Hey guys,

What do you think about the new gambling regulation in Germany, hitting in today?

I am very interested in your opinion. Luckily it does not really affect poker.

Greetings. Have a great morning.

I am not happy. At bet-at-home you can't play anymore and at unibet you can only play in the browser (makes no sense). Can you play at Pokerstars?

Can you tell more details?

I live in Germany and am not aware of this. Can you provide links or more info?

Originally Posted by fletchdad

I live in Germany and am not aware of this. Can you provide links or more info?

First of all i think even the people who made the new law and also all the provider don't know how to handle it. What i understood that casino is not allowed anymore (Roulette, Blackjack, Jackpot Slots) and to play poker the provider have implement some new rules and some provider got out and some have to make a special german client.

Hey,

New law is:

- Max 1000€ deposit/month per site
- Max 1 € bet in slots
- 5sec delay between slot spins
- higher verification requirements
- no paysafe allowed
- 5 min break after 60 minutes playing (slots)
- panic button to instantly ban for 24 hours from playing
- jackpots slot not playable



And some more changes to roulette and BJ.

For now its not a law. But all casinos who want a German licence already doing this stuff since 15.08.

Porkerstars changed the casino area to a new Vegas area and made a new app for German players.

Just search for German casino law since 15.08. and you will find all Infos. It will be active in the next year.

Wildz casino has a good summary in german language:

https://www.wildz.com/de/news/deutsche-verordnung-2020/

Wow, sounds cool. I don't understand what you don't like. I mean yes, I'm against any restrictions but if you would had known how and for what casino is created..

I also live in Germany, and was not aware of any of those, nor did I care about, since I can play.
The other stuff doesn't concerne me much, as long as we can play.

But, thanks for the info.

Oh, sorry.

The only thing how we are affected in poker atm is that we only allowed to play max 4 tables and have a 1000€ deposit limit per month.

PokerStars already set this deposit limit max.

Dear German Cardschatters,

since few days the poker rooms try to adjust to the new gambling law in Germany.
This law shall legalise online poker in Germany and help against gambling addictions, what sounds at the first glance good.
But so far for me it seems, that this new law has just disadvantages for us.

For example among others bet-at-home and William Hill even stopped operating in Germany. I am not sure, if they will come back or not later on. Therefore, I withdrew all my money there.

888 moves to 888.de, but we will loose all club levels by this, that we have achieved.

PartyPoker is still operating, but if you want to play further you have to verify your account again either with Better or with some really bothering video chat verification.
They are also offering now a new software for Germany, that is worse than the original.
You even can't adjust any table settings.

GG poker now brings up every hour some annoying pop-up, which tells you how long you
are playing already. Even if you did not play and you are just logged in.
But they implemented a panic button near the close button with that you can exclude yourself from playing for 24 hours. Do not misclick!

PokerStars removed all player transfers. I wonder, if it will come back again or not.

Furthermore, there shall be also now a limit of 4 tables in one room. I wonder, if this is only for cash games or in general. There is also now a maximum for deposit of $1000 per day. Luckily not for withdrawing.

What do you think about all these changes? Are you happy with them?
Me definitely not and I wonder, what we could do against this.

probably in a few weeks the new rules and issues will become clearer and things will run smoothly on the sites still functioning . i wish some of the larger online poker businesses were available here in the USA !

Originally Posted by skaterick

probably in a few weeks the new rules and issues will become clearer and things will run smoothly on the sites still functioning . i wish some of the larger online poker businesses were available here in the USA !

Yes, I know in the USA it is even worse about the offers for poker, what is completely crazy for me, because the USA is originally known for poker and it has a long tradition there.

But so far I was free here to choose the most rooms and everything worked smoothly.
Now I am having the feeling, that we are regulated and have no freedom about this anymore.

Hope you will stay in international pool of players on Pokerstars at least.

Originally Posted by Maekz1999

The only thing how we are affected in poker atm is that we only allowed to play max 4 tables and have a 1000€ deposit limit per month.

PokerStars already set this deposit limit max.

PokerStars have limited cash game players to 4 tables for a while in all markets. I dought, this is something, regulators care about, so maybe you are confusing things a bit here? As for deposit limit here in Sweden its 5.000 SEK (500 EUR) per week. I think, this will eventually kill off high stakes games, if the idea spread. But for all us small stakes players it does not really matter.

Do you have a news source to link this to? The link you provided seems to be in relation to a gaming site?

It really annoys me that i can't play at bet-at-home anymore. I don't know if you have heard something before but for me it came out of nowhere. (only e-mail one day before)

I am still surprised by attempts to limit online gambling in the age of modern technology, when you can get around a lot of restrictions.

Originally Posted by 1nsomn1a

I am still surprised by attempts to limit online gambling in the age of modern technology, when you can get around a lot of restrictions.

How do you get around it VPN never used it myself personally or do you mean some other way to ignore your rulers?
Will winnings be confiscated though if site security figures it out and will you be possibly treated like a criminal though now?
bet-at-home field is nearly halved this week.

Originally Posted by hugh blair

How do you get around it VPN never used it myself personally or do you mean some other way to ignore your rulers?
Will winnings be confiscated though if site security figures it out and will you be possibly treated like a criminal though now?
bet-at-home field is nearly halved this week.

I guess, there are even less players as I was already registered there.
What is strange for me, that Titan is still operating here in Germany although it also
belongs to the iPoker network.


Btw. if someone still has money left on the account of BaH or at William Hill, you still can withdraw this over their websites
in the browser.

Originally Posted by whiskers77

What is strange for me, that Titan is still operating here in Germany although it also
belongs to the iPoker network.

I can play Whill and Bah but Not Titan ?? Finnish law is strange

At Unibet you can't play at the poker client, but you can play in the browser. What is the difference? For me also makes no sence that u can play other ipoker rooms.

Originally Posted by whiskers77

Dear German Cardschatters,

since few days the poker rooms try to adjust to the new gambling law in Germany.
This law shall legalise online poker in Germany and help against gambling addictions, what sounds at the first glance good.
But so far for me it seems, that this new law has just disadvantages for us.

For example among others bet-at-home and William Hill even stopped operating in Germany. I am not sure, if they will come back or not later on. Therefore, I withdrew all my money there.

888 moves to 888.de, but we will loose all club levels by this, that we have achieved.

PartyPoker is still operating, but if you want to play further you have to verify your account again either with Better or with some really bothering video chat verification.
They are also offering now a new software for Germany, that is worse than the original.
You even can't adjust any table settings.

GG poker now brings up every hour some annoying pop-up, which tells you how long you
are playing already. Even if you did not play and you are just logged in.
But they implemented a panic button near the close button with that you can exclude yourself from playing for 24 hours. Do not misclick!

PokerStars removed all player transfers. I wonder, if it will come back again or not.

Furthermore, there shall be also now a limit of 4 tables in one room. I wonder, if this is only for cash games or in general. There is also now a maximum for deposit of $1000 per day. Luckily not for withdrawing.

What do you think about all these changes? Are you happy with them?
Me definitely not and I wonder, what we could do against this.

The new rules are not so dramatic, but I need no "panic button", the information about the time you played feels like "nudging" but anyway, I hope bet-and-win will come back in Germany and that the new rules once will make it a requirement, to withdrawal your money for free and not with this high fees, like with "Much better" or others.

Originally Posted by bapfel

The new rules are not so dramatic, but I need no "panic button", the information about the time you played feels like "nudging" but anyway, I hope bet-and-win will come back in Germany and that the new rules once will make it a requirement, to withdrawal your money for free and not with this high fees, like with "Much better" or others.

I think it's dramatic when u can't play anymore.

Nothing in this new regulation is designed to protect players it`s only purpose is to bring High Rollers into the Casinos and Slotplayers to Merkur so that Gausemann and Vater Staat will get their piece of the Pie. What i would like to know is how much time do we german players have now to get our money out of sites like ACR for example because as soon as this regulation becomes law next year playing on an unlicensed site will be a crime

restrictions are against gambling addiction and to enable government to take more control in this area

Originally Posted by theRaven68

restrictions are against gambling addiction and to enable government to take more control in this area

Yes that is what they tell us!!!!! But if you really believe that they give a flying duck about you or your health or your well beeing then sorry you are mistaken...... it`s about one thing and one thing only and that is MONEY.........also if it`s to keep us safe from gambling addiction how would they even know if you are addicted???? Ever noticed how in order to become good at Poker you have to invest a lot of Time, so if you play 8 hrs every day in order to achieve your goal are you ambitious in their eyes or are you an addict????

Originally Posted by jcvd

At Unibet you can't play at the poker client, but you can play in the browser. What is the difference? For me also makes no sence that u can play other ipoker rooms.

they cant limit client table count...or they do not want to separate playerpools???...
on browser the table limit is simpler...

Originally Posted by Shells

Do you have a news source to link this to? The link you provided seems to be in relation to a gaming site?

Ofc sorry. I found a good site in English with some Infos, but there was more changes in the past few month:

https://www.mondaq.com/germany/gaming/965238/german-gambling-law--update-20192020#:~:text=In%20March%202020%2C%20the%20German,force%20on%20July%201%2C%202021.&text=After%20the%20end%20of%20the,the%20individual%20federal%20state%20parliaments.

This is only going to drive poker underground and increase organized crime. Not going to be a good outcome.

Originally Posted by LotharMcDowner

This is only going to drive poker underground and increase organized crime. Not going to be a good outcome.

Why would creating ground rules for online poker drive poker underground?

The rules are a start and can be altered eventually to fit the needs of the people no?

Maybe I just don't understand.

In tournaments I can play on Stars more than 4 tables at the same time.

The 4 table limit in cash games PokerStars had already before the oct 15th.

Some iPoker skins still have german players, like Betsson and Titan.

Unibet wants to work on their client for german players, the instant browser play is only temporary i think.

888 makes a break from 26th oct to nov 1st for germany.

Jeah it is kind inconsistent at the moment. I think it will change when the law will "go live" in summer next year. Probably a lot will change until that point. Right now it's only a "can do" for casinos and poker sites. But if they want to have a German licence they need to start now. We will see if the law goes trough every regulatories in Germany. Still a lot changes possible.

Originally Posted by jcvd

I am not happy. At bet-at-home you can't play anymore and at unibet you can only play in the browser (makes no sense). Can you play at Pokerstars?

I can play at Pokerstars..

What I dislike most about poker rulings in Germany, is the hypocrisy.

When it comes to regulation, poker is treated as a game of luck like any casino game.
But when it comes to taxation it's suddenly considered as a game of skill and winnings are taxable income unlike winnings from lotteries and casino games.

German players will know the case of Eddy Scharf in court, I guess. If not, look it up.

Originally Posted by pothead2012

Nothing in this new regulation is designed to protect players it`s only purpose is to bring High Rollers into the Casinos and Slotplayers to Merkur so that Gausemann and Vater Staat will get their piece of the Pie. What i would like to know is how much time do we german players have now to get our money out of sites like ACR for example because as soon as this regulation becomes law next year playing on an unlicensed site will be a crime

You are right, at tipico you have now mekur games.

Originally Posted by jcvd

You are right, at tipico you have now mekur games.

And you can put a lot more into those Machines than 1000 Euros per month also you can play every Automat that`s free at the same time even if it`s more than 4. Like i wrote before they don`t care about gambling addicts or custommer protection all they care about is taking as much of your hard earned money as they can

Originally Posted by Trillian

What I dislike most about poker rulings in Germany, is the hypocrisy.

When it comes to regulation, poker is treated as a game of luck like any casino game.
But when it comes to taxation it's suddenly considered as a game of skill and winnings are taxable income unlike winnings from lotteries and casino games.

German players will know the case of Eddy Scharf in court, I guess. If not, look it up.

This is so true, I really think the same. And the other crazy thing is about slot machines, that you can find just everywhere here in Germany. Here is nothing regulated as it seems.
Where is in such cases the so called "prevention of gambling addictions"?

hello
it is bad 3 pokersits I canot play any longer

Originally Posted by whiskers77

This is so true, I really think the same. And the other crazy thing is about slot machines, that you can find just everywhere here in Germany. Here is nothing regulated as it seems.
Where is in such cases the so called "prevention of gambling addictions"?

There is none your gambling addiction ( not saying you are an addict XD ) is only then a problem if they don`t profit from it

As it seems now also Cardschat games are not available anymore at Partypoker and at 888 in Germany.

its not a great new.i think that most players will move away.but to all german players,come to portugal.here its already legal.and i know a few who already moved to pt or elsewhere

It may be good for the country but bad for players

I just hope that Germany does not make the same mistake of separating its pool of players from the international pool, like other countries do: Spain, Portugal, France, Italy etc.

well, I guess it is what it is, they make rules and we need to adjust.
Or to make something against them.
Start online petition if that brings anything, which I doubt it.

I think the new laws are great. It seems like they are designed to protect the players when they can't control themselves anymore. Give them e temporary break, and let them come to their senses, before they resume playing.

greetings from Thuringen

I play on SwC...a bitcoin room...totally anonymous...players from all over the world.

started with a freeroll cash 3 months ago...and showing total disrespect for bankroll management, built my roll up to $600...in the last week bitcoin has risen from 10000$ to 16000$...so my roll is now about 950$... but i guess the price of bitcoin might go down again of course.

will (try to ) cash out soon...to paypal...and let you know how it goes.

gl all.

Glad I am in Canada. For now we are good, but who knows. I may check out SWC poker....Thanks for the tip.

One good thing about these German rules : They are addressing pure gambling, not poker, if I understood correctly what's been said. Of course it's unfortunate that some sites offering poker as well have decided to get out. But in general, any rule trying to regulate gambling should be welcomed as long as it does not include poker since it has nothing to do with slots, roulette or even blackjack.

Does anybody know what is the status of the situation on pokerstars?

I can still play on the EU platform, and the button for 24h voluntary pausa period has been implemented.

Will the EU account be closed for a DE one?

Thanks.