Lithuanian Court brands gambling “dangerous for society”

Lithuania’s Supreme Court has dismissed a lawsuit against a customer who refused to pay for a poker training course.

Lithuania.- The Supreme Court has ruled in favour of a defendant who was sued for non-payment by the provider of a poker training course. The court decided that the training programme constituted a form of gambling promotion and therefore went against the public interest since gambling is “dangerous to society”.

The defendant in the case had signed a contract under which the plaintiff would teach him how to play poker, financing any games during the course. Under the agreement, any profits were to be shared, but the trainee would have to repay all losses incurred.

The plaintiff demanded payment after the player lost a game, but the player contested the obligation in court.

The Supreme Court said: “After examining the case, the Supreme Court of Lithuania pointed out that a clear legal policy on gambling is being formed in Lithuania. Such activities are not encouraged and considered dangerous to society, therefore gambling is restricted and controlled by various acts of legislation.

“Finding that the agreement promoted gambling and that the plaintiffs sought to involve the defendant in gambling, the Supreme Court of Lithuania, declared the agreement contrary to public policy and dismissed the action.”

All forms of gambling promotion are now prohibited in Lithuania under a new law that came into force in July. Last month, Enlabs’ UAB Baltic Bet was found to have breached the prohibition by running a remote promotion for its Optibet Blackjack product, offering players a chance to increase their winnings.