Friday, 29 March, 2024
HomeAddiction News‘Incapacitated’ Austrian gambling addict wins €2.5 million compensation

‘Incapacitated’ Austrian gambling addict wins €2.5 million compensation

An Austrian court has ordered a gambling company to pay €2.5 million (US$2.87 million) to a gambler the court found was under the influence of addiction, in a judgment made public on 22 October, reports South China Morning Post.

The complainant said that over a period of 10 years starting in 2002 he spent around €2 million in slot machines run by the Novomatic company in the capital Vienna.

According to an expert opinion heard by the court in the town of Wiener Neustadt, the man was “partially incapacitated” through his addiction, which rendered his bets invalid.

Novomatic, which is based near Wiener Neustadt, is one of the world’s biggest gambling technology companies with operations in dozens of countries worldwide. It said it will appeal the judgment.

In 2015 municipal authorities in Vienna banned slot machines outside casinos to combat gambling addiction. The city had around 2,600 such machines before the ban came into force.

[link url="https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/2169734/austrian-gambler-who-was-incapacitated-slot-machine-addiction-wins"]Austrian gambler who was ‘incapacitated’ by slot machine addiction wins US$2.9 million in compensation[/link]

MedicalBrief — our free weekly e-newsletter

We'd appreciate as much information as possible, however only an email address is required.