Germany’s Anti-Online Poker Gambling Law Approved by 15 of 16 States

the proposal was damned by the European Commission and it's subject to the approval of the same. So the curious wait begins

Very frustrating that the no other 'Bundesland' followed Schleswig-Holstein's example. I hope the EU commission will not approve of the new law.

I think it's not so bad seing how the other EU country reacted to online gambling.

at least if they "outlaw" it they will probably not enforce it to much cause they won't gain money from this. hte casinos will but the gov as limited incentive to invest in high profile IP blocking

kind of how the US "didn't enforce it much" for, oh, 5 years after UIGEA?
interested to see how this turns out, but if they pass a law they will definitely eventually try to enforce it. that is their job anyhow...

there will never be IP blocking in Germany. They tried to IP block childporn sites but were not allowed to do so. Internet censorship debate is done in germany, there wont be any

Wow, this sounds pretty bad. I was just talking about this with a friend the other day, and this is news to us both.

im german, this looks tilting to me

this sounds like good news tho? like a way to circumvent the banning? just curious how this will look in practice

When you thought politicians couldn't get any dumber.

We just have to wait for the next election when the Piratenpartei kicks the asses of the standard parties.

So.. 3 month of hardcore grinding and then moving to Kiel, anyone?

the law would ban all online poker and casinos, and would restrict online sports betting to a limited number of operators.

i am sorry but that seems kind of backwards. They allow sports betting but don't allow poker? I hope things work out for you guys in Germany.

I hope that US will come up with a plan that won't ruin online poker here in the US.

I thought online poker in Germany was already considered illegal, does this mean they're actually going to do something about it this time?

Btw does anyone in Germany actually pay taxes or you just withdrawal 10k per month and pretend nothing happened?

I live in Schleswig-Holstein, does that mean I will still be able to play online?

It is a grey area ATM. If you withdraw one lump sum, it doesent really matter how much it is, you can say you won an MTT and it is (in theory anyway) tax free, like the lottery (for now). If you withdraw 10K 4+ times in a year, then you can just see if they notice - putting it in your tax form as gambling winning, not mentioning it and getting caught is a bad idea - then you may be ignored or you may have to pay taxes on a second income. There are not any concrete laws as of yet, at least as far as I know. If anyone does know, please post.

I am not a tax expert, but I have asked 2 tax advisers, and they were both not sure how it goes. Both said to declare withdrawals, but in the case of multiple withdrawals, be ready for taxation.

I kinda hope to eventually be taxed, cause that will mean I am withdrawing sums that matter on a regular basis

Dude there is no taxes on gambling in Germany, like many eu states.

Are you sure about that? I'm pretty sure Pius Heinz moved to Austria after he won the ME to avoid taxes....

As long as you are not playing as a "pro" then there are no taxes. The lottery is not taxed. BUT if you are playing as a way of making income, it is no longer "Glucksspiel" (Gambling)

But as I stated above, it is a grey area and I have spoken with 2 tax advisers, and they didnt know exactly what the deal is. They both said that if someone makes a regular income, and their main income is from poker, they will have to pay taxes since it is no longer a recreational activity, but more of a job. Exactly where the line is drawn is not clear, however.

Just the tax company's way to milk you if you are doing well.....

if germany follows this, more european puppet countries will follow.

i wonder who will play on pokerstars anymore..indians and argentinistas?

So what does that mean for players that live in Schleswig-Holstein, will they be able to play on?
I cant make any sense out of these articles, sorry.
An answer would be greatly appreciated.

yea me too, all I understood from this news is that online poker will be illegal in Germany as of March but it's always been illegal, so idk where is the change really

They tried to ban online poker in Slovakia but the bill was scrapped after the EU Commission criticized it.

there is no change everything just stays the same sadly poker will still be "gray illegal zone" in germany... I hoped for regulation.
But who knows what these stupid politicians will do in the future.... blocking germans from accessing certain parts of the interent wil also not happen. Something like in italy or france, wont happen. Although i would love to be in a EU playerpool with France, Italy, Germany etc cant you bribe some politicans stars pls
In the future i also hope there will be an EU playerpool, we are almost at the bottom atm in the poker world it can only go upwards from now on.

there wont be any regulation about online-poker at 1. march.
they just regulate sports-betting by giving out licenses.
first of all they wanted to regulate all online-gambling by taking 20% taxes on the net-profit
gained by german players on the any gambling site.

now they said poker wont be "legalized".
still we will play. its like weed. its always there.

finally, german politicians are, at an average, just as idiotic as everywhere else.
millions will still play online-poker, the sites wont pay a cent
and everything will be the same that it has been since ages, first of all.

they talked about banning illegal sites,...
they did not even get it done with child-porn sites. that says it all.

during the time that schleswig-holstein (1/16 german states) wanted to regulate poker,
they clearly pointed out that it wont be german only site.
it would have been .com as usual for all players.
of course this is the right way to go.
pokerstars can easily count the amount of rake each player paid,
then they subtract the fpp and reload bonuses and have the rake-$ that each player generated.
and thats what germany was aiming for, 20% of that money, which is reasonable, imo.
and due to the fact that they clearly announced that it wont be like in france or italy,
there is no way for stars to let the german players pay more rake on the .com site.

i think the last part is what it will be like in (very rough guess) 6 month - 3 years.
they cant just leave poker behind, while they promote lotto and take their % of slots
which are in every pub and "casino", how the shady small gambling-halls call themselves.

Does anyone understand if the other states can ban their people from playing on the Schleswig-Holstein sites?

I don't think they can ban their people from playing from any sites. this article seems to be based on a 'spiegel' article and suggests that providers won't have to ban anyone: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/01...al_in_germany/

i was wrong, itll be like it is in denmark as far as i understood it.