For ten years, an Austrian gambled away his belongings at gaming machines in Vienna. The man put more than 2 million into the machines operated by Novomatic between 2002 and 2012.
In court he wanted to get his money back and was actually right. Novomatic has to pay him back 2.5 million euros, far more than he gambled away. According to the judgment, Novomatic must also pay for the interest that the man has missed since 2002.
Psychiatric report
The judgment is based on the assessment of the Regional Court Wr. Neustadt that the concluded gambling contracts are ineffective. According to a psychiatric-neurological expert report, the man could not withstand excessive gaming. The man was thus “partially incapable of doing business”.
The lawyers of the gambling group appealed against the judgment. This is therefore not legally binding and the process goes at least one more round.
