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LGA’s Role is Questioned as Online Casino Refuses To Pay

Posted on October 9th, 2010

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The inner workings of the LGA (Malta Lottery and Gaming Authority) were brought into question recently by a report online alleging that a German gambler had been waiting for more than two years to receive 167,500 EURO in casino winnings, after partaking in a progressive jackpot win online in 2008.

Although the Malta Lottery and Gaming Authority controls all activities in regards to gambling online and offline in Malta, and rakes in millions of euros yearly from the licensing and regulating of the 392 online casino, poker and other gambling sites governed by Maltese jurisdiction, the gambler from Germany claimed that he has waited for in excess of two years for the Lottery and Gaming Authority of Malta to make a decision regarding his winnings from Casino Club, a subsidiary of GVC holdings, an industry leader in online gambling.

When contacted, an LGA spokesperson told The Malta Business Weekly that “without going in to the merits specific of the case in question, the authority (LGA) has not yet concluded it’s investigations, neither has it decided in favour of the licensee, as is being alleged”.

The detailed report alleges that the LGA said to the German player, that Casino Club was not duty bound to pay the full winnings due to a law in the Maltese legislation which seems unclear in forcing Maltese gambling licence holders to pay their gambling debts, rendering the Malta Lottery and Gaming Authority powerless to intervene in such player/operator issues, and that apparently other laws, in Malta also prevent them from being involved.

The German player is claiming that he was gambling at Casino Club since 2003, until the moment of his big win. German lawyers advised the casino player that he would need to contest the issue in Maltese courts – a process which they expressed would likely require a lot of time and money. This action would compel the casino operator, he was told by the lawyers, to prove its companies allegations of “illegal” conduct by the player and demonstrate why the casino had decided that the player was not welcome to wager large amounts of cash.

Meanwhile, a Casino Club spokesperson said that they were justified to take action, and that the Malta Lottery and Gaming Authority had been supplied the details about this particular, and that the LGA had later found in favour of the online casino’s actions.

However, rebutting these claims, the Malta Lottery and Gaming Authority spokesperson replied: “the LGA’s interpretation is that the Civil Code articles regarding online gambling are applicable to gaming debts arising out of unauthorised/unlicensed games, which in any case are considered as illegal, and tantamount into a criminal offence.

“Furthermore, remote gaming regulations dont stipulate any limits in respect to players winnings, and if the said licensee chooses to cap or place limits on the maximum prizes that can be won by players, as already reiterated, these conditions would need to be stated in the rules of the game, and in the terms and conditions.

“Casinos jackpots and rules relating to jackpots vary from one licensee to another and the rules of the jackpots as well as any applicable limits would be explained in the relative terms and conditions of the particular licensee’s website.”