The surprise big one gave him £144k. As advised by the staff at the Casino Club who stated that he could win more money if he continued gambling with the jackpot money. He declined this offer, but a couple of weeks later were informed that a security check was being performed and as a result they had shut down his account.

His winnings had also been confiscated. They pointed fingers at him saying that he had won the jackpot money with funds that he had won on the casino's blackjack games illegally.

Now, since he had this account for the past so many years and there had been no complaints until then, he was flabbergasted at their response. It seemed strange that they were suddenly being accusatory as soon as he had won the jackpot!

The player contacted the LGA or Lotteries and Gaming Authority that provides regulations for activities concerning gaming in Malta. The LGA conducted preliminary investigations and upon their findings reported that there was no case for the German player as the Malta law dictates no gambling debt is enforceable.

In the meantime, the Casino Club had stated that he was under suspicion for teaming up with another player and performing acts of fraud, though none of these acts were specified. The Casino Club even found him guilty of various charges such as signing up with more than one user name and using robot programs.

As advised by his lawyer he knew the only justice that could be found would be in the courts of Malta by getting the Casino Club to prove these allegations. The other strange issue is that as the German player ultimately didn't win the jackpot money, it should be put back into the prize pool as this is an accumulation of money spent by hundreds of other players who are not under investigation.

This of course never happened. A spokesperson for Casino Club posted a message on their site stating that they were asking the LGA to review this case and put back the confiscated money. However, the LGA has announced publicly that they have dropped this case as Malta has a gambling loophole.

The funds don't have to be returned and this is what is probably going to happen to the next winner as well. They may have thought that the public wouldn't be made aware of this loophole, but the message has been spread around.

Posted on: September 30, 2010

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