Reclaim Gamdom losses in Austria

Gamdom in Austria: no licence, losses reclaimable

Gamdom (operator Smein Hosting N.V., registered office Zuikertuin Tower, Willemstad, Curaçao, licence OGL/2024/424/1065) does not hold a licence under the Austrian Gambling Act. Gambling losses of players in Austria are therefore recoverable from the operator under civil law in many cases, even where deposits were made in Bitcoin, Ethereum or another cryptocurrency.

Gamdom has been on the market since 2016 and is among the well-known crypto casinos with an attached sports betting offering. The contracting party for players in Austria is, according to our research, Smein Hosting N.V., with its registered office at Zuikertuin Tower in Willemstad, Curaçao. The platform combines casino games, sports betting, poker and crypto-native game modes under one brand. Anyone asking whether Gamdom is legal in Austria quickly comes up against this consistently crypto-based concept.

Deposits at Gamdom are made predominantly in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Solana and USDT. It is precisely this crypto-native settlement model that makes a clean reconstruction of the losses in euros the central point of every reclaim, including each Gamdom withdraw you want to account for.

What a reclaim with Gamdom means

Crypto reconstruction, our focus with Gamdom: Gamdom settles purely in a crypto-native way, with hardly any classic euro bookings. We evaluate your wallet transactions and the public on-chain history of the deposits and payouts and convert every single movement into euros at the documented daily rate. This produces the actual loss over the entire playing period, even where individual receipts or account statements are no longer available to you. On-chain data remains permanently accessible, which is why the flow of funds can be traced seamlessly using your wallet addresses. This method is established before the Austrian courts.

Casino and poker losses: Without an Austrian licence, the contract with Smein Hosting N.V. is void and the stakes are reclaimable. The court treats crypto stakes legally in exactly the same way as classic casino money and reconstructs them from your transactions where necessary.

Betting losses: Sports betting is legal in Austria. A reclaim is only possible through partial legal incapacity under Section 865 Austrian Civil Code.

Legal basis: Anyone who loses money at an operator without an Austrian licence has paid without a valid contract and can reclaim the stakes. The Austrian Supreme Court (OGH) most recently confirmed this recoverability in its decision 6 Ob 31/24p. There are thirty years to pursue the claim (Section 1478 Austrian Civil Code), which is why even older losses are usually still enforceable. The fact that Gamdom’s terms choose the law of Curacao plays no role here: the Court of Justice of the EU clarified in case C-77/24 that such a choice of law does not apply against consumers. As the registered office is in Curaçao and therefore outside the EEA, the claim is filed in Austria and decided under Austrian law.

A claim against a Curaçao company is more demanding in the proceedings than against a provider within the EU. Service at the foreign registered office and enforcement require more steps, but this does not rule out the prospect of a reclaim. We decide in the initial consultation based on the amount of the losses and the prospect of actually being able to enforce a judgment later on.

How a reclaim with Gamdom works

1. Enquiry with a rough estimate. You contact us with your approximate loss and the cryptocurrencies you used at Gamdom. A rough estimate is enough, you do not need to know the exact amount.
2. Free initial assessment. We review your case and get back to you with an initial assessment of the prospects. This assessment is free of charge for you.
3. Contract and start. If the assessment is positive, you receive all the information and the contract from us to begin reclaiming your losses. For the reconstruction you provide us with your wallet addresses and any exchange statements, from these we determine stakes and payouts over the entire period.
4. Cooperating lawyers handle the proceedings. Experienced cooperating lawyers conduct the proceedings, as a rule at the court responsible for you in Austria. They support you from the outset and answer all your questions. You never have to travel to the country where Gamdom is based, namely Curaçao. In most cases you appear at your competent Austrian court for the hearing.
5. Serving the claim. It typically takes six to nine months until the claim has been served at Gamdom’s registered office in Curaçao and the hearing takes place.
6. The hearing. A hearing in Austria is not an interrogation, it takes place in a matter-of-fact atmosphere. The image of court proceedings known from US films does not apply to Austrian courts, where matters are handled objectively. The cooperating lawyers are at your side throughout the proceedings.
7. Payment and enforcement. If the proceedings end in your favour, payment usually still takes some time, because the defendant casino tends to use up all the deadlines the legal framework allows. If payment then fails to arrive, the cooperating lawyers pursue enforcement, known in Austria as Exekution, at Gamdom’s registered office in Curaçao.

We conduct the litigation at our cost, no upfront payment for lawyers applies to you. If successful, R. M. Prozessfinanzierung GmbH retains 45 percent of the amount obtained, and the remaining amount goes to you.

Player protection and help

If you have the feeling that you can no longer control your own gambling behaviour, you can find anonymous advice and concrete points of contact at the help services of the Federal Ministry of Finance. This help is independent of any reclaim.