Governments around the globe are continually trying to ban online Poker, one of the most recognizable efforts came from the US with the passing of the UIGEA in 2006. Well now Germany has also made playing online poker illegal on January 1st 2008.

But just as the US and others suffered from the ban but soon found ways around it, German players are finding ways around their ban. According to the 2008 Addiction Yearbook between 200,000 and 290,000 players from Germany play poker on the internet.

The thing with Germany is it only legal to gamble for money in casinos which leaves the internet market in the grey area. If it involves money online gambling is against the law but so far no one has been charged for such an offence.

Part of the reason may be that the game providers are located far away in Gibraltar, Malta and the Seychelles making the question of jurisdiction difficult for procurers to answer.

Germany's tax authorities currently hold the monopoly on the gambling business and pocket more then half of the industry's earnings as a corporate tax but online gambling still remains unregulated and profits circumvent state coffers.










- 2008-04-11