Ruling highlights the role of state gambling providers in preventing addictive behaviour

Due to numerous interpretations and misconstructions, in addition to our live report from Karlsruhe, we would again like to present the facts and point out the legal and economic consequences of yesterday's decision of the Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht). The state monopoly in its current form was clearly held to be unconstitutional. Fiscal reasons, even such as the promotion of sports, can not justify the state monopoly. The current legal situation and exercise is not compatible with the German Constitution.
The state monopoly can only be justified by effectively fighting gambling addiction - which has not been practise by the state operators so far.

Blackpool's application to build the UK's only "super casino" has been submitted to the authorities. More than 20,000 jobs and GBP 2bn of investment would pour into the region if the resort's bid is successful, councillors have said.

Online gambling firm ThePool.com has hit back at culture secretary Tessa Jowell's criticism of its ad campaign, saying that 16- and 17-year-olds can bet legally and if the minister does not like it she should change the law. ThePool.com defended its ad campaign, which has been pulled by the Advertising Standards Authority, as well as being branded "utterly reprehensible" by Ms Jowell, saying that it "did not believe highlighting that 16- or 17-year-olds can bet legally is socially irresponsible".

The question of whether patrons of tribal casinos can file personal-injury lawsuits in state courts was argued Monday in the New Mexico Supreme Court. Attorneys for plaintiffs injured at Santa Clara Pueblo's Big Rock Casino Bowl and at San Felipe Pueblo's Casino Hollywood argued that a provision in gambling compacts between the tribes and the state allows such lawsuits in state courts.

There has seldom been so much confusion in the wake of a decision of the German Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe. At ten o'clock yesterday morning, shortly after the announcement of the decision, headlines such as "Kick-off for Private Providers" (Manager Magazin), "Sports Betting Monopoly is Unconstitutional" (Sport1.de), and "In Principle, the State Monopoly on Oddset-Sports Bets remains Permissible" (FAZ.net), started appearing, as well as many other newspapers titled "The Sports Betting Monopoly is to be retained for the Moment". The farthest from the truth was probably an announcement, which appeared on the website of an East German radio station: "This Morning the Federal Constitutional Court decided that in the future, Private Betting Shops must also be allowed to provide Sports Bets". However, it wasn't just in the media that confusion reigned; even betting specialists were left with many questions.

Today the German Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) pronounced its long-awaited decision in the case of sports betting. As we already reported in our newsletter "German Gaming Law updated", the case concerns a Munich based bookmaker, Ms. Katzinger-Göth, having filed constitutional complaint against a decision of the Federal Administrative Court's decision (case-no. 1 BvR 1054/01). In particular she invoked the freedom to choose one's profession as granted by Art. 12 of the German Constitution (Grundgesetz).

March 28 (Bloomberg) -- Germany's state monopoly on sport betting must be altered to ensure a protection against gambling addiction, the country's highest court ruled. The law is unconstitutional in its current form and must be changed by the end of 2007, the Federal Constitutional Court said in an e-mailed statement.

Munich/London, 29 March 2006: The betting industry has waited a long time for the decision Germany's Federal Constitutional Court issued yesterday. However, neither the state-run nor the private suppliers have reason to feel victorious. In fact, today's decision by the German Federal Constitutional Court should not have come as a surprise to betting industry experts. The decision was certainly one of the more likely outcomes considering all possible scenarios, and it is similar to the decisions issued by the highest courts in other European countries (e.g., the Netherlands and Scandinavia).

Las Vegas - The World Poker Association (WPA), www.wpapoker.com, joins the MLB, NFL, FIFA, NHL and PGA as the sports world’s latest and most needed governing body. Launched today, the official oversight body is elevating tournament poker to its rightful place among globally recognized sports. Where television and the Internet have fueled the multi-billion dollar poker boom, the WPA will unite the poker community under one banner. The non-profit WPA is the only membership-based association for tournament poker that is not directly affiliated with any for-profit poker entity.

Blackpool Council has formally unveiled its plans to bid for a regional or super-casino to the Casino Advisory Panel later this month.

A GBP 7 million mega-casino on the site of a former nightclub in Fountainbridge has been knocked back by city licensing chiefs. The Stanley Circus Casino looked set to be built at the site of the former Eros/Elite nightclub at Fountainpark, after it got the go-ahead from council planners last month.