Hamburg's Online Roulette Declared Illega

The German constitutional judge ruled today that the online roulette in Hamburg is not lawful. The online version of the Hamburg Spielbank, therefore, has to stop its activities by tomorrow.

Two city hall political fractions, SPD and GAL, commonly lodged a complaint against the Hamburg Senate, immediately after the launch of the operation on Oct. 28, 2002. Three days after the opening, the 50 Senate members stated that the Senate does not have the power to issue an online gambling license.

The complaint was filed because of concerns over problem gambling, but the license was turned down because current law does not specify "Internet gambling" and, hence, a "visitor" has to be physically present in the casinos' premises.

The expectation is that the Hamburg Senate will draft policy to include Internet gambling explicitly into law. A new license can be issued once this is accomplished. The process should take six to nine months.

The software and all the online components of the Internet roulette game were developed by e-dict GmbH & Co.KG, an affiliate of Spielbank Hamburg Group, fully owned by Spielbank Hamburg Jahr & Achterfeld KG. e-dict will also be responsible for the launching of Spielbank Wiesbaden's Internet Casino in the German state of Hessen. According to sources close to the Hessen project, all legal conditions are in place.

Spielbank Hamburg is owned by managing shareholder Prof. Wilfried Achterfeld, along with John Jahr (from the family of the famous publishing company Gruner & Jahr) and Klaus Unge. The group has operated the prestigious land-based Spielbank in Hotel InterContinental since 1978.