Danish Poker Player Forced to Forfeit Poker Winnings

Denmark has a law against playing poker professionally online. This law states that it is illegal. One man recently was ordered by the Supreme Court of Denmark to forfeit money he earned online playing poker since it is illegal in the country.

The Copenhagen Post covered the story and stated that earning a living by playing online poker is illegal in Denmark, even if the games are not taking place in Denmark. The unnamed thirty five year old man was found guilty because he is currently unemployed and was playing poker online. This was his only source of income. The man was forced to forfeit over $38,000 in winnings.

The Post also reported that is has been estimated that 50,000 people in Denmark play online poker. Lawyers for the state have stated they will decide on a case by case basis if the poker playing is being done on a professional basis or not.

It seems quite unfair. If a man was playing poker and won $50,000 but had a job would he be able to keep that money? It seems the only difference would be that he has a job and the guilty man does not. In all honesty it seems as though Denmark needs to look over their laws and make some changes.