Having just pulled five of its premier online gambling websites from the German market, the Playtech-owned Mansion Group is no longer a player in the country’s online gambling industry. The announcement came on Jan. 30 that Casino.com, Mansion Casino, Les A Casino, Slots Heaven, and Club 777 would no longer be available to German citizens as of Feb. 1.
iAffiliates, Mansion’s marketing and acquisitions arm, issued a clarifying statement over exactly who this decision would affect.
“This closer ONLY affects players based in Germany; German-speaking players from other countries are not affected by these restrictions. All accounts will have to be stopped no later than January 30th, 2015,” the statement explained.
Though there was no official statement as to why Mansion vacated the market, the decision does come shortly after a German lawsuit against an online gambler reinforced the country’s stricter crackdown on the industry’s activities. Earlier in January, the District Court of Munich declared a 25-year-old, unnamed German male guilty of illicit online gambling. He was sentenced to pay back his €63,490 (approximately £48,000) in winnings and an additional €2,100 (approximately £1,600) fine. Dubbed by many as a “landmark case,” the decision likely instilled greater caution in online gambling operators and players alike.
Tighter legislation and lawsuits like the one just described have taken root across Europe, causing many online operators to adjust their policies or vacate markets entirely. Britain’s United Kingdom Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act of 2014, which required remote online operators to get a license and pay a point-of-consumption tax on all profits, caused the latter to occur. To keep from losing operators to the legislation, the Isle of Man government issued a tax break to compensate for the incurred tax; stricter policies bring about better regulation but shake operator confidence and profits.
Reports from around the industry suggest that Mansion is unlikely to seek a gambling licence from the Hesse Ministry.
