ZfWG (Summary): Die Geschichte des „versteckten Einsatzes“ vom „Gratis-Roulette“ über das „Brillianten-Bingo“ zur „Wetter-Wette“

– Annotations on BVerwG, judgment of 9 July 2014 – 8 C 7.13 –, ZfWG 2014, 398 –

By Dr. Stefan Bolay, ZfWG 2014, S. 394 f.

Summary

The German Federal Administrative Court (Bundesverwaltungsgericht – BVerwG) had to address the question as to whether a socalled “weather forecast bet” as a sales promotion of a furniture store is to be classified as a “game of chance” as defined in the Interstate Treaty on Gambling (Glücksspielstaatsvertrag – GlüStV). Participating in the bet was subject to the purchase of furniture with a minimum value of EUR 100. The price consisted in the refund of the purchase price in the event of rain on a specific day and place in the future. The court had to decide whether the precondition to participate in the bet, i.e. the obligation to buy products, led to a game of chance because the purchase price for the products contained a so called “hidden stake”. The BVerwG judged that the purchase of furniture was not only the economic focus of the transaction, but also the customers’ primary concern; as such, participating in the game was only an add-on. Further, the BVerwG denied a “hidden stake”, since there was no evidence
that the furniture shop ha increased the prices for its products to finance the sales promotion. In the end, a game of chance cannot be
construed if the participants cannot lose anything from an objective perspective.

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