the state gaming operator Casinos Austria. The operator of the Concord Card Casinos Peter Zanoni made the headlines in the course of his poker offers not only because of attempts to reopen without a permit. He is also said to have accumulated around €600 million in tax debts.
After the closure of the Concord Card Casinos, the poker player began to visit Casino Innsbruck regularly, with success, as he explains to the media. He claimed to have won EUR 40,000 in July 2021 as the best month overall at the gaming establishment.
Barred from playing poker?
After winning the EUR 40,000, which is what his lawyer mediated in the complaint, the player was excluded from further participation in poker. The casino gave the reason that the table was now “private”.
Since poker tables are not only organized by Casino Innsbruck, but also by two players, the South Tyrolean assumes that they were responsible for the exclusion. After his complaint, he was allowed to play poker again, but only after 11 p.m. Once he took advantage of this, he won another EUR 9,000.
The poker player explained:
“After that I was permanently banned. I then hired two lawyers to review the legal situation. There must be no arbitrary lockout.”
However, a conversation with the casino director did not lead to the desired cancellation of the contract. D the “poker king” filed a lawsuit.
He assumes that he could make a profit of EUR 10,000 from the time the deal is closed until the lawsuit is filed. The reason given by his attorney in the complaint is that the player has a better command of the “game theory and mathematical principles” of the pot-limit Omaha game than the majority of other players. Therefore, he is able to earn such profits permanently.
The problem of the casino monopoly
Since 2012, the semi-professional hasn’t ended a poker year with losses. Part of his livelihood comes from playing in a casino. However, the monopoly position of the casino in Innsbruck does not allow him to fall back on another establishment.
Therefore, he is not only suing for the allegedly lost EUR 10,000. He is also suing for the omission of the ban on participation and is assuming a value in dispute of EUR 6,000.
Discussions between the poker player and the casino and attempts to reach a comparison have so far failed. Therefore, there will be a court hearing in January. Depending on how this WILL turn out, it could set the tone for casinos in Austria to lock out players.