Between 2008 and 2021, online casinos and fruit machines were banned in Germany. Several operators — notably Malta-based Tipico Games, founded by German lawyers in 2004 — ran their businesses in the country anyway, relying on EU licenses obtained elsewhere. A series of court rulings now says that legal fiction is over, and the money must come back. The chain of decisions started at the Higher Regional Court Stuttgart in September 2025, which found that a plaintiff who lost approximately €10,000 ($11,200) to Tipico Games between 2020 and 2022 was owed restitution. The logic: the gambling contract was unlawful in Germany, so the operator received the money without legal basis. Tipico appealed to the Federal Court of Justice (BGH), which in a verbal hearing in mid-September endorsed the core principle — gamblers can claim back losses from unlicensed operators. A final BGH decision is expected in January 2027. The European Court of Justice piled on in April, ruling that EU law does not prevent a member state from prohibiting certain services or attaching civil-law consequences to that prohibition. Translation: a Maltese license does not override German gambling law. Unlike most regulated sectors, gambling law is not harmonized across the EU bloc. Law firms are now building mass litigation infrastructure. Business lawyer Thomas Dünchheim of Greenberg Traurig told DW that firms are using AI tools to trawl the internet and identify potential plaintiffs, bundling thousands of small claims into collective lawsuits backed by litigation finance. He compared the emerging wave to the Dieselgate lawsuits against Volkswagen — a mass phenomenon where legal financing firms, lawyers, and consumers all profit while the industry absorbs the cost. There is a significant legal obstacle, however. German law requires that the gambler themselves did not act illegally. Dünchheim notes that many players deliberately sought out gray-zone operators precisely because the games offered larger potential winnings — partly because the companies were not paying German taxes. Defense teams will argue that participation in an illegal game constitutes illegal conduct by the player, which could block restitution claims. This interpretive question is unresolved and existential for the companies involved. Psychologist Tobias Hayer of Bremen University flags a darker concern about refunds flowing to addicts. Online gambling's danger profile — anonymity, 24/7 access, frictionless cashless transactions, high game frequency — makes it uniquely destructive for people with addiction issues. Getting a large lump sum without having addressed the underlying problem creates real recidivism risk. Tipico's situation crystallizes the broader industry problem. The company grew large in the gray zone, backed by professional lobbyists, experienced lawyers, and private equity. It sponsors top German football clubs and employs thousands. But its foundational legal assumption — that an EU-state license provided cover — has been definitively rejected. The financial risk is enormous, and the precedent extends far beyond one company.
